Where is Truth?

Text: Colossians 1:24-2:7

Personal truth. That is, truth which is the person of Jesus Christ. What kind of "truth" is this, and where can it be found?

What do we mean when we speak of knowing the truth? Does it mean getting the right description of the way the world really is? But how can we know whether we've got it right unless we already know the way it is? Do our statements match the way things really are, as demonstrated by scientific verification? Is truth determined by how well our entire view holds together with logical consistency? Or is truth a matter of going with what works, whether or not it can be improved upon or even shown to be false? Do we give up and allow multiple views to all count as truth, in spite of direct contradictions of one another? Oh, isn't epistemology fun?

It's in the context of this confused and confusing (postmodern?) backdrop that we should consider anew the claims of Christianity in texts such as Colossians. What if we begin with the premise that, indeed, everything has its origin in Christ? What if we drop for the moment any preconceptions of what truth is and focus on him, and accept his invitation to know him as he is revealed in the life, death, resurrection, and ascension? This is the beginning of wisdom. The rest of our knowledge proceeds from this premise.

Let's take the argument one step farther. To "know" the truth, we must engage ourselves in the reflection and imitation of what we have come to accept as truth. That means believing hearts knit together in love, and thereby attaining understanding (2:2-3). To know the truth we must do the truth; facts and propositions are necessary, but insufficient. Nothing less than this commitment of faith in the truth that is Christ will do. It's far more than a claim of forgiveness of sins and heaven when we die; it's the determination that all things exist by and for him. If Jesus is who the Christianity has always said he is, and did what it claims he did, then to know him is to know truth, no matter how many facts we hold in our minds.

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