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The True, Good, and Beautiful

The last three weeks we have discussed the three transcendentals, a concept from philosophy that helps us think about the Christian life in a new and helpful way. We discussed Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. All three are things we inherently crave and desire in our lives, and all three are ultimately found in God. Truth is about the real. Goodness is about flourishing. Beauty is about perfection.

The challenge this week is to understand how we, as God's people, live true, good, and beautiful lives. How do we ground ourselves in the most fundamental reality? How do we flourish? What is the standard we are striving to imitate and attain? Finally, how do these three things work with each other?

The answer to the first three questions is easy; Jesus. He is the Truth itself, the most fundamental reality. As Christians we must ground everything we do in Jesus. He is Goodness itself, the source of human flourishing and life. As Christians we seek life and growth from Jesus. He is Beauty itself, complete and utter perfection. As Christians we strive to be more and more like Jesus.

A life pursuing the True, the Good, and the Beautiful is a life that is completely enveloped in Jesus. He is the foundation upon which we stand, the substance by which we live, and the goal to which we strive. Every aspect of our lives should be about Jesus. 

However, we still live in a world of sin and temptation. We do not realize this Jesus filled life perfectly, though with God's help we make progress every day. A lot of the problems Christians face, in my opinion, come from ignoring one or more of these three transcendentals. This is especially true in the corporate sense, or as a congregation.

Truth needs Goodness and Beauty. Without Goodness, Truth has no love. We know what is real, but have no desire to share it. It becomes our own little territory to be defended. Without Beauty, Truth has no purpose. Sure we know what is real, but so what? It doesn't point us towards something bigger than us. It doesn't inspire us to grow.

Churches that value Truth to the exclusion of Goodness and Beauty are often defensive and elitist. They rarely grow, either numerically or spiritually, and often don't feel all that loving. What matters is being right, even at the expense of love and hope. 

Goodness needs Truth and Beauty. Without Truth, Goodness has no foundation. There is no way to know what is "good" if we lack all sense of the Truth. Without Beauty, Goodness has no objective. We know that we are to help people grow and flourish, but grow into what? What are we flourishing for?

Churches that value Goodness to the exclusion of Truth and Beauty are often pulled to and fro by the cultural concerns and values of the day. They genuinely want to reach people, but they have nothing real to offer and don't actually help people grow all that well since they have no goal.

Beauty needs Truth and Goodness. Without Truth, Beauty is purely subjective and therefore worthless. What is beautiful and perfect for you may not be for me, because there is no common ground on which we stand. Without Goodness, Beauty is merciless and cruel. It is a standard that can never be reached and will always demand more without any means of helping people grow.

Churches that value Beauty to the exclusion of Truth and Goodness really have no identity. They don't preach what is real and don't help others. They tend to be focused solely on the individual interpretations of Scripture and other things. They focus on experience to the exclusion of reason and charity.

We need to be people that are true, good, and beautiful. We can't pick one area to follow Jesus in and ignore the rest. He is our foundation. He is our flourishing. He is our objective and goal. We plant ourselves on Jesus, grow because of Jesus, and strive to be evermore like Jesus. That is the essence of the True, Good, and Beautiful.

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