Common Grace and the Presence of Truth

One of the great things about living in a rather large city with great library resources is that you don't have to buy CDs or rent videos or DVDs. If you're patient, you can wait for someone to donate it to the library so that you can listen to it for free (though you're certainly "paying" for it through the taxes you pay--but I'm sure that with my use, I get my money back!).

Anyway, I checked out some CDs the other day, one of which was Lauryn Hill's MTV Unplugged CD. For those of you who may not be aware of who she is, I'll reference you to the group the Fugees, or if you happened to watch the movie, Sister Act 2, Lauryn Hill plays the "lead" student, Rita Watson (she sang "His Eye is on the Sparrow" in the film). She's a very talented singer, and I've always enjoyed listening to her sing, though with the Fugees, the lyrics were much less than desirable. However, the Unplugged CD was a breath of fresh air and it was a very raw display of how she was feeling at the moment, showing that she was going through a spiritual journey. In various interludes between songs, spiritual (even Christian) themes were quite evident, mentioning God and how he is working in a person's life and how she was fed up with being "fake" with everyone else. You can find the lyrics to the songs here. It's obvious that she had a Christian influence earlier in her life (or even now) due to the vocabulary that she employs.

This, to me, is an example of God's common grace in that aspects of truth are able to be grasped or even articulated by the world; however, listening to her speak, it is not clear that she knows what the Gospel truly is (though I did find an article where it is said that she is a Christian though I did find another article where she acknowledges that she is a Christian, but her husband is a Rastafarian but that they both believe in God and "God is love and love is very important). Jesus was not mentioned, and when she spoke of the gospel, it was more of a moral reformation, turning from a bad life and making a better life for oneself here on Earth. As Jesus proclaimed that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one may come to the Father except through Him, so all must come, or perish. She is quite right in observing in one of her songs that "through Adam, all die." (see "Mystery of Iniquity")


So what is a conclusion that one can take away from all of this? Truth is present in the world, and those in the world may indeed find it. Her message is good, and even consisting of some truth, but not fully on the mark. However, the Truth of the Gospel in Christ is that which is proclaimed in the Bible, and not a spirituality that we craft on our own terms. Remaining faithful to the Word is paramount, in upholding the Truth that it proclaims--not bending it to our will and our fancy. I can only hope and pray that Lauryn Hill (and others like her) are given mercy and grace by the Father to see the true Gospel, for it is only through Him that it will happen.

UPDATE: I recently listened to an interview conducted by Mark Dever with Dr. Carl Trueman, a professor at Westminster Seminary. Trueman touched on truth present in the world, and had this to say: the world "tends to know the truth but with themselves at the center of the universe." In other words, the world is self-serving, and may take the Gospel and twist it to their purpose so that they can think they perceive full truth when in fact they don't.