Truth Matters
After reading the title I am guessing your response is somewhere between clicking away and saying, “duh?” What Christian is saying the truth doesn’t matter? Well, there is a subset. Some I think are generally orthodox and mean the best but are in error. Others are already heretical in one way or another and err even further in this regard. Let me give examples of both. The first group are often people who point out all the good the church and Christians have done through time. They insist there is value in the belief itself because it brings about good actions. You can even see a reflection of this in secular figures like Tom Holland (the historian not Spider-Man) who has said he wishes he did believe in the supernatural.[1] The second group are usually more liberal—or in modern parlance—progressive Christians who similarly find religion useful.
“[R]eligion itself, and even God, are made merely a means for the betterment of conditions upon this earth. Thus religion has become a mere function of the community or of the state. So it is looked upon by the men of the present day. Even hard-headed businessmen and politicians have become convinced that religion is needed. But it is thought to be needed merely as a means to an end. We have tried to get along without religion, it is said, but the experiment was a failure, and now religion must be called in to help.”[2]
So, religion is useful, but is it true? You can also point to statements from Ayaan Hirsi Ali which many have claimed show she converted for a pragmatic or political reason. For example, she said, “But I have recognized, in my own long journey through a wilderness of fear and self-doubt, that there is a better way to manage the challenges of existence than either Islam or unbelief had to offer.”[3] Richard Dawkins similarly challenged the reality of her faith in a discussion with Ali who is a long-term friend of his.[4] I am not going to challenge her faith here. I don’t think it’s charitable and I refuse to claim to know her heart, but I use it as an example of someone who at least publicly has listed primarily practical reasons such as her mental well-being and political enemies for her faith.
On the other side, we see people who just outright reject the truth of Christianity. Just one example of many, “Yes! I do deny the resurrection and I’m guessing that you do too! So, I’m trusting that it doesn’t much matter whether or not you or I or anyone believes or doesn’t believe in the physical resuscitation of Jesus’ corpse. What a stupid argument.”[5] I cannot for the life of me find it, but I saw a homily from an Episcopal priest who said she wasn’t concerned whether Christ died on the cross and was resurrected. Despite having these views, both people claim to still be Christian.
Maybe you are wondering why that is a problem or a limitation. After all, isn’t it good if people follow Jesus moral teachings and proclaim him even if they don’t believe? Well, it is certainly good for as many people as possible to follow Christian morals, but it isn’t sufficient. J. Gresham Machen said one hundred years ago, “Christianity will indeed accomplish many useful things in this world, but if it is accepted in order to accomplish those useful things it is not Christianity.”[6] As for the benefit of people proclaiming Christ who don’t believe in his historical reality, I think this is a net negative. For one, the Bible teaches us to tell the truth.[7] Secondly, it creates a danger of a sense of betrayal from anyone who hears them preach and subsequently discovers their belief. J. Gresham Machen said, “True religion can make no peace with a false philosophy, any more than with a science that is falsely so-called; a thing cannot possibly be true in religion and false in philosophy or in science. All methods of arriving at truth, if they be valid methods, will arrive at a harmonious result.”[8]
He continued the warning by saying, “Thus religion has become a mere function of the community or of the state . . . But it is thought to be needed merely as a means to an end. We have tried to get along without religion, it is said, but the experiment was a failure, and now religion must be called in to help.”[9] He continued to say, “Such considerations have led to a renewed public interest in the subject of religion; religion is discovered after all to be a useful thing. But the trouble is that in being utilised religion is also being degraded and destroyed. Religion is being regarded more and more as a mere means to a higher end.”[10]
However, more than any of this, I would argue the problem with an instrumental understanding of Christianity is it contradicts the Bible, the word of God. Luke says, “when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him.”[11] It then continues, “This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. 53 Then he took it down and wrapped it in a linen shroud and laid him in a tomb cut in stone, where no one had ever yet been laid.”[12] Finally, the women arrived at the tomb and were told, “He is not here, but has risen.”[13] Those are claims of historical events. There are parts of the Bible that are metaphorical or otherwise nonliteral, but this cannot be one of those cases. The plain and obvious meaning of the text is that these are real historical events. Machen was more pithy than me and said, “According to Christian belief, Jesus is our Saviour, not by virtue of what He said, not even by virtue of what He was, but by what He did.”[14] He also said, “It must certainly be admitted, then, that Christianity does depend upon something that happened; our religion must be abandoned altogether unless at a definite point in history Jesus died as a propitiation for the sins of men. Christianity is certainly dependent upon history.”[15]
Titus tells us, “[God] desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”[16] God isn’t trying to trick us. God doesn’t want us to follow a fake philosophy. God doesn’t want us to follow a mere human for human purposes. He wants us to “come to the knowledge of the truth.”
I could say a lot more about why it is important to seek the truth and why Christianity is up to the task, but I think this makes the basic point. If one of these groups describes you, I am not trying to exclude you or judge you. What I hope it brings is a clear second look at the Bible as well as an eventual repentance and acceptance of God’s truth which is ultimately far more valuable.
[1] Amy Mantravadi, “An Interview with Tom Holland about Cultural Christianity,” 1517, February 19, 2025, accessed August 15, 2025, https://www.1517.org/articles/an-interview-with-tom-holland-about-cultural-christianity.
[2] J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism (Seattle, WA: The Study, 2022), 126.
[3] Ayaan Hirsi Ali, “Ayaan Hirsi Ali: Why I Am Now a Christian,” The Free Press, November 14, 2023, accessed September 9, 2025, https://www.thefp.com/p/ayaan-hirsi-ali-why-i-am-now-christian-atheism.
[4] DissidentDialogues, “‘Theological BULLSH*T!’ Richard Dawkins Challenges Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s New-Found Christianity,” YouTube, June 1, 2024, accessed September 9, 2025,
[5] Dawn Hutchings, “Yes! I Do Deny the Resurrection! I Suspect That You Do Too! – 1 Corinthians 15,” Pastordawn BEYOND CHURCH, accessed August 15, 2025, https://pastordawn.com/2022/02/13/yes-i-do-deny-the-resurrection-i-suspect-that-you-do-too-1-corinthians-15/.
[6] J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism (Seattle, WA: The Study, 2022), 128.
[7] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ex 20:16.
[8] J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism (Seattle, WA: The Study, 2022), 49.
[9] J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism (Seattle, WA: The Study, 2022), 126.
[10] J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism (Seattle, WA: The Study, 2022), 127.
[11] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Lk 23:33.
[12] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Lk 23:52–53.
[13] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Lk 24:6.
[14] J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism (Seattle, WA: The Study, 2022), 99.
[15] J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Liberalism (Seattle, WA: The Study, 2022), 102.
[16] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Ti 2:4–7.