What is Truth?
“Stand, therefore, with truth like a belt around your waist…” – Eph. 6:14
Paul starts his list of the armor of God with the belt of truth. The belt in Roman armor was typically a 2-4 inch thick piece of leather that was covered in decorative metal strips. Only soldiers were allowed to wear this particular kind of belt, and it was the one piece of equipment that soldiers would wear without the rest of their armor as a status symbol. It was also taken away from a dishonorably discharged soldier. The belt served three primary purposes:
1. Under their armor, each soldier wore a loose-fitting tunic. These tunics could be long and hamper a soldier in battle, so they would use the belt to fold up the tunic in four different places – this practice was called “girding their loins”. It prevented them from being tripped and allowed them to move freely in battle.
2. The belt helped to carry heavy loads – similar to a weightlifter’s belt today. The belt kept their heavy packs tight to their back so it would not bounce around while marching, and it also redistributed the weight to allow the hips and legs to bear the burden.
3. The belt kept the breastplate secured in place and held the sword at their side ready for battle. The breastplate could move up the neck and chaff or choke a soldier if it were not held firmly on the chest.
Although we may view a belt as a small piece of an outfit, the Roman belt was essential to holding other pieces of the armor together, and I believe that is why Paul listed it first and associated it with truth.
Having given a background of this piece of armor, the next question we may ask is “What is truth?” If this question seems familiar, it is because Pilate asked the same thing of Jesus in John 18:38. I believe this is a similar question that often we hear in the culture around us, particularly when confronted with anyone claiming to have or know an absolute truth. We know just via experience that there are subjective truths – these are typically opinions based on an individual’s personal desires and likes – for instance, the truth that the best cookie is a chocolate chip cookie (at least in my humble opinion!). These truths can always be combated with “that’s YOUR opinion”, and you would be correct. It is a subjective truth because it is based on a person. However, what has become more hotly debated is if there is actually any objective truth via the philosophy of Postmodernism. Objective truth is not based on feelings or preferences but is a truth for all people. No matter how postmodern culture tries to spin it, we recognize our world hinges on many of these absolute truths – truths such as the law of gravity, Newton’s laws of motion, and Einstein’s law of Conservation of Energy. We can build amazing buildings, launch rockets into space, and explore the depths of the oceans using these laws. But what about more philosophical or moral truths? What about the truth of how certain events in history played out? Is the “belt of truth” any of these?
Honestly, I have always believed that the “belt of truth” was the word of God. However, in reading and studying for this topic further, it dawned on me that the word of God is listed specifically and separately as the sword of the Spirit, so it made me reevaluate what Paul was saying. In researching the Greek word used in this text for truth (aletheia), I found it means “what is true to fact, reality” and in ancient Greek culture this word meant “reality – opposite of illusion”. As I mulled over this further, I took Paul’s meaning to be a broader topic than the word of God. I want to be clear that I believe the word of God IS truth, but there are other “truths” in the world not specifically listed in the Bible. I believe Paul is telling us that the underpinning to our armor is HONESTY – that we are a people who live in reality. We should be a people known for our honesty – self-honesty and honesty toward others.
Truth appears to be one of the apostle John’s primary topics. In fact, his is the only gospel that mentions the discussion with Pilate about the truth. Pilate’s question is prompted by Jesus’s statement “I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice” (John 18:37). Notice that – if we are a person OF truth, we will listen to the voice of Jesus. Then in 1 John 1:6-8, John talks about how truth is being a person who is not hypocritical – we must practice what we preach, but we must also be honest in stating that we are not perfect and have sin in our lives. These almost seem to conflict, but John expounds on these thoughts in chapter 3:17-18. Truth appears to be love in action – it is something outside of our preferences, it recognizes real need in the world, and then it acts upon that need. It is the same concept that John recorded in Jesus’s speech on truth and freedom in John 8:31-47. The Pharisees could not see the truth incarnate in front of them because they were blinded by the lies of Satan to build up their own selfish desires for power and prestige. Real truth will set us free rather than enslave us in our own desires. Real truth will allow us to interact with the world, not only honestly, but also in love. Paul is saying we need to ground ourselves in reality. We will not be able to live in righteousness, peace, faith, or salvation without the underpinning of truth. And we will most definitely not wield the word of God correctly without truth. Truth will be the foundation of our armor – it will be the symbol showing our status to the world – those of truth. Ladies – this means we must LIVE the truth, not just spout it. We must gird our loins for battle in the underpinning of reality, not an illusion of our wishes.
