Word of the year 2016

Every year the Oxford Dictionary chooses a  "word of the year."  For 2016 it is “post-truth”  which they describe as ‘relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief’.  Or in other words, never mind the facts it’s what we believe that matters. It’s a word that has been used increasingly following the wildly exaggerated claims made in the election campaigns on both sides of the Atlantic last year.

From a Christian perspective this is disturbing.  Jesus did not say, "Never mind the facts, it's how you feel that is important." He didn't say, "All opinions are equally valid: it's sincerity that counts."  Jesus said, “The truth will set you free”. Distorting truth is not acceptable, even if much of what is reported as "news" is spin.

So, for Christians, the question we should keep in front of us is, "Is this true?" We should always be looking for facts and evidence rather than opinion.  Because, from a Christian perspective, the pursuit of truth will lead us to the one who said "I am the truth." At Jesus' trial the politician, Pontius Pilate, asked the question "What is truth?"   He couldn't recognise the truth when the personification of truth, Jesus, was literally staring him in the face.

I hope that 2017 will be a year of truth, not post-truth.