The question of truth

Years ago, when Abraham Lincoln was a young store clerk in New Salem, Illinois, he discovered one evening that he had accidentally overcharged a customer by just a few pennies. No one else knew, and it would have been easy to shrug it off. Instead, after closing up, Lincoln walked several miles to the customer’s home to return the small amount he had overcharged. It was a tiny loss financially, but that quiet, sacrificial walk became part of why people started calling him “Honest Abe”—a man whose public greatness grew out of private integrity.
If a future president would inconvenience himself to make a small wrong right, what does that say about the value of truth in the small corners of our lives. Truth matters more than you can imagine. The moments truth whether they are about a few pennies in a country store or the truth about a crucified carpenter in a Roman court—these moments all point in the same direction: you can postpone truth, you can resist it, you can rename it, but you cannot erase it. That is why the question that Pilate asked in John 18:38, “What is truth?” echoes through history and why it remains so relevant in our own confused culture.
Words to Remember: You can ignore the truth, argue with it, and even crucify the One who embodies it, but you cannot make it go away.
Why We Can’t Stop Asking “What Is Truth?”
​As you study through John 18:33-38, you are watching a living courtroom drama that lays out a powerful case for truth. Pilate stands there like many people do today, caught between two competing voices. On one side is the roar of the crowd and the pressure of the culture; on the other side stands Jesus, the very embodiment of truth, right in front of him. Picture it: the mob is shouting outside his headquarters, the religious leaders are driving their agenda, and Pilate knows his position and his future are on the line. In that critical moment, he doesn’t ask, “How do I stand for what is right?” Instead, with a mixture of pride and cynicism, he utters the question that still echoes in our world today: “What is truth?”
This is the same question our culture asks today. We’ve been told for decades that “all truth is relative” and that the only absolute is that there are no absolutes. Yet in the real world, nobody lives that way. We demand truth from our family, doctors, employers, and the justice system yet many struggle to accept truth from God.
Why? Because God’s truth does something uncomfortable: it convicts us. It exposes. It redirects. It refuses to stay politely in the corner while we run our own lives. That’s why the question of truth won’t go away—because the God who is truth won’t go away.
The Law of Convenient Denial
As you look through history, you see that since the fall of man found in the Book of Genesis to the time of Pilate to the time in which you live then truth has always been under attack. Many people strive to justify how they are living their life apart from the truth of God’s Word so thy simply ignore the truth that can set them free. This is known as the “Law of Convenient Denial” as people tend to reject truth not because it’s unclear, but because it makes them uncomfortable. We see that same pattern illustrated in at least three ways in people’s lives. 

• Cynicism: This is when a person chooses to dismiss the truth or declare that it does not matter in their life. For these people, truth is relative or non-existent as long as you can be popular with the crowd.
• Intolerance: This is when a person views truth as an intrusion rather than a revelation. People who are intolerant of God’s truth do not merely misunderstand it; they resist it with joy.
• Self‑preservation: This is when a person chooses to ignore or reject God’s divine truth because they would rather be popular with the world than stand for God or they would rather live a life of momentary happiness instead of pursuing a life of endless joy. 

God is clear in His Word that His truth is not a cruel spotlight; it’s a rescue light. Jesus said in John 8:32, “You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” He didn’t say it would make your life comfortable or convenient but it will make you free.
Why Absolute Truth Still Matters
We live in the midst of the “truth war.” The battlefield stretches from university classrooms to social media feeds to living rooms and church pews. At the core, it’s a struggle between: Absolute truth vs. relative truth. Real truth vs. subjective feelings. Divine truth vs. the lies of the world.

According to Scripture, truth is not a concept we invent; it is a Person we encounter. Jesus does not simply teach truth; He is the truth as he declares in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” That means any attack on truth is, at its root, an attack on Christ, and any distortion of the identity of Christ is a distortion of truth.
Words to Remember: When you treat truth as negotiable, life becomes foggy. Right and wrong blur. Promises become flexible.
When you anchor your life to God’s unchanging Word, something remarkable happens:

• Truth Gives Wisdom: it helps you see life as God sees it.

• Truth Gives Direction: it lights the next step when you cannot see the whole road.

• Truth Gives Discernment: it trains you to distinguish between what merely feels right and what truly is right.


Cultures change, slogans shift, philosophies come and go, but God’s truth remains the same; steady and consistent for eternity. That is why the question of truth won’t go away. You can’t build a life, a family, or a nation on shifting sand forever. Sooner or later the storm comes, and what’s underneath is revealed.
Building on What Will Stand
God’s truth is not an accessory for life; it is the foundation. If the structure of your life is not resting on God’s revealed Word and on Christ Himself, it will not stand. What are you building your life on today?

• Application: Choose one area of your life where you are tempted to “go with the crowd,” and intentionally bring your words and choices in line with the truth of God’s Word. 

A Prayer for Today
Lord Jesus, You are the way, the truth, and the life—open our eyes to see Your truth clearly, our hearts to love it deeply, and our wills to live it boldly in a confused world. Give us courage not to echo the crowd, but to listen to Your voice and walk in the freedom that only Your truth can give. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.