Alisa Childers and Greg Koukl are two of the most prominent apologists active today. In this interview, Alisa interviews Greg concerning the philisophical issues attached to "living your truth." It sounds really good on a tshirt or in a twitter feed, but it can wreck your life.
The reality is the idea of living your own personal truth is a luxury not based in reality. Every time you go the speed limit when you would rather not, you are not living your truth. You may want to go as fast as you like, but the police officer writing you a ticket will remind you that this is not your own personal reality. Every time you work overtime because you need more money, you are not living your truth. No matter what your truth may be, your landlord does not care how much money you think you deserve to give him. He wants the amount you owe.
This interview is helpful for those wanting a logical conversation about this topic and tools to cleanse your mind of propaganda. It's okay to love someone but not agree with them. Most people are only tolerant of those who agree with them. True love is being able to love someone you do not agree with. This interview will help you understand how to love someone without promoting this point of view.
Here were some of my favorite takeaways:
Misconception- “Live your truth.”
Greg calls this phrase a classic sign of narcissism. How could we possibly live only for ourselves? If everyone actually did this, the world would be in chaos. Placing yourself at the center of the universe is the wrong thing to do in almost every situation. There is an intrinsic paradox that we all deal with when hearing this statement. If we are honest, the first thought is one of agreement. Who doesn't want to be able to have it your way at all times? However, almost immediately we realize this is not wisdom. What would happen if your spouse decided they simply did not want to be married to you anymore? What would happen if the mother of a newborn decided she didn't want to take her of her baby? What if the person living next door decided today was the day to discover what it felt like to kill someone? These are terrible ideas! Thank goodness most people do not "live their truth" and act upon their impulses.
Misconception- “Be the hero of your own story.”
You cannot live up to that standard. You cannot be trusted to do the best thing at all times. The reason all our movie heroes are so awesome and always know what to do is... wait for it... BECAUSE. IT. IS. A. MOVIE. Lol. I was devastated when I realized the guy playing my favorite superhero was actually just an adult really good at playing pretend!
I once met someone I had idolized for a really long time. After about 2 minutes in his company, I realized this guy was actually a jerk. He was apparently only nice to 'big shots' or when on 'big stages.' I was a nobody and he treated me like it.
The point is that we are setting ourselves up for failure when we say we have to be the hero of our own story. We need someone bigger to handle the weight of our expectations. We need God. Only Jesus can handle this type of weight.
Truth- “A compass is not good enough. You also need a map.”
If you have a compass you can orient yourself, but you still do not know where you are going without a map. This is really good. The more I think about it, the more I like it.
Truth- “Everyone who says you cannot judge them is making a judgement call. The goal is to judge properly.”
Nothing more needed. This is really good. Anytime someone accuses you of being judgmental by stating truth is objective, they are making a judgement call. If someone says there is no such thing as objective truth you should ask, "Is that statement true?"
Truth- “Everyone is out of the closet except Christians.”
Think about it. Almost everyone is celebrated for their views and ideas except Christians. Why do you think that is? Seriously. I am sincerely curious.
