Clyde McDowell tells the story of a man who came to visit an old friend, a music teacher. As the man entered the studio, he asked, "What’s the good news today?" The old teacher said nothing for a moment, then stood up and slowly walked across the room. He picked up a tuning fork and struck it a sharp blow. As the melodic sound filled the room, he said, "That is ’A’. It is ‘A’ today; it was ‘A’ five thousand years ago and it will be ‘A’ ten thousand years from now. The soprano upstairs sings off-key, the tenor across the hall flats on his high notes, and the piano downstairs is out of tune." He struck the note again and said, "That is ‘A’ my friend, and that’s the good news for today."
When a world is hopelessly out of tune, the person who knows what a true ‘A’ is seems to be out of step with society. Have you discovered it is intellectually acceptable to pursue the truth as long as you don’t find it? But once you say, "This is it!" you become to those around you a bigot, a narrow-minded exclusivist.
Do you remember the conversation that once took place between Jesus Christ and Pilate in a Roman court long ago? "What is truth?" Jesus was asked. Yes, what is it? In a discussion with His disciples Jesus said, "Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth" (John 17:17). For Jesus Christ, it was simple. Truth was God’s revelation of Himself to us, and what God told us about our lives, ourselves, our relationships and the boundaries of these relationships was true.
The New Testament writers were convinced that God had revealed His truth through His Son and through the revelation of Himself, which we call the Bible. Hebrews 1:1-2 says, "In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom He made the universe."
The issue is clear. Either there is truth, or there is not. Either the note "A" is true or it stops to be a standard. When you have no guide by which to check if a note is true, those who sing flat could claim to be just as right as those whose pitch is perfect.
You may be saying, "But don’t some of these questions fall into a gray area of uncertainty? You’re making it very black and white." No–this isn’t an area where we have any choice. God’s truth–final truth–does not come in pastels or in different shades of gray. God never says, "Well, maybe" or "It could possibly be that," or "It is a judgment call." May God help us to be as narrow as the truth but as broad and loving as He is. The two are not contradictory. Resource Reading: John 17