A Culture of Truth
Both our mission and our vision are foundational, which Chad and Matthew covered in the past couple of weeks. They express who we are as a local body of believers and what we are called to as followers of Jesus Christ. And both are firmly rooted in the Great Commission of Matthew 28, where Jesus commands us to “go and make disciples.” Our vision simply describes how we believe God is leading us to live out that mission in this season, in this community, and for His glory.
Over the next four weeks, you will hear about the values we have adopted to guide our decision-making and help us stay faithful to the mission and vision. Are our actions and decisions in line with these values: a culture of truth, a culture of dependence, a culture of compassion, and a culture of stewardship? On deck this week, I want to highlight the culture of truth that must be present at Cornerstone in all that we do.
As a church, as followers of Christ, truth must guide us in all that we do. This is not some postmodern, subjective human truth, nor is it an oscillating, ever-changing hypermodern truth environment. It is not a version of the truth in how each of us understands any given topic or situation, but an absolute, authoritative, perfect objective truth. As Christians, we know that untarnished, factual, faithful, and complete truth can only come from God. The psalmist in Psalm 31, verse 5 writes, …You have ransomed me, O Lord, God of truth.”
If truth originates from God, He must then be the perfect embodiment of truth. The author of 2 Chronicles refers to God as the “true God” in chapter 15, verse 3. Jesus in John 7:28 says of the Father, “but He who sent Me is true.” One chapter later, Jesus equates Himself as true with the Father, “But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.”
John, at the beginning of his gospel, tells us of Jesus, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” A few verses later, we see that, Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” We read of Jesus in Revelation 3:14, he is the “faithful and true witness.” John also, in several places in his gospel and first letter, refers to the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of Truth or the truth.
We, of course, know these things, as just referenced about God, come from His word. If then God is truth, and only truth comes from Him, His word must be perfect truth. All of it. More specifically, it is the gospel centered on Jesus Christ, in which God’s word pours out objective, yet loving truth into the world. The gospel and truth go hand in hand. It is the truth of Christ that Paul boasts about in 2 Corinthians 11:10. It is this truth that Paul would write to Timothy that God, our Savior, desires all men to be saved and to come to full knowledge of this truth, that there is one God, and one mediator between him and humanity, Jesus Christ. (1 Tim. 1:3b-5).
That is the culture of truth we want to guard and lead what we do at Cornerstone. Does it honor and glorify Jesus Christ, does it help us grow in our knowledge and grow in his likeness, and does it advance this glorious message to others?
It is the role of the Church, and ultimately our duty as elders, to ensure we make decisions and convey messages that honor God and his word. We are all called to hold and guard this truth through the Holy Spirit who is in us; this great treasure we have been given (2 Tim. 1:13-14). What we do must advance and share God’s truth. We must also be living out the truth of God’s word. What we do in action must equate to what we say. If what we say must be true, so must the application of our actions and decisions.
Lastly, we must be discerning about what is being taught and preached through our various ministries. Is what we are doing equipping believers to navigate our fallen world and the sinfulness and lies that permeate it? Is what you are hearing from the pulpit and Sunday school faithful to the gospel message? Are our other ministries doing the same?
It is this culture of truth that we, at Cornerstone and as elders, will and must commit to, to aid us in faithfully and rightly serving our great God and Savior. More to come, stay tuned!
Check out the video HERE.
Over the next four weeks, you will hear about the values we have adopted to guide our decision-making and help us stay faithful to the mission and vision. Are our actions and decisions in line with these values: a culture of truth, a culture of dependence, a culture of compassion, and a culture of stewardship? On deck this week, I want to highlight the culture of truth that must be present at Cornerstone in all that we do.
As a church, as followers of Christ, truth must guide us in all that we do. This is not some postmodern, subjective human truth, nor is it an oscillating, ever-changing hypermodern truth environment. It is not a version of the truth in how each of us understands any given topic or situation, but an absolute, authoritative, perfect objective truth. As Christians, we know that untarnished, factual, faithful, and complete truth can only come from God. The psalmist in Psalm 31, verse 5 writes, …You have ransomed me, O Lord, God of truth.”
If truth originates from God, He must then be the perfect embodiment of truth. The author of 2 Chronicles refers to God as the “true God” in chapter 15, verse 3. Jesus in John 7:28 says of the Father, “but He who sent Me is true.” One chapter later, Jesus equates Himself as true with the Father, “But even if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me.”
John, at the beginning of his gospel, tells us of Jesus, “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.” A few verses later, we see that, Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” We read of Jesus in Revelation 3:14, he is the “faithful and true witness.” John also, in several places in his gospel and first letter, refers to the Holy Spirit as the “Spirit of Truth or the truth.
We, of course, know these things, as just referenced about God, come from His word. If then God is truth, and only truth comes from Him, His word must be perfect truth. All of it. More specifically, it is the gospel centered on Jesus Christ, in which God’s word pours out objective, yet loving truth into the world. The gospel and truth go hand in hand. It is the truth of Christ that Paul boasts about in 2 Corinthians 11:10. It is this truth that Paul would write to Timothy that God, our Savior, desires all men to be saved and to come to full knowledge of this truth, that there is one God, and one mediator between him and humanity, Jesus Christ. (1 Tim. 1:3b-5).
That is the culture of truth we want to guard and lead what we do at Cornerstone. Does it honor and glorify Jesus Christ, does it help us grow in our knowledge and grow in his likeness, and does it advance this glorious message to others?
It is the role of the Church, and ultimately our duty as elders, to ensure we make decisions and convey messages that honor God and his word. We are all called to hold and guard this truth through the Holy Spirit who is in us; this great treasure we have been given (2 Tim. 1:13-14). What we do must advance and share God’s truth. We must also be living out the truth of God’s word. What we do in action must equate to what we say. If what we say must be true, so must the application of our actions and decisions.
Lastly, we must be discerning about what is being taught and preached through our various ministries. Is what we are doing equipping believers to navigate our fallen world and the sinfulness and lies that permeate it? Is what you are hearing from the pulpit and Sunday school faithful to the gospel message? Are our other ministries doing the same?
It is this culture of truth that we, at Cornerstone and as elders, will and must commit to, to aid us in faithfully and rightly serving our great God and Savior. More to come, stay tuned!
Check out the video HERE.
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