‘Why is nothing ever true?’, laments the chorus of a song by the progressive rock group Marillion. A song that questions whether truth exists in a world immersed in lies.

And make no mistake, lies are everywhere. One of the most popular reality TV shows, The Traitors, trades in deception. So much so, a recent BBC article titled ‘Sneaky Britain’ predicted the UK is becoming more dishonest.

As truth decays, loss of trust, anxiety, and relationship breakdowns are on the rise. People looking for authenticity find – as any Traitors competitor will attest – being authentic is sadly no guarantee of being trustworthy. No wonder cynicism and doubt about whether anything or anyone is ever true are so common.

Truth is what agrees with facts and faithfully represents reality; so, to deny the pursuit of truth is to abandon reality. Disturbingly, many people want to define their own ‘reality’, and their individual interpretations often emphasise personal autonomy and self-determination.

Individualism means that people’s interpretation of what is true has shifted inwards towards the self and away from external facts. Social media then creates echo chambers which can reinforce these perceptions. Neuroscientist Iain MacGilchrist calls it MUMBO, ‘Made Up Miraculously By Ourselves’.* The overall effect on society is confusion about what is true and sometimes despair about whether anything is true.

As Christians, we have come to a knowledge of the truth, that there is one God and one mediator between God and humanity, Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people (1 Timothy 2:3–7). Individualism says that is only your opinion – your MUMBO – but over 20,000 New Testament manuscript copies affirm that Jesus is a fact. Prophecies fulfilled, radically changed lives, and the explosion of the early church all point to that reality. Jesus said, ‘I am the truth’, and he always spoke the truth (John 16:4; 18:37–38).

In our culture, it’s all too easy to avoid speaking truth for fear of the consequences. Telling the truth might be personally uncomfortable. It’s hard to be accurate, clear, and sensitive in complex situations. Honesty is challenging in a threatening world that’s saturated with deception.

But of all people, those who follow Jesus and are people of the truth must be true. We must be the example and the evidence of truthfulness; the gracious, living embodiment of truth on our frontlines – in every situation and on every occasion in our workplaces, neighbourhoods, families, and friendship groups.

Paul Valler
Paul is an executive coach and mentor, the author of Get a Life (IVP) and Using Measurement Well (Grove), and the former Chair of LICC

*Ian McGilchrist, The Matter with Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World (Perspectiva, 2021), Kindle e-version p.20.