We've all seen it. The image of two people standing next to a number and arguing about whether it's a 6 or a 9. The caption is usually something along the lines of "just because you're right doesn't mean I'm wrong", or "truth depends on your perspective". Stuff like that.
In reality, although there are some truths that depend entirely on your own perspective, this is because they are truths about your perspective. "Green is the best color", for example, is true for me. Green is my favorite color, specifically darker green, because it reminds me of plants. But perhaps you disagree. For you, red might be the best color. Or yellow. Or blue. Orange, purple, pink, you might even have a specific shade of a certain color you like.
But here's another fact: I'm actually color blind, which is one of the reasons my favorite color is specifically darker green. I can barely distinguish between certain shades of red and green, like those of cat's eyes on a motorway. I cannot distinguish between the blue and purple heart emojis on an Apple device, or the green and yellow hearts. There is even a meme my friends sometimes send me that says "let's rise up against the color blind" that they can read, but I cannot, unless I start adding filters in a photo editing app..
Before it was discovered that I was color blind, I would often have arguments with my mother about color. From my perspective, light green might be yellow. Purple might actually be blue. There is a green packaging material that I perceive as silver. My perspective lead me to believe a certain thing, but though I was sincere (and of course, still am), I was actually... *gasp* ...WRONG!
RED ALERT! BRIAN SAID THE FORBIDDEN WORD! It occurs to me, as a logical thinker, that this word has become so offensive to us not because our perspectives are different, but because those who are offended are actually not sincere. If it was merely a matter of perspective, we wouldn't need to get so offended.
When it comes to subjective truths, who cares about disagreement? I really don't care if your favorite color is the same as mine. But when it comes to objective truths, if that truth really is a matter of perspective, why would you insist on only looking at it a specific way? Let's go back to the 9 or 6 debate.
As you can see, in the header image, I have added to the original. It's no longer just two people arguing over a number that no one can really say is definitely a 6 or a 9, it's two people standing at the end of a sequence of numbers. Specifically, it is the numbers 1-9, in numerical order. Let's call these two men Bill and Ben. Bill sees a 6, Ben sees a 9. Although Bill sees a 6 from where he stands, the fact is he is looking at a 9. His perspective is incorrect. If Ben points this out, and Bill continues to say it's a 6, or make excuses for why 6 is still valid (e.g. we don't know that the sequence is supposed to be in numerical order), Bill is no longer being sincere, he is committed to the 9 being a 6.
Now let's imagine that, for whatever reason, the previous numbers in the sequence get obscured. Say, for example, it's all under some snow, and the two men have dug out the 9. At this point, both options are possible. It could be a 6, it could be a 9. Now, if both men are sincere, they could continue to clear the snow looking for other indications, like the rest of the sequence, which may be buried. Depending on the perfection of the 8, this still might not help. We could go from arguing about 6s and 9s to 68s and 89s. So we dig a little more and lo and behold, 789, so it's likely not a 6. It's no longer a matter of perspective at this point, it's a matter of incomplete information.
But let's imagine Ben is privy to some information Bill is not. Let's imagine the entire sequence is written in the sand, and the tide has erased all but the disputed number. As it happens, Ben was present when the sequence was written. Perhaps it is even he who wrote it. So Bill shows up, they start arguing, and Ben says "listen, I know this is a 9, because I was there when it was written as a 9. It used to be a sequence in numerical order from 1-9, but the tide erased 1-8. This is a 9." Is Bill reasonable in saying "well, from where I'm standing, it's a 6"? Of course not! At this point, Bill has gone from sincerely having the wrong answer due to having the wrong perspective to dishonestly clinging to a conclusion he knows is wrong, using his faulty perspective as an excuse.
As it happens, Ben's argument represents Christianity as a whole. Bill represents every other worldview. While the world argues a number of different interpretations of the evidence, the Bible gives the truth straight from the horse's mouth. Or, to switch from idiomatic language to speaking literally, the Bible is the word of God Himself, containing a written record composed primarily of divinely-guided, often eyewitness testimony. The Bible doesn't contain the best guesses of men who showed up after the fact, these men were guided by the Holy Spirit to write all sorts of things, a lot of which includes things that they, personally, saw with their own two eyes. From the 10 plagues upon Egypt to the resurrection of the Son of God, these things were witnessed by real people. And the things that weren't? These were testified of by the God who was seen as a pillar of smoke and fire by the most famous of the prophets, as well as the community he lead through the desert. This isn't a matter of arguing about perspective, it's a matter of whose perspective do you trust?
As I often say, I'd rather trust the testimony of a man who walked out of His grave than a billion men heading to theirs. Where is the sanity in rejecting the word of a man who proves His power over death by dying and coming back to life? And some might say that this is just a made up story, but from the Apostles' perspectives, this certainly doesn't seem to be the case. They gave their lives for their testimony. Who would die for what they knew they made up?
And so here is the perspective the Lord gives us: You're a sinner. You deserve wrath. A wrath that never ends. But you are also precious, and so God offers us an olive branch. You can take the wrath yourself, but Jesus chose to take it on your behalf. All it takes, literally all it takes, is a shift in your perspective. If you repent of your rebellion, confess Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. Stop complaining that God calls a 9 a 9. If He drew a 9, it's a 9, and you're wrong to call it a 6. Call it a 9!