Is Veritas deceptive? ...part one...

Veritas Forums are university events that engage students and faculty in discussions about life's hardest questions and the relevance of Jesus Christ to all of life.

The Veritas website is unequivocal when it comes to the purpose of a Veritas Forum: we exist to proclaim the relevance of Biblical Christianity to all of our lives. But when I represent Veritas to others, I say that we are hosting a "forum on truth," which is also true. (After all, "Veritas Forum" means "Truth-Forum.") But are we being deceptive if we don't immediately say that we are a Christian organization?

Before we look at the accusations, let me say a few words about why this matters. Beyond the obvious need for credibility for the Veritas Forum organization at Georgia Tech, what motivates us to examine ourselves for any hint of deception or duplicity? The answer is easy to say and hard to practice.

Paul, in reference to our conduct concerning disputable matters, exhorts us to "not let what you regard as good be spoken of as evil" (Romans 14:16). Since deception is evil, if we in Veritas show others even the appearance of deception, we open the door to allowing the Veritas Forum to be spoken of as evil. The exciting part of this command is that, if we are careful to follow, we have the promise that "Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men" (Romans 14:18)—we will serve our primary purpose as slaves of Christ's will, and we will be justified in the sight of men.

In reference to his ministry, Paul writes to the Corinthians,

But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. (2 Corinthians 4:2)

We cannot and must not attempt to veil the core of who we are and the reason we exist: the gospel, the firm belief that God exists and He saves sinful humanity. I charge us all to emulate Paul in his hardcore ethical stand on the sufficiency of the gospel and his absolute commitment to honor and honesty. There will be no "bait and switch" with Veritas. My dad once told me about a friend of his, an evangelism-focused believer who would cruise the streets and invite students to a "party." In truth, there was no party—it was a Christian youth meeting. I can hear the rationale now: at least they were exposed to the gospel. Get them in the doors, no matter what the cost. This may be their only chance to hear the gospel. A thousand times no! God forbid that we would become end-justifies-the-means pragmatists, even if we claim to do so for the sake of the gospel! I see no allowance in Scripture for such deception—and it is deception. Paul refused to practice such cunning. After all, if Christ needs us to lie to spread His gospel, we must have a weak message and a small God, indeed!

Not only are we commanded to avoid deceitful methods, in Romans we are encouraged to "give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all." It's important to think about this issue. This blog post is not easy to write, nor is this topic likely to be comfortable or pleasing to many—but writing this is part of my obedience to the command to "give thought." Join me in obedience to this command by giving thought to how we are to represent Veritas to our campus and to the world.