Welcome to Sunday, August 8th!

Today’s episode of The Cross Talk Daily Devotional is titled:

Truth With A Capital "T"

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Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995}

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  Truth With A Capital "T"

If asked, followers of the various worldwide faiths are willing to share why they believe their faith is the truth. It's reasonable to assume that they would not be adherents of their particular faith if they did not think it to be the truth.

Right!

However, here's the problem. Truth is a singular entity. Therefore, according to the Law of Non-contradiction, every faith cannot be the truth at the same time in the same way.

Suppose a black chair is sitting in front of me.  I cannot say that it is both black and red at the same time in the same way.

One declaration is accurate, and the other is false.

Speaking from a spiritual standpoint:

If both Christianity and another faith claim to hold the absolute truth concerning life's purpose, meaning, and the afterlife, only one can be true because they both cannot be true in the same way at the same time.

Conflicting truths cannot coexist.

The words of Jesus either are true, or not true, but they cannot be both.

John 14:6 NAS95

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Some Christians have told me that it makes them uncomfortable presenting Christianity as the only true faith. This, of course, is why so much of the world is so intolerant of the Christian faith; its bedrock principle is that it claims to present the only absolute truth.

We are deemed intolerant because of the last phrase of John 14:6.

No one comes to the Father but through Me.

Intolerance is not a new charge against Christians. The Roman Empire could not figure out why Christians were steadfast monotheists instead of polytheists, as was the empire. The Christians refused to acknowledge the Roman and Greek gods.

As a multi-cultural society, people today expect the way to heaven to be the same—different faiths, but which all end up at the peak of the mountain regardless of the trail traversed and method.

• How should we respond to the charge of being intolerant over our claim that Christianity holds the only absolute truth?
• How can we counter the multi-cultural view of faith and eternity?

In a sense, many of those we seek to share the Gospel with present themselves as our enemies.

Jesus said:

Luke 6:27-28 NAS95

"But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,  [28]  bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.

We need to remember that their response to the Gospel is because they are lost. Therefore, sometimes, at least for the moment, our greatest ministry towards such individuals is to pray for them. We pray that God will bring about circumstances that provide an opportunity to share the Gospel.

Another way of gaining permission to share the Gospel is to build authentic relationships with people. Not false relationships so that we can just add a notch to our belt, but genuine relationships. People very quickly catch on when we do not honestly care about them.

Instead of being intolerant and judgmental, we are to exhibit longsuffering towards those who label us as intolerant because our goal is to win them for Christ.

Let’s Pray,

Gracious Heavenly Father,

Please help us to be patient with those who condemn us and the Christian faith.

Help us remember that they are lost as we once were, living with a darkened understanding of You.

We thank You for the salvation that You have extended to all.

In the Name of Jesus,

Amen!