Does truth exist and, if so, who has the authority to define it?
Today’s popular cultural perspective presumes that truth is a subjective reality defined by each human being; that is, truth is a human construct. This is expressed by sayings, such as, “that may be true for you” or “that is your truth.” The predicate of this view is that each human has the right to define truth.
This pedestrian view should cause everyone some immediate heartburn because there are truths that seem to be timeless and universal. For example, the laws of physics. If there were no timeless and universal physical principles, there would be no physical science. The objective of science is to understand how the universe works and utilizing this truth to support technological advancements that benefit mankind. To do this, scientists must assume the existence of timeless universal principles (TUP) to develop any understanding of the physical properties of the universe. Without TUP, there is no technology.
Clearly then, each person presumes the reality of TUP every time a person flies an airplane, sends an email, makes a phone call, takes a prescription medication, eats food, and takes a breath of air. TUP is a necessary truth for all endeavors in an orderly life. Therefore, for any field of study to develop an understanding of truth requires faith in TUP.
Faith in TUP also applies to the discipline of organizational development that includes leadership, management, and ethics. For example, ethics is the study of right and wrong. Biblically, the only one who has the legitimate authority to define right and wrong is the Creator. Since the fall of man,1 however, mankind has rebelliously and wrongly presumed the role of definer of right and wrong. This deception is seen in the presumption that mankind can redefine ethical norms. Consequently, ethical standards tend to be defined by group consensus rather than divine decree. A common example today is that sexual relationships are right if there is mutual consent. Biblically, the definition of right and wrong in sexual relationships is not mutual consent but the teaching of Scripture, which limits licit sexual relationships to monogamous marriages between a man and a woman. The above text provides an example of TUP defined by Scripture. Joseph, in response to an invitation to sin, was governed by TUP as defined by the Creator; he was not governed by man-made principles such as consent.
Given a created universe, what should govern mankind in every area of life are transcendent values and principles defined by the transcendent Creator of the universe and best revealed in Scripture.
Here is your business tip. For organizational leaders to build excellent organizations requires submission to the transcendent values and principles of the Creator who singularly has the authority to define TUP. This means that organizational leaders need to be students of Scripture seeking to comprehensively understand TUP so that they can discern right and wrong in every area of organizational behavior: leadership, management, ethics, team building, finance, sales, marketing, pricing, service, customer support, personnel policies, and so forth. In every area, organizational leaders must engage in discovering TUP as revealed in Scripture to properly lead organizations and produce the fruit that pleases the Creator.
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1. Genesis 3. |
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