One of the iconic legends of our day was Alex Trebek’, who hosted the TV game show Jeopardy for 37 years. He died on November 8, 2020. Among the many tributes which were written about him was that of Stanford University student Avi Gupta, the Teen Tournament champion for 2019. Regarding her experience on Jeopardy she wrote, “On his [Trebek’s] Jeopardy there were no alternative facts. An incorrect answer was met with a stern “ooh, sorry.” This meant that for Trebek the answer to the clue was either right or wrong – not based on what the contestant believed to be true or wanted to be true, but what was absolutely true.1
Stop for a moment and think about how countercultural the statement “no alternative facts” sounds today. We live in a day where we are seeing the rapid devolution of truth and facts. Devolution, according to Oxford Languages Dictionary is the “descent or degeneration to a lower or worse state.” Absolute truth, once a high and noble concept which anchored the social mores and ethics of cultures for hundreds and thousands of years, has devolved until we have reached the point where in the 2016 Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year was “post-truth.” Post-truth is defined as “an adjective relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Truth, in its noble days meant “that which conforms to fact or reality.” Truth as it is viewed by many today means “that which conforms to my perceived reality.” Personal or group perception, not reality itself, determines truth for many in our world today – especially in Western civilizations. Many today worship self and have built an altar called “my truth” at its feet.
One would be wise to avoid the temptation to make self his/her primary source of truth. Because of limitations which the average self brings to the table, there is an inherent danger in establishing self as the main determinant of truth. The first involves what the average self lacks. The average self lacks intimate knowledge of the inner workings of the universe on the macro and micro levels of life. The average self also lacks the wisdom necessary for using knowledge in the best possible way to achieve the greatest possible good for the largest possible number of people for the longest length of time.2
The second inherent danger is found in what the average self possesses. The Old Testament prophet Jeremiah identified what that is when he said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”3 Self-deceit is often the worst deceit of all, and as
Jeremiah points out, the deceit and wickedness of the human heart is guaranteed to lead one’s self to falsehood, not truth. Jesus calls the devil “the father of lies” for good reason.4 His subtle assault on Truth with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden was just a prelude to his full frontal assault on Truth today.
How can we find true truth? According to the Bible, it’s found in a person, not in a place. It’s found in Jesus, who one day declared, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by Me.”5 It’s also found in the words He spoke and which His followers spoke under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Jesus also said, “If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”6
I encourage you to do all you can in your individual life, and also in society, to resist the continued devolution of truth. True life and true freedom depend upon it.
1 Beaumont Enterprise, 11/10/20,p.B3.
2 God As He Longs For You to See Him, Chip Ingram, p. 128.
3 Jeremiah 17:9
4 John 8:44
5 John 14:6
6 John 8:31-32
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