The cost of truth is increasing, but is it worth it?
In a fallen world, truth always comes with a cost.
Stephen, the first Christian martyr recorded in the book of Acts, spoke the truth concerning Israel’s history, their persecution of the prophets, their disobedience to the law, and ultimately their killing of Jesus, God’s Righteous One, who now sits at His right hand (Acts 7:51-56). For that, Stephen paid a steep price: his life.
Today, the price of truth may not always cost us our lives, but its price continues to rise. Perhaps most striking is the heavy toll our culture now exacts for embracing God’s truth about gender and sexuality. Not too long ago, few would have batted an eye at those who believed this truth. Even as recently as 10 years ago, speaking these truths might have cost you, at most, a derogatory remark from a coworker.
But now, teachers are being fired for declining to use pronouns that do not align with the truth of a student’s biological sex. Female athletes are losing athletic opportunities and hard-earned recognition as their schools race to replace biology with ideology. And health care professionals could be subject to steep fines, loss of medical license, or even jail time for not prescribing cross-sex hormones to patients contrary to their beliefs and medical judgment.
Truth is not the only thing that comes with a cost. So do lies. Lies just hide their true cost.
When the serpent came to deceive Adam and Eve in Genesis 3, his tactic was to hide the cost of believing the lie (“You shall not surely die”). Unfortunately, it worked. To this day, we bear the consequences of their having believed that lie.
Lies will further seek to hide their true cost by making fewer demands upon you than the truth.
Such was the case when Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness. The devil promised Him “all the kingdoms of the world and their glory” if He would just fall down and worship him (Matthew 4:8-9). In essence, He was being offered what had already been promised to Him by the Father — but without having to go through death on the cross. To this day, we reap the benefits of His having obeyed the truth. Jesus’ death on the cross paid the price for our sins and wrought salvation for all who believe in Him.
The truth, by its very nature, cannot hide its true cost nor make fewer demands of others because God is Truth, and God cannot sell Himself short or demand anything less than He is due as God.
Because of this, the price of truth will always seem higher than the price of a lie, so the temptation will be for us to buy the lie rather than pay the price of truth.
But as humans, we bear the image of the God of all truth. And as Christians, we are being conformed to the image of Christ, who is the Truth (John 14:6). Being a people of truth is core to who we are. Lies do not befit us. We must know the truth and be willing to pay its cost.
Another temptation we will face is to distort the price of truth. This can happen in two ways.
The first is deflation — artificially lowering the cost of truth by downplaying its demands. Out of a motivation to win people over to the truth, we can be tempted to preach a prosperity Gospel that promises ease and comfort for believing the truth when Scripture has explicitly promised us the opposite (1 Peter 4:12-19, 2 Timothy 3:12). Such a strategy scatters seed upon rocky soil. When these people come to pay the real price of truth, they will fall away (Matthew 10:20-21).
The second is inflation — artificially raising the already-high cost of truth by being unnecessarily offensive. We live in a world with people who love the darkness rather than the light (John 3:19). To shine the light of truth will offend many, but there’s a difference between speaking an offensive truth and speaking the truth offensively. Our words must always reflect the grace and truth with which Jesus spoke to the world around him, and our firmness of belief must not be mistaken for hardness of heart towards others who bear God’s image.
Truth always comes with a cost in this world, but it is a price worth paying. Whether that cost is being slandered or losing a job, a relationship, or — like Stephen — even our lives, it cannot compare to the eternal weight of glory (and truth) that awaits us in the presence of God.
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Neal Hardin is a digital writer for Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) who holds a Masters in Theology from Biola University. He also writes at The Religion and Politics Blog.
