“True for You” is Not Truth

18 January 2026  Isaiah 49:3, 5-6

“I will give you as a light to the nations, that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” (Isaiah 49:6)

The prophet said, “Now the Lord says, who formed me from the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to Him, and that Israel might be gathered to Him….” (Isaiah 49:5).

God, however, says, “It is too light a thing that you should be My servant…. I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth” (49:6).

What we need, therefore, is a reliable truth-detector, a trustworthy yardstick that is capable of measuring even the smallest amounts of truth, and comparing those amounts to others. Where do we find a yardstick like that?

Being just a servant for the sake of other servants is not enough, because then we are only ever saying what is “true for us.” That’s what everybody does. Everybody talks about what is “true for them,” but so what?

If “True” means only “true for you,” or “true for me,” then it doesn’t mean anything to say that something is true. Anything can be true, which winds up being the same as saying that nothing is true. It is certainly too light a thing to say that True means only “true for me,” or “true for you.” It is a claim that has no mass, and just floats away into meaninglessness and nothingness.

Truth, in the end, can only be one thing. Truth claims, in order to be really true, cannot be in conflict with each other. It cannot be the case that God exists and does not exist; that there is one God and that there are many gods; that Jesus rose from the dead, and that Jesus did not rise from the dead. It would be just as absurd as saying that 2+2=4 and 2+2=5. If that were the case, then logic would collapse, and along with it math, science and medicine, language culture and civilization. The Truth, in order to be the Truth, must gather all the data of experience, and hold it together in one piece. Everything we value in the world, and in the universe depends on that.

So it is never enough to say that we are Truth Seekers. At the end of the day, Truth Seeking isn’t nearly as important as Truth Finding. “The Journey is the Destination,” and other such bumper-sticker claptrap is stupid, and deep down we all know that. In the end, all joy in life comes from making up your mind – I will love this one and not that one; I will study this and not that. We can’t be seeking all the time. Sooner or later, all our happiness and purpose in life require that we put our feet down inside a truth claim. Truth Seeking is only valuable, in the end, if there is Truth Finding.

Truth Seeking and Truth Finding both assume that we will be able to recognize Truth when we see it. If we are seeking the truth, that means we don’t have it yet, and if we don’t have it, how will we know when we do? What we need, therefore, is a reliable truth-detector, a trustworthy yardstick that is capable of measuring even the smallest amounts of truth, and comparing those amounts to others. Where do we find a yardstick like that?

The central claim of Christianity is that not only do we not have such a yardstick, but we wouldn’t recognize it if we saw it. Our only hope, therefore, is if the One who is the Truth wraps our lives in His. At the end of the day, the Truth is not a “what,” but a “Who,” a person who gave His life, who gives His life to us all day, every day. This is what Catholics say happens in the Mass – His life for us. Only that life can detect the truth because it is the Truth.

“True for me” and “True for you” is just air.

“I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by me” (John 14:6) is breath and life. It is the One Truth that detects all the others.

It is the goal of our seeking, and the joy of our finding.