T Words

District Diaries June 2026 Edition
​by Marvin Penner

Truth and Trust are two important words. They are intimately related to each other.
It is common these days for people to ask the question that Pilot asked of Jesus, what is truth? Pick an issue - any issue, and the internet will serve up persuasive but contradictory facts on every side.

This is where trust comes in. Because there is too much information for us to determine truth we turn to trust, or trusted sources. For many of us the first trusted source of truth was our parents, but part of growing up is realising that they sometimes miss the truth. This realization can be devastating but we grow and become wiser. We then turn to additional trusted sources for truth; authors, professors, political parties, news outlets, podcasters, friends, and colleagues. In every case there have been instances where truth was compromised and we’ve had to consider whether or not trust was justified.
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Pilot asked Jesus, what is Truth? We’re still asking. Jesus had just said, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world - to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37 NET). This is different. Jesus is not talking about knowing the truth or trusting someone or something for truth. He is talking about where your allegiance lies. I looked His words up in several good translations and found this concept expressed in different ways such as “belongs to the truth” (NET), “loves the truth” (NLT), “is on the side of truth” (NIV), “bears witness to the truth” (NKJ), and “cares for truth” (MSG). You get the idea that Jesus is talking about a devotion or commitment to truth. This devotion will inevitably be frustrated. We find it impossible to know enough to be able to determine what is true. The sources we trust to lead us to truth will fail to be trustworthy. One option that is very tempting for many is to give up on devotion to truth. It seems this is not a new temptation as Pilot came to this conclusion in the 1st century.

Jesus encourages us to love truth and to be devoted to it. When faced with Pilot’s indifference towards truth He says that if the truth is important to us, we ought to listen to his voice for he testifies to the truth. These words of Jesus lead me to several observations that are worth thinking about.

1)      We should in fact be devoted to truth
2)      Truth has a starting point. It starts with God in the person of Jesus Christ.
3)      Truth is relational. Our ability to know truth begins with the voice of Jesus.
4)      Truth does not start from what I think or say but it begins in the humility of listening.

Where you start from makes all the difference. Foundations are important.