Self-Evident Truths

Some facts are obvious. Love is better than hate. Peace is better than war. Freedom is better than slavery. Courage is more noble than cowardice. Without water we dehydrate. Without oxygen, we suffocate. Without food, we starve. Death eventually comes to all. These are self-evident truths.

In 1776 American patriots stated in the Declaration of Independence their commitment to facts they considered so obvious and clear that no one could deny them. "We hold these truths to be self-evident," they wrote, "that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."

Over the last two centuries almost every phrase of this sentence has come under attack. For example, many today question the very existence of truth, let alone "self-evident" truths upon which all can agree. And what about the statement that "all men are created equal"? Human rights have suffered when this principle of equality has been ignored, from Adolf Hitler to Saddam Hussein, from the Tiananmen Square massacre to genocide in Sudan, from the slavery of African-Americans to the oppression of Kurds in Iraq.

And what about the concept that we are "created"? The framers of the Declaration of Independence believed human rights are endowed by our Creator. Today, those who openly profess their faith in God as the Creator are ridiculed as philosophical dinosaurs, despite the abundant evidence of intelligent design. If the book of Genesis is not true, if we are merely the result of the impersonal plus time plus chance, then what makes human rights "unalienable"? If we are not created in God's image, who says one race or class of people cannot claim superiority over another?

The right to life and liberty are ours because God created us to enjoy and cherish them. Government doesn't bestow these rights; God does. Human rights are the product of divine grace. It is the role of government to protect these rights, not to give them or take them away.

It's ironic that those who advocate abortion call themselves "pro-choice." The only reason we have the opportunity to choose at all is because God gave us free will. We have the liberty to choose between right and wrong, but the Lord has made it clear what choice we should make: "Now choose life, so that you and your children may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19).

The "pursuit of happiness"? We're big on this in America. We pursue happiness through travel, education, and work. We spend billions on entertainment. But there is a higher goal in life than pursuing our own happiness. Jesus said, "Seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness" (Matthew 6:33).

As we follow Christ, we begin to understand some not-so-evident truths. Serving God is better than serving self. Doing the difficult right is better than doing the easy wrong. Standing alone for a moral principle is better than succumbing to the pressure of the crowd. Sacrifice for a noble cause is more honorable than playing it safe.

With a slight modification of their wording, Christians can join those American patriots from 1776 and say we are committed to the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of righteousness. To these lofty goals we devote our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor.