{"id":5172,"date":"2026-01-20T10:00:44","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T15:00:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/?p=5172"},"modified":"2026-01-20T10:00:44","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T15:00:44","slug":"truth-or-consequences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/20\/truth-or-consequences\/","title":{"rendered":"Truth or Consequences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>
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The April 8, 1966, cover of TIME <\/em>is arguably the most famous in the magazine\u2019s history.
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For the first time, the editors didn\u2019t include an image.\u00a0The black cover featured three huge words in red text: Is God Dead?\u00a0<\/em>
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That question was connected to the feature article, a survey of certain 1960s theologians who were proposing the elimination of the idea of God from the field of theology.\u00a0This of course was genuinely ironic, since \u201ctheology\u201d literally means \u201cthe study of God.\u201d
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To say that TIME <\/em>was swamped with a wave of criticism would be an understatement.
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The magazine received more letters to the editor than any story in its history, before or since \u2013 many of them expressions of rage.
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A great many people never bothered to read the article.\u00a0They couldn\u2019t get past the cover.\u00a0To this day, millions of Americans feel certain that TIME <\/em>once put out an issue in which they publicly declared, in bright red letters, that God is dead.
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TIME, <\/em>of course, was merely presenting the controversial question posed by radical theologians. It\u2019s a sure bet, however, that they knew a tidal wave of emotion and misunderstanding would be coming their way.
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Then came April 3, 2017.
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Once again the cover featured a three-word question.\u00a0The dramatic colors and font were deliberate throwbacks to 1966. This time the cover asked, Is Truth Dead?\u00a0 <\/em>The feature article concerned President Trump\u2019s embrace of a series of apparent falsehoods during the course of his first three months of his first term.
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According to the article, the new administration had made startling claims without presenting corroborating evidence, endorsed conspiracy theories, pounded the media for promulgating \u201cfake news,\u201d and even added a new term to the American lexicon:\u00a0alternative facts.\u00a0<\/em>
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As I\u2019ve noted before, \u201cDonald Trump\u201d is the subject I most try to avoid when writing reflections.
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Even though the president has dominated news cycles as no other chief executive in American history, even the mention of his name triggers deep emotions and potential misunderstandings at both ends of the political spectrum.
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Nonetheless, truth is a subject worth addressing. And one can hardly speak of truth in 2026 without noting that what is really true<\/em>, in the public arena, seems to be up for grabs.
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Interestingly, this is an area where Mr. Trump\u2019s fiercest critics and most ardent admirers find themselves in agreement. \u201cTruth,\u201d for the president, seems to be a moving target. Numbers have a habit of changing from speech to speech. Certain announcements fail to align with reality, leaving listeners scratching their heads.
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Mr. Trump, for what it\u2019s worth, declared that the 2017 TIME<\/em> cover was \u201cthe worst ever.\u201d
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The real issue for followers of Jesus is not who happens to be in the Oval Office. \u201cIs truth dead?\u201d is a question of searing importance \u2013 one that inevitably leads us to ask, \u201cDoes truth even matter?\u201d
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America\u2019s second president, John Adams, observed more than 200 years ago:\u00a0\u201cFacts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.\u201d
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Truth was also front and center 2,000 years ago at a crucial moment in the life of Jesus, when someone else asked about the importance of truth.
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The \u201casker\u201d was Pontius Pilate, a sadistic, weak-willed, middle-level functionary of the Roman Empire who just happened to be governing Judea when Jesus was brought to trial.
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From one perspective, Jesus\u2019 confrontation with Pilate looks and sounds like any other kangaroo court that one might find on the pages of history.\u00a0A corrupt governing authority holds all the cards.\u00a0He says, \u201cI can make you talk.\u00a0I can get any information out of you that I want.\u00a0And if you don\u2019t cooperate, I can make you hurt and take everything away from you, including your life.\u00a0What do you think of that?\u201d
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What\u2019s fascinating is that Jesus appears to care less about Pilate\u2019s threats.\u00a0In fact, he is apparently counting<\/em> on Pilate giving the order to execute him.\u00a0That\u2019s the very means by which his kingdom is going to win.\u00a0
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Jesus is about to take the ultimate symbol of Roman power \u2013 the cross, which was widely thought to be the worst thing that could happen to somebody \u2013 and turn it into the best thing that has ever happened to the rest of the world.
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Jesus doesn\u2019t posture.\u00a0He doesn\u2019t make threats or say, \u201cBy the way, Pontius, are there any messages you\u2019d like me to pass along personally to my Father in heaven when I see him after rising from the dead later this weekend? Won\u2019t you <\/u><\/em>be sorry then!\u201d\u00a0
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Instead, he makes a simple statement.\u00a0\u201cI have come to testify to the truth.\u201d\u00a0Pilate famously responds in John 18:37, \u201cWhat is truth?\u201d\u00a0
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We wish we knew what lay behind those words.\u00a0Was Pilate merely weary or cynical or wistful or perhaps even curious about what else Jesus might have to say?
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The one thing the governor seems to grasp is that he is now stuck in a politically charged situation in which there are no easy exits.\u00a0Ultimately, he approves Jesus\u2019 crucifixion \u2013 probably for no better reason than it allows him to keep his job.
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So Jesus dies.\u00a0
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But truth lives on<\/em>. Truth doesn\u2019t die just because truth-tellers are killed, as the world has learned from countless brave people.
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Over the next 24 hours, it won\u2019t matter to most of us what certain politicians say or do. And it won\u2019t matter what our favorite news reporters tell us concerning the way things really are.
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But it will matter a great deal whether we choose to be truth-tellers in every conversation. And to keep our promises. And to give up on \u201cimpression management\u201d \u2013 shading the truth in order to make ourselves look good in the eyes of others.
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Truth is very much alive.
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Perhaps that\u2019s why Jesus \u2013 the one who claimed to be the<\/u><\/em> Way, the<\/u><\/em> Truth, and the<\/u><\/em> Life \u2013 still captivates the world.
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here\u00a0The April 8, 1966, cover of TIME is arguably the most famous in the magazine\u2019s history.\u00a0For the first time, the editors didn\u2019t include an image.\u00a0The black cover featured three huge words in red text: Is God Dead?\u00a0\u00a0That question was connected to the feature article, a survey of certain 1960s theologians who were… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5173,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1061,108],"class_list":["post-5172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-pontius-pilate","tag-truth"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5172"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5174,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5172\/revisions\/5174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}