### Introduction: The Red Balloon and the Culture of Subjective Truth
Each week in this series we’ve let culture speak first — and then we’ve asked, ‘What does God say?’
Today I want to show you a short, funny little sketch that captures our cultural moment about as well as anything I’ve seen. Watch what happens when a simple fact — the color of a balloon — becomes… negotiable.”
Video Ill.: Red Balloon by One Time Blind
So… what color is the balloon??
Right. Red. Unless it’s green. Or yellow. Or blue… or purple from the back row… or nonexistent if you only see in black & white… or if ‘there is no balloon’ at all!”?
Here’s my favorite line from the skit: ‘The funny thing about truth is, it’s true… whether you believe it or not.’
We live in a world where truth has become a personal preference.
The mantra today is: “You do you.” “Live your truth.” “What’s true for you is true for you.”
But when everything is true… nothing is.
Over the past several weeks, we’ve been walking through some of the most dangerous lies our world tells — and the truth God speaks in response:
1. “You Are Not Enough” — The world says you do not measure up. But God says you are made in His image, and His grace is sufficient.
2. “Your Past Defines You” — The enemy whispers that your mistakes disqualify you. But in Christ, your past is redeemed, and your story is not over.
3. “We Are Not Strong Enough” — Culture tells us to rely on ourselves. But God’s strength is made perfect in our weakness.
4. “We Are Alone in This World” — The lie is isolation. The truth is Immanuel — God with us — always present, never leaving.
5. “God Has Abandoned Us in Our Struggles” — In hard seasons, it can feel like God is silent. But His Word assures us: His mercies are new every morning, and His presence never fails.
6. “What You Have Defines Your Worth” — The world measures value by wealth and status. But God says your worth is found in being His — created, loved, and redeemed.
This morning, in a world that says, ‘Pick the version of reality that fits you best,’ Jesus claims something far bolder — not a truth, but the Truth.
Today, we are going to confront that lie head-on: the lie that truth is whatever you want it to be.
And we are going to hold it up to the light of the One who called Himself the way, the truth, and the life.
### **I. The Lie: Truth is Relative**
Even in Jesus’ time, some believed that truth was relative. Believe whom you wanted to believe. Follow whom you wanted to follow. Follow along from John 18 as we see just one example of relativism playing out.
33 Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked him.
34 Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?”
|| 35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?”
36 Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me || from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”
37 Pilate said, “So you are a king?”
Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. || All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.”
38 “What is truth?” Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime. 39 But you have a custom of asking me to release one prisoner || each year at Passover. Would you like me to release this ‘King of the Jews’?”
40 But they shouted back, “No! Not this man. We want Barabbas!” (Barabbas was a revolutionary.) (John 18, NLT)
What is truth?
The very question that prompted Pilate to go back to the crowds. The very question that was the nail in Jesus’ conviction.
Pilate certainly would fit in our world today. Go to any college campus and you can see Pilate’s question metaphorically written on the walls!
What is truth?
And listen to the answers: It’s whatever you want it to be. Believe whatever you want as long is it works for you.
Pilate’s world, just like ours, was full of competing voices — Roman gods, Greek philosophy, Jewish law, political power, and personal ambition.
But when confronted with the real truth, Pilate could not hear it. He chose the truth of political power, of Roman gods, of personal ambition.
The truth was negotiable.
Our world today says the very same thing. What is truth?
What is the truth about right and wrong? I disagree with you so I’m going to hurt you. I do not like your enforcement of the laws, so I’m going to hunt you down and taunt, disrupt, even bring harm to your family. And hey, it’s OK because that’s what my truth says is OK.
What is the truth about who I am? The scientific truth of the makeup of my body is irrelevant. My DNA, my chromosomes mean nothing. I want to be someone my body is not. And though I have to go through body damaging surgeries, treatments, and therapies, it is all OK, because my truth says its OK.
What is the truth about what is going on in our world? Facts, events, data are all called into question. News is not news anymore. It is sensationalism, trying to push one side of the story or the other.
We live in an altered state of reality today. Up is down, left is right, red is blue, green, yellow, purple, or whatever we want it to be in order to make us for a short fleeting moment happy.
But friends, truth does not bend to belief. Truth does not change just because we want it to change.
Reminds me of a story Amanda told me about Wade, Bucky and a “magic ring”. When Amanda was really little, Bucky and Wade convinced her that this magic ring could make her fly if she wore it while jumping off her bed. Being little and trusting her big brothers, she tried, and ended up getting hurt.
No matter how much she might have believed that the “magic ring” could make her fly, her belief in her brothers’ “truth” did not change the reality of gravity! No matter what we believe, gravity will always pull us toward the ground. Jump, and we will fall down.
You cannot see it. You cannot point your finger at it. You can question it. But nothing changes it. The truth is always the truth and will always be the truth.
Everyone Is Entitled to His Own Opinion
Daniel Patrick Moynihan
1983 January 18, The Washington Post, More Than Social Security Was at Stake by Daniel P. Moynihan, Quote Page A17, Column 5, Washington, D.C. (ProQuest)
While I may not agree with the late New York Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, he did get this right. In a 1983 op-ed piece in the “Washington Post” he wrote:
There is a center in American politics. It can govern. The commission is just an example of what can be done. First, get your facts straight. Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts. Second, decide to live with the facts. Third, resolve to surmount them. Because, fourth, what is at stake is our capacity to govern.
When we are all chasing after our own truth — after our own facts — the result is confusion, division, and the collapse of morality.
It is true today what was spoken of Israel in Judges 21:?
25 In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. (Judges 21, NLT)
### **II. The Truth: Jesus Is Truth — and His Word is Truth**
All Roads Lead to God?
Source: 3:16 Stories of Hope (Lionsgate, 2007), directed by Karl Horstmann
https://www.preachingtoday.com/illustrations/2008/january/5011408.html
Copied from Preaching Today
In a video companion study based on his book 3:16 Stories of Hope, Max Lucado illustrates the odd nature of the statement that "all religions lead to God":
All roads lead to heaven. Well, the sentence makes good talk-show fodder, but does it make sense? Can all approaches to God be correct? How can all religions lead to God when they are so different? We don't tolerate such logic in other matters. We don't pretend that all roads lead to London or all ships sail to Australia; all flights don't lead to Rome. Imagine your response to a travel agent who proclaims they do. You tell him you need a flight to Rome, Italy. So he looks on his screen, and he offers, "Well, there's a flight to Sidney, Australia, at 6:00 a.m."
"Does it go to Rome?" you ask.
"No, but it offers great food and movies."
"But I need to go to Rome," you say.
He says, "Well, let me suggest Southwest Airlines."
"Southwest Airlines flies to Rome?"
"No, but they win awards for on-time arrivals."
You're getting frustrated, so you reiterate: "I need one airline, to carry me to one place—Rome."
The agent appears offended: "Sir, all flights go to Rome."
Well, you know better. Different flights have different destinations. That's not a thickheaded conclusion, but an honest one. Every flight does not go to Rome. And every path does not lead to God.
In John 14, Jesus says:
6 … “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14, NLT)
Jesus did not say that He knows the truth. He emphatically said He is the truth.
You see, truth is not just a principle. Truth is a person.
Our world has abandoned faith in that person, and has therefore abandoned trust in absolute truth.
Paul writes to Timothy, in 2 Timothy 4, and warns about what was to come, even in their time:
3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will reject the truth || and chase after myths. (2 Timothy 4, NLT)
We have rejected the Truth because our society has rejected God.
Whether or not we believe the truth has no bearing on the truth remaining the truth.
Truth does not change. That is the wonder of truth.
And when we are looking for that truth upon which to build our lives, we can find it in the Holy Scriptures, in God’s Holy Word, a living breathing sword that never changes, never gives up, never ends, and is now and forever eternal..
It is as good today as it was when the writers were jotting down every word that came from the Spirit of God.
When we are grounded in the truth, nothing in this world can move us.
Every year, when we travel to Cincinnati to watch baseball games, as we are leaving the parking garage after the game, I use Waze on my phone to direct us to wherever we happen to be staying.
And every year, at least once, the signal from my cell phone is not strong enough to pass our actual location so the directions are correct. And every year, at least once, I end up taking a wrong turn trying to get out of the garage and on our way.
But once we get out from under all of that steel and concrete, to wide open skies, Waze figures out where I am, and directs me correctly to where we want to go.
All of these GPS systems that we have on our phones and in our vehicles are dependent upon two things: actual coordinates of our destination, and correct coordinates of our current location. Without these, the GPS systems cannot direct us to where we want to go. I can have all of the preferences set in Waze, telling it I do not want to drive on toll roads, gravel roads, that I always want to go the quickest way, but without coordinates, those preferences are useless.
God’s Word is the anchor and coordinates of our spiritual lives. Without that grounding, we are just driving around, looking for what we hope might be the best way to go in our lives.
The Unchanging Word of God is the Truth. It is the truth upon which we must ground our lives.
### **III. How Do We Stand Firm in Truth — Even When the World Rejects It?**
Let me give you some encouragement, though it may not sound that way initially: It is OK if the world does not buy into the truth.
The world did not buy into the truth when Jesus Himself walked the earth either. In fact, He warned us this would happen. Listen to what He told His disciples in John 15:
18 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. 20…. Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you….” (John 15, NLT)
Do not be surprised when the world around us resists Biblical truth.
As a matter of fact, the academic world may scoff. The cultural elite may call us backward.
But that does not give us the OK to water down, hide, or walk away from the truth. Instead, we have to stand firm for and in the truth. We hold to the truth. We stand on the truth as we build our lives on the Rock.
Truth is not determined by popularity — it is determined by God.
I want to give you 6 quick suggestions to help us stand for the truth, even when we are being challenged and discouraged by the world.
1. Anchor Our Truth in the Unchanging Word of God
Remember the words of Isaiah:
8 The grass withers, the flower fades,?But the word of our God stands forever.
(Isaiah 40, NASB)
God’s Word is the truth upon which we can stand. It never changes. It stands forever. It is not discovered by vote or validated by opinion. It is revealed by God and stands regardless of public approval.
2. Live Truth Boldly — and Humbly
Think about Jesus. John writes in John 1 that Jesus was…
14 … full of grace and truth. (John 1, NKJV)
Jesus lived boldly, preaching, teaching, and sharing the truth all around the Holy Land. But He shared the truth of God while also showing grace and love.
We should speak the truth of God with love and grace of Jesus, not with arrogance.
You can count on this: We may never win the debate in the classroom — but we can win credibility with our character.
3. Expect Pushback — and Prepare for It
The world is not going to just begin believing because we are sharing the truth of God. Too many people in the world hear and ascribe to the lies of the great deceiver. So do not be discouraged.
Even the disciples struggled. Jesus warned them in John 15:
19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (John 15, NKJV)
Do not be surprised. Simply stay grounded in the truth.
4. Speak With Wisdom, Seasoned With Salt
Paul counseled the Colossians about their conversations:
6 Your speech must always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person. (Colossians 4, NASB)
When we are challenged, questioned, and confronted, respond graciously — with calmness — yet with certainty, wisdom, and conviction. Let the love of Christ show in our lives and in our conversations — do not respond with rage or sarcasm, but with concern and care. We will open the door for deeper and more meaningful conversations.
5. Show Truth in How We Live
Let our integrity, our compassion, our consistency be the testimony.
In a world of lies, truth-tellers must be trustworthy. As Jesus says, simply let our yes be yes and our no be a no. Do what we say. Say what we mean. Live with uprightness, honesty, and truth every day.
Let our actions be rooted in love and righteousness, authenticating the message of God.
6. Trust the Results to God
Pray for strength. Pray for the words. Pray for a softened heart. But pray. Give it to God to work.
God said in Isaiah 55:
11 It is the same with my word.? I send it out, and it always produces fruit.?It will accomplish all I want it to,? and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
(Isaiah 55, NLT)
Our job is to be faithful. God will handle the results.
Let it be said of us: when the world has abandoned truth, we stood — not in arrogance, but in confidence — knowing that the truth was never ours to create… but ours to uphold.
### **IV. Responding to the Truth: Speak the Truth in Love**
Paul encourages the church in Ephesians 4:
11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This || will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.
14 Then we will no longer be || immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way || more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. (Ephesians 4, NLT)
In the world, immaturity believes lies. Maturity grows in truth.
How do we gain maturity? Study the Word. Ground ourselves in the truth. Deepen our relationship with our God.
As we mature, we will care less about the opinions and thoughts of the great deceiver, and more and more about the words of our Savior.
We will be more bold, wanting others to know the love that we enjoy.
But we must be the ones to show that love. Our calling is to share the truth of God with compassion, love, and care. This is not optional. This is our edict.
Someone has once said, “Truth sounds like hate to those who hate the truth.”
Do not be dissuaded. Know that there will be those who will accuse truth-tellers as hate-spewers. But as long as we are sharing the truth in love, we can stand in the confidence of our Rock, Jesus Christ.
### **Conclusion: The Rock Beneath Our Feet**
We have spent this morning confronting one of the most dangerous lies of our time — that truth is whatever you want it to be.
But what we believe does not determine what is true.
Truth is not invented — it is revealed. And it has been revealed in Jesus Christ, who said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
This morning, are we living by truth — or by preference?
Are we building our lives on the Rock of Christ — or the shifting sand of culture?
Are we willing to stand firm — even when others call us foolish, outdated, or unloving — because we know that truth spoken in love is still truth?
It is not easy. Jesus told us it would not be.
The world rejected Him. They will reject us too.
But truth is still truth — even when it is unpopular.
So today, may we commit ourselves again to God’s unchanging Word — these ancient words, ever true, that change us and shape us and ground us when the world spins out of control.
Let these words dwell richly in our hearts.
Let them shape our thinking, guide our choices, and steady our souls.
That’s the message of Michael W. Smith’s anthem, “Ancient Words”. May the words of this song be our declaration to the world:
Holy words, long preserved, for our walk in
this world…
They resound with God’s own heart… Oh,
let the ancient words impart.
Video Ill.: Ancient Words by Michael W. Smith
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0y-9XramyBM
