Better Than Truth

Ever wonder why Jesus didn't respond to Pilate at his query, "What is truth?" I have. The best I can come up with is that Jesus is truth. But even that conclusion is shabby. Truth simply means what is true, that is, what is most accurate. As believers we tend to think of the things of God as truth, but actually God and His ways are higher than 'most accurate'. 'Most accurate' infers that we have made a judgement according to the set of facts before us. When we believe what the Bible says about God, hopefully there is more behind our belief than just the assumption that the set of facts before us is the most accurate. If we only base our faith on our understanding, then we will lose our faith as soon as we hear a better set of facts or a better argument.

Bill Johnson once said that knowledge of God must lead to an encounter with Jesus, or it just becomes religion. Religion is a lifeless set of rules.

I think the reason that Jesus didn't answer Pilate is that He was the answer. Not in the sense that He is truth, but that relationship with Him is to be preferred over truth. Jesus must come first.

We were created for relationship, not for knowledge. Knowledge without relationship will bring death. Because in that sense, knowledge is not true. Knowledge without encounter and relationship is just the best our minds can come up with. We can look at an apple and attempt to understand and describe it, but we are limited by our set of facts about the apple.

Jesus' gift to us was restoration of relationship, not Rules 2.0. Behavior and knowledge should be a fruit of spending time with Him.

The best picture of 'true' I can come up with for myself is a compass. When you point the compass to the north, the needle aligns with the big N at the top. Any deviation from true north makes the needle bounce. I could study about the north and map out a way to get there, but without a compass I would make lots of unnecessary deviations and would probably get lost. When I focus on my relationship with Jesus, His heart is my true north, and it's like my husband's and my eyes meeting across a crowded room. In that moment is eternity, and it's better than truth.