Torch, Spring 1996

our faith must not rest on human wisdom, but on the power of God (1 Corinthians 2:5). It is obvious that one cannot distinguish truth from falsehood unless one has a knowledge of truth, based on the proper foundation. In the well-known passage, John 8:31-32, Christ tells those who believe on him, "If you continue in my word...you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." All too often, Christians who profess to know the truth live lives not of freedom, but of enslavement to culture, unable to break out of the bondage of false values and false views of human sexuality and the meaning of li£ , to name only two. It is clear that a knowledge of truth, together w"th a continual analy'aj.s-of our o-wn beliefs in light of the truth, is essyntial thro,ughout th ehristian life in order to remain free from the_slavecy of sin. If we know the truth in a real way, we will be prepared to be discerning consumers of our culture and be able to recognize and avoid the falsehoods being sold today. Practically speaking, how can we come to this knowledge of the truth? The most obvious place to begin is with the source of Truth itself- the Word of God. We must dig deeply into the Word on a regular basis, realizing that the Word of God is more than the printed page. It is the person of Jesus Christ (John 1:14) and we must cultivate a personal relationship with Christ to the point at which we know Christ, the Truth (John 1 And we mus princip that of (John 16:13). He gives us a light on a hill. We are called to be deeper understanding of truth. such lights . Hence, it is necessary While a proper understanding that we discern truth from of truth is the necessary first step falsehood and then actively to becoming discerning participate in society as voices of Christians in the information age, truth. this alone is not sufficient. We As we interact with our culture, must take our knowledge of the we can do so in one of two ways: truth and bring it to bear on that we can be reactive or we can be which faces us in culture proactive. While we certainly (1Thessalonians5:21). We must must be discerning when we constantly compare what we see consider the truth and value of the before us with what we know to ideas being marketed in society be the Truth. today, this does not imply that we We must ask ourselves must simply be reactive. There is questions such as, "What will I a place for reaction, but if we are gain by reading/watching/hearing truly to change the values of this?" and "Are there more society, we cannot wait for culture profitable ways in which I could to act before we react. At best, be spending my time?" We must purely defensive Christianity qonstari~ kee in mind the protects only those already in the atiQ!ogit1on of Paul in Pliilippians Church. It does not, and indeed 4:8. It may be that there is~ cannot, each out and bring in beneai the pile of garbag eforn ose outside the Christian us, but before we ecide to · • community. In order to we must determine ot only how accom lish this purpose, we must much garbage there is, but also · teract with our culture in a --~-- how valuable the pearl will be if proactive way, spreading Christian it is found. values and, should we have the Now, all of this is not to s y privilege of leading some to that culture should be avoided C)rist, challenging tl!em to be altogether. Ultimately, no only is iscerning ~hristians in the this impossible, it is unde ·· able iuformatioo age. as well. Christians are called to be in the world, influencing i while remaining distinct from it (e.g., John 17:15-18). Peter commands us to be ready to give an answer to those who ask us about the reason for the hope that we possess (1 Peter 3:µ.f,im.d this imi::ilies that we e living where e can be se by others m our c ture and tha "'le are living distinctly. One who knows the differenc between truth and f od, who live in the light , and who is reaCly and esent, explain, and th will certainly day's culture like a Torch 11