The man called into a talk radio show that was discussing the afterlife. He was confused. He wanted to believe in reincarnation, but Elliot said there was no afterlife, while Billy Bob claimed he had experienced life after death. So, who do you believe?

Maybe that is the wrong question.

Belief doesn’t create reality. Something does not become true because I sincerely believe it, nor does it cease to be true because I refuse to believe it. Reality does not rearrange itself around my opinions, preferences, experiences, or desires.

The church at Laodicea learned that lesson painfully. They said, “I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing.” But Jesus said, “You do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17).

They were living in a fantasized reality. What they believed about themselves and what was actually true about themselves were two very different things.

And we can do the same. We can convince ourselves that we’re fine when we’re not, right when we’re wrong, strong when we’re weak, and close to God when we’ve actually drifted far from Him. Sincerity doesn’t protect us from self-deception.

That’s why we need truth. God’s Word does not exist to reinforce the reality we have created for ourselves. It holds up a mirror and shows us what is actually there. Sometimes that is uncomfortable, but it is also an act of grace.

Jesus told Laodicea to anoint their eyes so that they could see. Before their condition could change, they had to see their condition as it really was.

The most important question, then, is not, “What do I want to believe?” It is, “What is true?”

Belief doesn’t create reality. Truth reveals reality—and wisdom is having the humility to let truth correct what we believe. ©

–PGR