WHERE ARE THE ANSWERS?

I wanna run away
Never say goodbye
I wanna know the truth
Instead of wondering why
I wanna know the answers
No more lies
I wanna shut the door
And open up my mind

These lyrics are from Linkin Park’s song ‘Runaway’. And in my mind they are some of the saddest lyrics I’ve ever heard. These words (especially with the passion they are sung with) reveal a real longing for truth. They seem to have come to a realization that our world is missing something. However like all of fallen mankind they look in the wrong place.

As Romans 3 says there are none who seek God. Even if we diagnose the problem accurately that we have a need for truth, we always look in the wrong place, we never seek God. And this is where one of our culture’s biggest mistakes comes in. We encourage people to look inward for the only truth that matters. However, we have also redefined truth so that it is personal and relative, as opposed to universal and absolute. Or as we hear it more often, you have your truth and I have mine. So then there isn’t even any real truth to find.

So people are told to look inward for answers. But this on face value seems insane to me. If I’ve been struggling for answers why on earth would I look inward, if I’m struggling apparently I don’t have the answers. So we are encouraged to make up our own answers, no matter what we may call it, at that point we are no longer searching for truth. We are left simply trying pacify our consciences.

So since I started with Linkin Park lyrics I though I would answer with Project 86 lyrics.

Outside you there's a remedy
Inside you is an enemy
This twist (this twist) of irony
Can I say you were ever a friend to me?
(Just like we promised)
And you know it was never a lie
The fallen son that bought our freedom
Is the I, the I that had to die

Here we see a much more Biblical and realistic picture of the world we live in. Because we have broken and fallen hearts, as Project 86 says there is only an enemy inside. We cannot trust our own hearts. Our hearts long for all the wrong things. Our hearts will unerringly lead us astray. So as the first line says we must look outside ourselves for the remedy, for our solution can only be found there. Well then, where do we look outside ourselves? Clearly the Christian answer is going to be that we look at God’s Word. It is inerrant, it has no errors and when it is understood it will never lead astray. It is also inspired, in the sense that it comes from God Himself through the personality of human authors without being contaminated by them. So when we hold the Bible in our hands we hold the very Words of God, His perfect guidance for how to come to know Him and how to live in a manner that pleases Him. This is the truth that is the answer to the screams of Linkin Park and our entire generation.

But how sad is it that so many Christians in this free land fall back on listening to their hearts simply because they do not know the Word. We have enfeebled ourselves by neglecting a great gift from our God. I fear that we deserve the confusion and chaos of our lives. And it is much uglier for us who know Christ. Linkin Park doesn’t where to find the truth. We do, yet we do not look there. How pathetic.