Where's Truth?

So, I'm talking with a friend today, and he is telling me about a young adult study he is in where they are currently discussing "big topics" in Christianity, which is basically all those questions that always come up. Anyways, I start to probe exactly how the group element works and what sort of conclusions they are coming to, when I realize that their whole process could very easily be naught but a waste.

They started with an associate pastor outlining the subject, and enlightening it with some scripture and his thoughts. Awesome. But it is exactly at this point where untruth can sneak in. I have been in plenty of Christian study groups where we just go in circles for an hour with everyone's personal thoughts and feelings being expressed, and in the end you only changed your mind if someone had a better illustration or seemingly better logic, but mostly you just stayed the same. What a waste! It's like playing "Where's Waldo" with a bunch of people who don't even know what he looks like, completely ignoring a book readily at your disposal that can tell you everything you need to know about Waldo, even where to find him in the picture!

We can so often treat the Bible in much the same way in these situations. The person that brings up scripture in the conversation can sometimes be seen as overly righteous, when in reality that is the one and only place to find ultimate authority in truth. Even more difficult is when a person either in sin does not want to hear what the Bible has to say, or they just simply don't put the Bible in it's proper place of ultimate authority. So, now not only are we looking for Waldo without a clear picture, but some people are completely disagreeing with what they think Waldo looks like in the first place! It's like the big picture at the end of the third book where it is all people who look similar to Waldo, some missing only one small detail. There is only one real Waldo in that last picture, just like there is only one truth and one place to find it: the scriptures.

16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
--2 Timothy 2:16-17

So much time, energy, and life is wasted debating amongst Christians, when in reality there is no cohesion on basic principles, which is holding up the entire discussion in the first place. IS the Bible the infallible, inspired word of God, and therefore THE absolute authority in matters of life, death, sin and faith? WAS Jesus fully God in the flesh, the propication for sin, and resurrected King? How sinful is man and what effect does that sin have on his relationship to God and ability to function in this world? All questions that need answering, some more immediately than others, and all out there to be found by the grace of God and diligence of His disciples.

Waldo is out there, I promise. Find Him.