“The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.”
– Winston Churchill
Clothing trends are a fascinating phenomenon. Have you ever walked through a mall, an amusement park, or any crowded place, looked around, and thought, “What in the world are people wearing?” Our society feels the impact of trends constantly—especially in fashion. It can seem like every day a new style emerges and suddenly becomes mainstream.
But clothing isn’t the only thing that trends. Stocks trend. Hairstyles trend. Fitness methods trend. When something trends, it’s developing, shifting, and evolving—for better or for worse. Societal changes drive these shifts almost daily. Nearly every aspect of culture is vulnerable to the pull of trends.
Yet while trends are endlessly changing, truth is not.
The Assault on Truth
Have you noticed the growing assault on truth in recent years? Realities and definitions that were once widely accepted now struggle to receive even basic acknowledgment. Much of the Western world has embraced new societal norms that have fractured what was once understood to be absolute and good. The redefinition of marriage, gender, and sexuality offers a vivid example of how pseudo-truths have become mainstream and celebrated. Nothing seems to be off limits. From what is sacred to what is simple, society has grown increasingly comfortable manipulating—or outright dismissing—what is true.
Is anything still immune to the influence of philosophical debate? I fear not. Our culture has developed a deeply troubled relationship with what previous generations regarded as objective truth. Distrust in objectivity widens by the day. One of the hallmark traits of post-modern thought is relativism—the belief that what’s true for you may not be true for me. Relativism ultimately rejects objectivity and therefore denies the existence of absolute truth.
Diana L. Burley, Ph.D., writes, “For years, there has been an assault on truth, whether through the promotion of ‘alternative facts,’ the normalization of seemingly insignificant lies, the sharing of half-truths that mischaracterize reality, or the confounding of fact and opinion. The slow, methodical assault on truth poses a clear and present threat to society. It destabilizes systems, encumbers action, erodes trust, and hinders our ability to adjudicate markers of reality.”
What she describes as a “slow, methodical assault” on truth has now accelerated into a swift and sweeping embrace of relativism, nihilism, and subjectivism.
Post-Modernity and Deconstruction
This embrace of subjectivity is one of the clearest markers of post-modernity. Albert Mohler, theologian and president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, has written extensively on this shift. He observes, “Post-modernity claims that all notions of truth are socially constructed. Postmodernists are committed to total war on truth itself—a deconstructionist project bent on the casting down of all religious, philosophical, political, and cultural authorities.”
Karl Marx—who, in many ways, anticipated post-modern thought long before the term existed—famously stated, “All that is solid melts into air.” Today we are witnessing that very vaporization of truth. Some in our culture seem comfortable discarding any fixed sense of reality and simply following the cues society gives them. Others take up the work of “deconstruction,” not in pursuit of truth, but as a journey inward, hoping to discover or reinvent themselves. Yet as many pursue this path, the reconstructed self they seek is not found; it is dissolved into the “grand narrative” of culture itself.
Mohler continues, “In the wake of this project of deconstruction is left the debris of truth and virtue, order and structure, orthodoxy and heresy.” The societal landscape left behind is bleak—much like a coastal town ravaged by a hurricane. A few structures may remain standing, recognizable but battered. And while attempts at reconstruction continue, they are often misguided and confused, built on shifting sands rather than the solid ground of truth.
Are We in the Post-Truth Era?
Every generation feels a pull toward new forms of expression, realignment, and experimentation. This impulse often reveals itself in a desire to challenge even the most basic assumptions. Can a man be a woman? What is a woman? What is a man? Ideas such as gender—once considered foundational and unquestionable—are now routinely contested. The days of sound epistemology and reasoned reflection seem increasingly distant.
Of course, this divorce from truth did not happen overnight. The boundaries have been slowly, steadily pushed for decades. Consider the Oxford Dictionary’s “Word of the Year,” chosen annually as a reflection of cultural moods and movements. In 2016, the selected word was post-truth, defined as “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.”
How did we arrive here? We entered the post-truth era by giving greater authority to feelings than to evidence. Philosopher Lee McIntyre offers a helpful framework for understanding post-truth culture. He writes, “Post-truth is an assertion of ideological supremacy by which its practitioners try to compel someone to believe something regardless of the evidence.” The battle to shape your worldview is fierce, unfolding loudly and relentlessly in the public square.
But is the threat to truth found only there? Or is it also happening much closer to home?
Truth and the Church
There is deep tragedy in all of this. It is heartbreaking to watch the denial of truth seep so freely into the consciousness of our culture. Yet what is even more tragic is that this same sickness has begun to infiltrate parts of the Church. Every Sunday, pastors around the world face a choice: to preach the Word of God without shame or to capitulate to the ever-shifting, “woke” standards of the world. Many remain faithful. But some do not.
Some depart from the firm foundation of Scripture to entertain their congregations with TED-style “ideas worth spreading,” feel-good theology, or unbiblical attempts at cultural relevance. In doing so, we have dishonored the gospel—adding to it, subtracting from it, and distorting it for the sake of acceptance. A growing number of Christian leaders feel the pressure of the public square and are giving in. Distracted by the promises of the social gospel, they are leaving room for the post-truth movement to gain a foothold in our churches.
Historically, the “social gospel” refers to a religious movement that emerged in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, primarily among Protestant thinkers. Its advocates sought to apply Christian ethics to societal problems such as poverty, health, education, crime, and war. While these aims were often noble, the movement tended to elevate social reform while diminishing essential doctrines—sin, salvation, heaven and hell, and the coming kingdom of God. The theological liberalism embedded in the social gospel continues to distract and weaken the church today.
Many efforts toward social change remain commendable. Yet some churches have begun to confuse the betterment of society with the salvation of souls. The logic sounds compelling: If we feed enough people, educate enough children, dig enough wells, and redistribute enough resources, then surely God’s kingdom will come. If we preach enough love, justice, and goodwill, salvation will surely follow.
But the differences between this vision and the message Jesus preached are stark—at least they should be. Recent Christian writing urges believers to confront society’s wounds, and while the impulse is noble, it risks obscuring the root problem of human depravity. Jesus did not come as a political or social reformer. He came in obedience to the Father as the atoning sacrifice for sin. His message centered on repentance, faith, the necessity of the new birth, and wholehearted dependence on God.
The gospel transforms hearts through the power of the Holy Spirit, and as hearts change, society will change. This is truth. And this is the message the Church must boldly proclaim.
Works Cited:
https://www.isaca.org/resources/news-and-trends/industry-news/2021/the-assault-on-truth
Modernity’s Assault on Truth
Jacob Robertson 
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