Why Truth is Bigger than Doctrine
Years ago, I had a run in with a church member who was very passionate about sharing “the truth.” For him, the biggest and most important task of the church was to “get truth out there.” Forget all this relationship stuff—we don’t have time for that. We have to share the truth!
I corrected him by sharing the following thought: If truth is only information, you're right. Forget about relationship. If truth is just data, the most important thing is to share that data with others, right? But what if truth isn't just information or data? What if truth is a person? If truth is a person, then for people to understand it, they need to get to know this person. And how do you get to know a person? Only through relationship.
Of course, I didn’t make this up. I was working off of Jesus’ own definition of truth when he said, “I am the truth”. (John 14:6) According to him, truth is not a series of doctrinal ideas that we disseminate. Truth is a person. And a person can only be known through relationship.
And that’s good news because the world doesn’t need more information on the Sabbath, end-time events, or the sanctuary. What the world needs is a personal encounter with the Jesus that Sabbath, prophecy, and sanctuary point to. Without him, these doctrines might have factual value but they are not truth in the fullest sense. Truth—the kind that melts the heart, rebirths the soul, and heals the world—is found only in Jesus.
This means three things.
Love is evangelism: Jesus said, "By this will all men know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:35) This means authentic love is the strongest demonstration of truth, not arguments. Of course, I am not saying good theology is pointless. I am, after all, a huge theology nerd. What I am saying is that love authenticates our message. Through it, not our doctrines, the world comes to know that we are his disciples.
Connection is truth: Truth is not just a set of ideas; it's Jesus. Everything we say and teach must point to him. If it doesn’t, all we are doing is pumping religious information into the world. And the world has plenty of religious data as it is. It doesn’t need more. What it needs is Jesus. And Jesus said it best when he stated, “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me…” (John 5:39)
Relationship is discipleship: In a post-truth world, truth is most effectively conveyed through the beauty of relationships and shared lives. The culture is fed up with religious know it all’s who want to push their doctrines onto everyone else. What people need is someone to sit with them and build authentic relationships.
Ellen White put it this way:
“You will meet with those who will say, ‘You are too much excited over the matter. You are too much in earnest. You should not be reaching for the righteousness of Christ, and making so much of that. You should preach the law.’
As a people we have preached the law until we are as dry as the hills of Gilboa, that had neither dew nor rain. We must preach Christ in the law, and there will be sap and nourishment in the preaching that will be as food to the famishing flock of God. We must not trust in our own merits at all, but in the merits of Jesus of Nazareth.”-The Review and Herald, March 11, 1890.
The bottom line: truth is bigger than doctrine, bigger than 28 fundamental beliefs, and bigger than our systematic theologies. Truth is more than data, more than information, more than propositional ideas. God did not send a dissertation to humanity, a philosopher, or a scholar. He sent his “only begotten son”. (John 3:16) He became “flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14)
And this truth is the only truth that can redeem the world.
