Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of
Trinity Sermons. This week we're continuing our
sermon series called The Bible Doesn't Say That,
where we look at some of those things that sound
spiritual but aren't actually scriptural. Speak
your truth. But what is truth? And is there such
a thing as an absolute truth, or is it all just
based on our own personal perspectives and desires?
Someone actually asked Jesus, what is truth?
And so in today's sermon, Rob is going to share
with us how Jesus responds to this question and
why it matters to us. Today's reading is from
the Gospel of John, chapter 18, verses 36 to
38. Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world.
If it were, my servants would fight to prevent
my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom
is from another place. You are a king then, said
Pilate. Jesus answered, you say that I am a king.
In fact, the reason I was born and came into
this world is to testify to the truth. Everyone
on the side of truth listens to me. What is truth,
retorted Pilate? The word of the Lord. We are
going to be carrying on a teaching series that
we began called The Bible Doesn't Say That. You
know, we've been doing this for eight weeks now.
We have one more week to go. And what we've been
doing is looking at some of those catchy, you
know, band -aid phrases that people always say
that seem so comforting and seem so nice. You
know, things like God helps those who help themselves
or just follow your heart or this too shall pass.
You know, we say all these things. It sounds
like they're from the Bible. But what we've learned,
in fact, is that the Bible doesn't say that.
doesn't say that. And today we're going to talk
about this phrase. It's one we've all heard and
maybe it's a phrase you yourself have spoken.
And the phrase is this, speak your truth. Or
sometimes it comes out as speak your own truth
or live your truth or something like that. It's
a very noble sounding statement. It sounds very
like, sounds like something you might actually
find in the Bible. But the truth is the origin
of this phrase isn't from the Bible, but I think
it's actually dates back to Oprah Winfrey. Oprah
Winfrey, that's right. In 2018, during the Golden
Globe Awards, Oprah Winfrey took to the stage
and made a speech. Now, mind you, this was during
the Me Too movement. And when she got up to the
stage, she said, what I know for sure is that
speaking your truth is the most powerful tool
we all have. Now, to be fair, Oprah was talking
about women. who had suffered abuse and were
courageously stepping forward to tell their stories.
And in that context, her words were actually
very bold and meaningful and much needed. But
that phrase, speak your truth, it didn't quite
stay in that lane. And over time, speaking your
truth actually became this cultural mantra that
says that actually each of us gets to define
what reality is and that no one has the right
to question what we feel is right and what we
believe is true. So for example, to speak your
truth often implies that truth is a personal
thing. It's not universal. And therefore, your
lived experience cannot be challenged by another
person because it's your truth. And if it's true
for you, you know, who are you to challenge that
truth? And therefore, even to disagree with someone
about what they deem to be the truth is seen
as disrespect because it is so personal. That
truth is so personally held by that person. So
disagreement is almost off the table. When you
hear people say it today, though, it may not
come out just as someone saying, you know, speak
your truth. It may come out more like this, that
that's true for you, but it's not true for me.
Or only you can decide what's right for you.
Or don't impose your beliefs on others. Or who
are you to say what is true for someone else?
So what started out as this courageous call for
honesty morphed into this really complex idea
of what constitutes truth. On the one hand, there
is something we might call absolute truth, right?
Which is this idea that truth is objective, it's
universal, it's exclusive to all people, all
times, and in all places. On the other hand,
there's this thing that's emerged, relative truth,
which is to say that truth is... actually shaped
by your personal experience, by your culture,
from your perspective. And in that view, what
is true for you may not be true for me. Absolute
truth says that this is what's real, whether
I like it or not, and whether I believe it or
not. But relative truth says this is what's real
to me based on how I feel or based on how I see
things. And the tension between these two ideas
is everywhere. And if you are a Christian person,
many of you are this morning, you will know this
very well. Because into the middle of this debate,
Jesus comes stepping in and he says stuff like
this. He says, I am the way, I am the truth and
the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me. Now we would say, Jesus, you can't say that.
That is so exclusive. That is so offensive. This
is the kind of thing that Jesus said. He made
these radical truth claims about himself. So
in this world that says, speak your truth, Jesus
comes along and says, I am the truth. And he
doesn't just refer to himself as the truth. He
actually also says that God's word is the truth.
He says, make them holy, God. He prays this prayer
by your truth. Oh, what's that truth? My truth,
your truth? No, your word, which is truth. The
Bible, the scriptures, Jesus referred to as the
truth. Not a truth, not one truth among many
truths, but the truth. And we might push back
and say, Jesus, listen, that might be your truth,
but it is not my truth. Or Jesus, that Bible,
that might be meaningful to you, but it doesn't
define what is true for everyone. This is really
complicated stuff, right? And again, if you're
a Christian, you need to wrestle with this topic
because the question is, how do we follow a savior
like Jesus who makes very bold claims about what
is true in a culture that insists that no one's
truth gets the final say? And even if you're
not a follower of Jesus, you're not a Christian,
we're glad you're here too. We're glad that you've
tuned in as well. But it is also important for
you to understand, this is what we're going to
look at today, that when Jesus talks about truth,
it is a very, very different kind of truth than
any other truth claim that you will come across
out there. And so that's what we're going to
look at today. Today, we're going to look at
that phrase, speak your truth, and we're just
going to kind of build it around three statements.
Why do people say this? Secondly, why is it problematic?
And thirdly, why is Christian truth different
than every other kind of truth? And I've given
you some little teaching notes if you want to
follow along today. Everyone who completes these
notes will get a prize at the end of the service.
You can decide whether that was a truth or a
lie. I'll let you figure that one out. Let's
start with this one though. Why do people say
to speak your own truth rather than participate?
Why would they say that and say we ought to push
back against any kind of totalizing truth that
is out there? Well, there's actually some really
valid reasons that we need to acknowledge, right?
The first is this, that history has shown us
many, many times that when people make truth
claims, it's actually about power. Many times,
truth and owning the truth and shouting the truth
is used to oppress other people. If someone claims
to have the truth, it might be that what they
really want to do is silence you. What they really
want to do is marginalize you. What they really
want to do is control people. Too often, I think,
when people say, this is true, what they're really
trying to do is get control over you. And here's
how that works. Because whoever gets to define
truth gets to define reality. And whoever defines
reality gets to shape what society looks like.
So truth can become this tool of oppression.
Remember, Galileo, for example, was condemned
by the Roman Catholic Church because he thought
that the earth went around the sun. And it contradicted
the church's truth of the day. And so he was
oppressed because of that. So even today, though,
people see religious beliefs, therefore, as violent
many times and oppressive. One modern thinker
puts it this way. Every claim to truth is a bid
for power. It's not about what's real. It's about
who gets to rule. It's like Natalie read in the
book of fabrications. Truth is but a weapon wielded
by the powerful to subdue the weak. That's what
many people say. And so they say that in order
to keep people safe, in order to keep people
free, and to make sure we're not oppressed, we
all should instead speak our own truth. But the
second reason why people say speak your own truth
is because claiming to know the real truth, or
there's some absolute truth, sounds very, very
arrogant. In today's culture, saying, for example,
I believe Christianity is true, is heard as saying,
I think Christians are smarter, or I think Christians
are more enlightened. Or I think that Christians
are more moral or better than everyone else,
right? If you claim that your view is right,
then now it's about superiority. It must be because
you think you're wiser or smarter than everyone
else. And sometimes, let's be honest, that is
exactly what we are doing when we want to win
an argument and prove our truth. Tim Keller puts
it this way, to say that one religion is true
and others are false seems arrogant. To many
modern people, they believe that truth, especially
religious truth, is a matter of perspective.
So, thirdly though, the third objection is that
truth claims seem intolerant. I mean, tolerance
used to mean that we could disagree about something,
have a good argument about it, and respect each
other while we're doing. But today... Tolerance
means we have to affirm all views as equally
valid. So if you say that someone is wrong, that's
not just a disagreement. That is an attack on
them. That is a personal judgment on them. It
could even be perceived as hate against you,
right? Because now you're questioning someone's
belief, and their belief is so deeply held as
personal that to reject their belief is to reject
them. So D .A. Carlson, he wrote this book called
The Intolerance of Tolerance, where he said that
the new tolerance insists that all opinions are
equally valid, and this leads to the strange
conclusion that disagreeing with someone is inherently
intolerant, no matter how graciously it's done.
Identity. and belief are so tightly connected
that to challenge someone's belief is to challenge
their identity. It's a personal attack. Take
a look at the reading that Libby read for us
this morning from John's Gospel, right? Jesus
says to Pilate, everyone on the side of truth
listens to me. Now again, this is another one
of Jesus's incredible truth claims about himself.
And Pilate responds by saying, what is truth?
You know, there's a few different ways you could
read that statement, right? Did Pilate say what
is truth and mean, oh, oh Jesus, this is very
interesting. I'd like to hear more about your
truth. What is this truth you're talking about?
Or is Pilate reacting much the same way that
our culture reacts by saying, okay, dismissive,
suspicious. Okay, Jesus, what is truth? Or come
on, what is truth? Pilate rejects Jesus's truth
claim. He almost laughs at it. And so do many
people today. Isn't it safer? Isn't it better,
therefore, to speak your own? Well, not really.
Speaking your truth sounds easy, sounds safe,
but actually it is quite problematic for, I'm
going to suggest, three reasons. First, to say
you speak your truth and I'll speak my truth
sounds nice until your truth collides with and
threatens my truth. So imagine two drivers and
they're both approaching the intersection. One
driver's truth is a yellow light means slow down.
Another driver's truth is a yellow light means
speed up. And there's a collision. Now, whose
truth wins, right? Or let's say you work in an
office and there's a shared kitchen. One person's
truth is if it's in the fridge, we can share
it. Another person's truth is, if you touch my
food, I'll kill you, right? Whose truth wins,
right? Imagine two kids on the playground. You
overhear them. They're grabbing the same soccer
ball. One says, give it to me. It's mine. And
the other says, no, you gave it to me. Now, whose
truth wins? Unfortunately... Whose truth wins
is usually the louder voice wins. The person
with the stronger fists, that's whose truth wins.
Or what often happens on the playground is somebody
will say, actually, let's call the teacher. We
need somebody higher, somebody smarter, somebody
wiser to come in and determine which of these
competing truth claims is actually the right
truth, to arbitrate between these two truths.
So you see, this is one of the problems with
your truth, my truth. What happens when those
truths come into conflict with each other? The
second problem with having a personal truth is
that your personal truth might actually be very
dangerous for you and for others. It might run
you aground in life. The reason I use that phrase
is I was thinking how last summer our family
went houseboating near Bob Cajun. And it was
beautiful, quiet waters, these beautiful bays.
All that. And when we left the marina, we were
given a GPS and we were given a big book of maps
with all the depths, the water depths throughout
these lakes. Because hidden underneath these
peaceful waters are rocks everywhere. Trust me.
And big ones. And you can't see them. And if
you're not careful, you will hit them. You will
do damage. And if you bust that propeller, they
charge you a lot of money. When we left the marina,
they did not say to us, just follow your truth,
just go with your gut, you know, go wherever
you want. It's really, everyone can choose their
own way. No, they said, follow the chart, right?
Trust the GPS. Stay in the channel, right? Being
out of touch with what's really going on, with
reality, doesn't make you free. It actually makes
you vulnerable. This is one of the biggest dangers
of my truth thinking. It sounds empowering, but
what if your truth is actually really misaligned
with reality? What if you're heading for the
rocks right now and you do not know? In your
parenting, in your marriage, in your finances,
in your spiritual life, right? My truth, it might
feel right, but if it's not lined up with reality,
it'll wreck you. And here's the third problem
with saying, oh, just speak your truth. I find
this one very interesting. If you say, no one
has the whole truth, don't trust them, then I
shouldn't trust you either. Because what you
just said was a claim about something you think
is true. You see, people who say there is no
absolute truth, they just made an absolute statement.
About truth. Right? You may have heard the story
about the blind men all touching the different
parts of the elephant. And, you know, one touches
the trunk and says, oh, it's a snake. And the
other touches the ear and says, oh, no, it's
a leaf or something. A fan. And one touches the
leg and says, oh, it's a tree. And one touches
the tail and says, you know, it's a, I don't
know, a rope. Each man is convinced he has the
truth. But of course, the parable goes. No one
sees the whole picture. And the moral of the
story is that there is not one religion or one
person who has the full truth. All paths lead
to the same God. Which at first, it sounds very
humble. It sounds very, very humble. But when
you think about it, it's actually incredibly
arrogant. Because the storyteller themselves
is claiming to have the truth. that nobody else
seems to have, right? Who knows it's actually
a whole elephant? Oh, the person telling the
story says, I know better than all these people,
right? The parable collapses under its own weight
because the claim that no one sees the whole
truth is itself a claim about truth. So you see,
even when we speak our truth, there's problems.
There's problems. Our truths collide with other
people's problems, other people's truths. If
our truth is out of touch with reality, we're
going to get hurt. And even our belief that no
one has the whole truth is a radically arrogant
statement that claims you know better than everybody
else. So the whole thing seems really, really
hopeless. But what if there was a higher truth
out there? What if there was a truth greater
than your truth, greater than my truth, a truth
that could really steer us through life and avoid
the rocks and the pitfalls? But what if it was
a different kind of truth? What if it was a truth
that didn't oppress us? What if it was a truth
that wasn't arrogant? And what if it was a truth
that wasn't intolerant, but actually made room
for everybody? Well, guys, that is exactly what
Christian truth is. It is a truth claim that
is different from every other truth claim out
there. Yes, it is true that Jesus says, I am
the way and I am the truth and no one comes to
the Father through me. And that sounds like arrogance
and it sounds like a power grab and it sounds
like all our cultural fears of intolerance and
all that stuff. But the content of the truth,
that Jesus is talking about, it overturns every
one of those objections. Let me show you. First,
Christian truth does not oppress people. It actually
liberates us from oppression. Because Christianity
is not about gaining power. It's about losing
power. You know, Jesus once said that the rulers
of this world, yes, they lord power over each
other, but not so with you. Whoever wants to
be first among you must be a servant. You see,
so power in Christianity, it doesn't look like
conquest. It looks like a cross, right? Every
other truth is trying to like seize the power,
seize power and win, right? Jesus says, no, lay
down power. True victory comes through surrender.
True victory comes through love, through self
-sacrifice. Let's go back again to this reading
that we heard this morning. Everyone on the side
of truth listens to me. Gosh, when you yell that,
it sounds like an oppressive power grab. But
wait, what happens right after this? Jesus tells
us that he's the truth, but then immediately
he is beaten and he is mocked. And he is crucified
and he is killed and he is buried. Why? Because
Christian truth did not come to dominate you.
It came to die for you. The Christian confession
of Jesus as the unique Lord does not lead to
domination, but to servanthood. He cannot compel
anyone to believe because at the heart of our
faith is the one who is Christ. crucified. And
God, forgive the church when we get this wrong,
when we turn Jesus into some way to oppress and
control others. But you do not need to be afraid
of Jesus's very radical truth claim, because
it is not just another power play that's trying
to silence you or beat you down. Jesus himself
was silenced. Jesus himself was beaten down for
you. That is a very different truth. And you
can submit to that truth without worrying about
oppression. Secondly, that means believing Christian
truth doesn't make us... arrogant know -it -alls
that look down on people and think we're better
than others. It actually should prevent that
very thing from happening because the real truth
of Christianity, if you actually understand it,
is that it's only by grace that you are saved.
You were so lost and your life was so screwed
up that the only way you had a hope of being
saved was for the Son of God to die for you.
That's how bad things were. So any attempt to
be arrogant, that goes down the toilet. You know
better. You have no bragging rights whatsoever.
You can't look down on anyone. John Stott says,
the truth of the gospel is not a weapon for domination,
but it's a mirror to humble us. Its effect is
not to inflate our egos. It actually deflates
them. I'll say it again. Is Christianity exclusive?
Yes. Is it arrogant? Impossible. The cross leaves
no room for us to feel superior. It announces
that we were so lost that Jesus had to die for
us and so loved that he was willing to die for
us. And finally, not only does Christian truth
liberate us from oppression and prevent us from
arrogance, but it also leaves no room for intolerance.
You see, the problem with so many truth claims
is it says it's an us -them. It's me versus you.
It's my truth versus your truth. You're either
in or you're out. But on the cross, Jesus made
no such distinctions. He was willing to die for
the people who loved him and the people who hated
him. He died for the people who believed in him
and the people who did not believe in him. For
people who were his friends gathered around the
cross and the people who were his enemies crucifying
him on the cross. God demonstrates his love for
us in this, that while we were all still sinners,
Christ died for us. He actually prayed for his
enemies as they crucified him, which means this,
the exclusive truth of Christianity No one is
beyond the reach of his grace. The door is flung
wide open to everyone who calls on his name.
And maybe that's what you need to hear today
because you are certain you don't belong. You're
not holy enough. You're not churchy enough. Your
questions are too big. Maybe the church even
made you feel there was no room for you at some
point. But the truth is Jesus does not exclude
you. He embraces you. He doesn't shame you. He
restores you. He doesn't shut you out. He welcomes
you in because Christian truth is not a doctrine.
It's a person, and it's a person who died for
each and every one of us to bring us all back
home. So it is true. It is true Christianity
makes this very exclusive, absolute, and universal
truth claim. I am not denying that, and none
of us should. But don't be afraid of it. Don't
be afraid of the T word. Don't be afraid of that
truth. Because unlike every other truth, Christian
truth, it overturns the oppression with self
-giving. It replaces arrogance with humility.
And it transforms intolerance and exclusion with
a radical welcome. No, Christianity is not a
straight jacket. Christianity is the truth that
sets you free. So don't settle for your truth.
My truth. Someone's truth. Embrace God's truth.
Let Jesus' truth steer your houseboat through
the waters of life. And remember, his truth is
strong enough to guide you, gentle enough to
heal you, and deep enough to carry you through
anything. Thanks be to God. Amen. Thank you for
listening to this week's episode of Trinity Sermons.
This sermon was recorded at Trinity Church Streetsville
in Mississauga, Ontario on June 22, 2025.