By George J. Matranga
Truth is getting harder to come by these days. Our world is growing more insane each day. It is like a kangaroo court where law and justice is disregarded and perverted. I call this insanity of the times, “The Kangaroo Culture.” While this may sound negative it is no less true. It is easier to deny reality than to face the truth. It also seems to be a rampant fear of being honest today. People care more about feelings than being truthful. In this permissive age, those who are loyal to truth are regarded as unloving and uncaring; oftentimes treated as the enemy. The Apostle Paul faced this dilemma with the Galatian church. “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” Gal. 4:16 KJV
We are a nation headed for chaos because we have strayed from God’s moral order. This is a self-evident truth mirrored by the moral breakdown of this nation. The only way to make sense out of the chaos running rampant through our streets is to weigh all matters of life and existence against the truth — Jesus Christ. In an election sermon in 1799, Dr. Jedediah Morse, who was called the “Father of American Geography,” said:
Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of government, and all the blessings which flow from them, must fall with them. 1
There was a time when America highly esteemed the Bible, but today it has become an offense. It is no wonder that truth is offensive. Once even the name of the Lord Jesus Christ was honored. Now He has been reduced by most as just an iconic figure, not as the Lord of heaven and earth. Yet, He is the ultimate reality and the embodiment of truth. “…as the truth is in Jesus.” Eph. 4:21 Today, it is not surprising to see a bumper sticker that reads: “No God, no idol, no leader…just pure inner strength.” Yet, many would regard this falsehood as their truth.
Many Americans live as if the culture defines truth. Recently, a homosexual politician came out as saying that one must find his own truth…as he has found his. Just as in Bible times, there are still those today that resist the truth. “Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.” 2 Tim. 3:8 KJV
The Bible warns us to beware of this destructive philosophy. Col. 2:8 KJV Not only is moral relativism and political correctness corrupting our society, it is even infecting the church. The Apostle Peter tells believers, “Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.” II Peter 1:12 KJV Peter is saying that he will remind his disciples again and again to be fixed, steadfast, and firmly grounded in the truth of the gospel at hand.
Currently at hand, many churches in America have strayed from the fixed moral standards found in God‘s Holy word. Many lovers of Jesus have confided in me how dismayed they are at the condition of the church. Many are afraid to speak up for fear of being accused of speaking against the authority and being regarded as rebels. They are disgusted at the continuing of the lowering of standards in the name of reaching more people. They want their pastors to stand up for truth. Today, most pastors are more concerned with growing the church by increasing numbers, than by increasing the kingdom by producing disciples. The church is supposed to be the one place in this chaotic world where one can find sanctity and truth. “But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.” I Tim. 3:15 KJV
Our only safety net is an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ and with one another, His body. These days it is not an option to abide in truth — it’s our very survival! “And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.“ I John 3:19 KJV
( 1 Excerpt from the book manuscript “The Last Great American Trade – The Selling Of A Nation’s Soul” by George J. Matranga, Chapter One, Page 2.)