Saying Christians are living in a “post-truth world,” David Jeremiah on Sunday urged believers to be bold stewards of God’s Word even as the culture continually rejects it.
Jeremiah, the pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, Calif., noted that the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year in 2016 was “post-truth,” which the publisher said meant that objective facts “are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”
The situation has grown even more dire in the past six years, Jeremiah said.
“We’re living in a post-truth world,” Jeremiah said. “If you watch television, if you read magazines, if you read the newspaper, [then] you realize truth is little by little just disappearing from our culture.”
He pointed to television news as an example.
“Watch what happens every single day through all the news channels – how they take information and manipulate it to make it say what they want it to say, not to reflect the fact of its objective truth,” he said.
Schools are another example of a post-truth world, Jeremiah said.
“We used to study reading, writing and arithmetic, but it’s way down the list now for all of the sociological stuff that they’re stuffing into these kids’ minds starting in kindergarten,” Jeremiah said. “And if we’re not careful, that can slip into our Christian schools. And by the grace of God, I am going to stand like a warrior with a sword in front of the front door to keep that from happening.”
Shadow Mountain operates a Christian school.
Truth, he said, is “little by little just disappearing from our culture.”
“What happens now is people have an end in mind, and they just take the facts and the information, and they manage it to arrive at the end, which they’ve already perceived, what they’ve already determined,” Jeremiah said before referencing the biblical standard: “Truth is objective. Truth isn’t changeable. If it’s true, it’s true. … There’s no such thing as true, truer and truest.”
In a post-truth world, Jeremiah said, it’s essential that Christians are “stewards of the truth” and “stand up” for the Bible.
Jeremiah referenced multiple verses, including 1 Corinthians 4:1, which calls Christians “stewards of the mysteries of God,” and 1 Thessalonians 2:4, which says believers are “entrusted with the gospel.”
“This is the greatest treasure that we have – apart from our salvation,” Jeremiah said of the Bible. “… The Word of God should be treasured, taught, listened to and loved. … We’re stewards of truth.”
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Brian A. Jackson
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
