by Bret Carter

(May 2023)

In 1938, the United States was attacked for about an hour. At least that’s what people
thought. The famous actor Orson Welles presented a live radio dramatization of War of the
Worlds. Presented in the form of news broadcasts, snippets of music, and urgent bulletins, it
sounded like the real deal. Even though Welles started off with “this is just a show,” many
people tuned in after that disclaimer. As a result, there was a nation-wide panic because people
were thoroughly convinced there was an invasion from Mars.
Another famous actor, John Barrymore, was among those swept up in the panic. He owned
twenty Saint Bernards. Before he fled the city, he set them free and shouted, “Fend for
yourselves!” So strangely enough, even though New York was not invaded by Martians that
night, the city was invaded by twenty Saint Bernards.
There are certainly more (and probably better) examples of when people make decisions
based on bad information. Consequences vary, depending on the significance of the situation. If
someone misleads you with bad directions, that’s merely inconvenient. If someone gives you a
bad prescription, it might kill you.
One of the most important things you need to do in life is figure out your best sources of
truth. And this has never been easy. Around the 5 th Century in Athens there was a noticeable
division. There were essentially two kinds of people: the intellectual experts (who believed that
regular people were dumb) and the regular people (who didn’t trust the experts).
Something similar is happening with us. There’s a tendency to become one of two kinds of
people. One group believes everything. The other group doesn’t believe anything. Surrounded by
countless sources of “truth,” it seems you have to be either gullible or skeptical.
It’s no wonder so many people pull back and rely on their own instincts or even the prevalent
advice, “Follow your heart.” But there’s a big problem with that plan. “The heart is more
deceitful than all else” (Jeremiah 17:9). When it comes to finding a reliable source of truth, one
of the last ones you should rely on is you.
A study done at Cornell University in 1999 revealed something called “The Dunning-Kruger
Effect.” In many cases, when it comes to doing something that involves skill, the less skill the
person has, the less capable they are of measuring their own competence. In other words, when it
comes to knowing how good you are at something, you’re not always the best judge. Your
tendency will be to think that you’re better at something than you actually are. This doesn’t
automatically mean you’re untalented. It does however confirm the wisdom of having honest
friends.
There’s also something called Confirmation Bias. This is like when someone such as a
doctor makes a diagnosis and his conclusion is so firm in mind, he overlooks other symptoms
that don’t fit his conclusion. The final result is he gets it wrong. We have our own version of this.
We reach a conclusion about something and from that point on, anything that conflicts with our
conclusion we either fail to notice or flat-out ignore. This is how we end up on the path of setting
out to prove what we already believe.
It’s a key moment in the pursuit of wisdom—learning to not trust yourself. When it comes to
developing an accurate perception of reality and the safety of your soul, one of the last sources of
truth you want to rely on is you. There are all kinds of thoughts and ideas that will ring true in
your head. The world will provide a whole smorgasbord of excuses and rationalizations.

But if you’re genuinely concerned about the safety of your soul, you’re not going to yourself
as a way to measure truth. God is pretty upfront about it. “There is a way which seems right to a
man, but its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12). You do not have the best insight about
your spiritual condition.
But even when you look outside yourself, it’s still tough to find solid answers. Our culture is
filled with misinformation. We live in a world shaped by sketchy politics, self-help icons, and
advertising endorsements. Someone famous vouches for something and we believe it. And
there’s always an actor ready to step up to the mic and tell us how the world works. (I have
insight because I’m really good at pretending.)
Sure, there are actual specialists and experts, but soon you begin to realize even they are not
your best bet. They are incredibly knowledgeable—about one square foot of information. To
make things even more interesting, the internet has helped promote the illusion that if someone
has something to say, that automatically makes it valid. The internet also makes it possible to
find support for virtually any opinion, no matter how absurd or outrageous. Even if your ideas
comes from books, your footing could still be questionable. Just because you read it, doesn’t
make it true.
We’ve even got another way to deceive ourselves. We like to believe certain things because
it’s what our group believes. We pick a team. Our beliefs are not based on any kind of real
search or thought. We believe it because it’s the team’s policy. And we pick our team based on
our preferences.
We’re a lot like King Rehoboam. He asked the older generation for advice. When he didn’t
like their input, he kept looking. “But he forsook the counsel of the elders which they had given
him and consulted with the young men who grew up with him and served him” (I Kings 12;8).
Sometimes when we’re confronted with the truth, even we find it, we keep looking, until we find
what we want to hear.
We like to surround ourselves with people who think the way we do. This is only natural,
but it can interfere with finding truth and only create a collective delusion. “Do not be deceived:
‘Bad company corrupts good morals’” (I Corinthians 15:33). This doesn’t just mean hanging out
with bad people causes you to do bad things. It also means being around people who make you
feel comfortable with an incorrect view of morality will result in you having the same corrupted
view. And when you exist inside a degraded standard, you can easily believe you’re pretty much
okay.
There are all kinds of ways to have an inaccurate perception of reality. Even the basic truth
of the resurrection can be warped through a worldly lens. “For the word of the cross is
foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (I
Corinthians 1:18). Thinking like the world blinds you to the reality of our circumstances.
Using faulty sources of truth leads to spiritual blindness. You won’t just reject the truth. You
won’t even be able to recognize it. “The god of this world has blinded the minds of the
unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the
image of God” (II Corinthians 4:4). This devastating blindness is a possible threat to us all.
Even as Christians, if we let our relationship with God slip out of place as our first priority,
the light will fade. “For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give
thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing to be wise, they became fools” (Romans 1:21-22). If we trust our own thoughts alone
or let our minds be shaped by the world, we set in a motion a process toward darkness.
What if there were a better source?

You already know where this is going. There is one perfect source of information. It has
consistently proven its reliability and has all the answers needed concerning any truly
meaningful questions about reality.
It took about 40 different men 1,500 years to write it down. Despite the wild variety of
writers, the book as a whole is incredibly consistent and thematically solid—all of this
confirming its claim to be composed by one Author. When it comes to matters of right and
wrong, and how to live the best possible life, it has proven to be nothing less than 100%
effective.
Reading the Bible and letting it shape your life is your smartest first move. Instead of
trusting yourself, you trust your Creator. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on
your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths
straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).
Whenever Jesus faced a dispute about anything important, He pointed people to the Word.
When He confronted those whose thinking had been distorted by the world, He typically used
one phrase to realign the discussion. “Have you not read?”
The implication was simple. The reason you’re off track, the reason your ideas don’t mesh,
the reason your ideas about the truth are way off base is for one simple reason: you’re not using
the Word as your source of truth.
When it comes to surviving this existence intact, the Bible gives you everything you need.
“His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the
true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has
granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers
of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust” (II Peter 1:3-4).
The world offers endless sources of “truth.” But the Bible is the only source that has “true
knowledge.”
A long time ago, when the people were veering off in various directions looking for
answers, God sent Isaiah to call them on it. “When they say to you, ‘Consult the mediums and
the spiritists who whisper and mutter,’ should not a people consult their God? Should
they consult the dead on behalf of the living? To the law and to the testimony! If they do not
speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn” (Isaiah 8:19-20). A sloppy
paraphrase might allow this: “What in the world are you doing? Read your Bible!”
If you want solid footing, read your Bible. If you want any true direction in your life, read
your Bible.
One of the darker moments in the Bible is when Hosea diagnoses the spiritual decay of those
around him. “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). A lack of true
knowledge always leads to a declining life. It always leads to you deceiving yourself.
And the scariest thing about being deceived—when you’re deceived, you feel just fine.
Being truly deceived means not knowing your deceived. This means your one hope for real truth
is the Bible. Your one hope for clarity is the Bible. God’s Word is only source of truth that can
help you see things the way they really are.

bret@rockymountainchristian.com