PERSPECTIVE | Pastor Tim Moore

"I began to notice that we can all be in the same cultural moment and maybe even looking at the exact same thing and yet we see it so differently." — Pastor Tim Moore

Pastor Tim Moore starts this message with something honest. He admits that last year he found himself worn out by people. No matter what he said or did, someone seemed upset. He began to wonder why ministry felt so different than it used to.

As he processed this with God, he noticed something bigger than his own frustration. People today can look at the exact same moment and walk away with completely different views of it. Families argue. Friendships break. Even churches divide. Something has shifted in how people see the world, and Pastor Tim wanted to understand what changed.

To show how differently people can see the same thing, Pastor Tim brings up a photo almost everyone remembers. In 2015, a picture of a dress went viral online. Some people saw it as white and gold. Others saw the exact same photo as blue and black.

The illustration is lighthearted, but the point underneath it is serious. People today are living through the same cultural moments, yet they come away seeing them in totally different ways. Pastor Tim connects this to a much larger problem. Trust in facts, history, and even shared reality has broken down. He points out that some people question whether the moon landing happened, and others question the reality of well documented history. Add in the growing presence of artificial intelligence, which can create convincing fake video and audio, and it becomes harder than ever to know what to believe.

Pastor Tim admits his first instinct was to treat this as a modern problem, something caused by technology and social media. But as he studied further, he realized this struggle with truth is not new at all. It goes back to the beginning of human history.

To explore this, he turns to a conversation Jesus had nearly two thousand years ago.

Pastor Tim reads from John chapter 18. Jesus has just been arrested and brought before Pilate, the Roman governor. During the exchange, Jesus tells Pilate that his kingdom is not of this world and that he came to testify to the truth. Pilate responds with a question that still echoes today.

"What is truth?"

Pastor Tim points out that Pilate was not asking honestly. It was more of a dismissive statement than a real question. And he believes that same posture describes much of today's culture. People are not really searching for the truth. They are searching for their own version of it.

He defines this mindset as relativism, the belief that truth and morality are not fixed but created by individuals or society. Under this way of thinking, truth becomes personal rather than universal. People start to believe they get to decide what is right for them, even if it contradicts what is right for someone else.

From this exchange between Jesus and Pilate, Pastor Tim offers two main lessons.

"Our perspective is shaped by our world view," Pastor Tim explains, describing worldview as the lens through which a person sees everything. That lens is shaped by upbringing, geography, family, friendships, education, and even the content someone scrolls through on social media.

To prove his point, he challenges listeners to try a simple experiment. Watch one news channel for an hour, then switch to a different one with an opposing viewpoint. Both channels may cover the same story, yet the perspective will feel completely different. This, Pastor Tim says, is proof that people are not just disagreeing about facts. They are viewing the same facts through very different lenses.

He then contrasts this with the way Jesus saw the world. In John 18:36, Jesus tells Pilate that his kingdom is not of this world. Because Jesus was not shaped by an earthly perspective, he did not defend himself the way most people would when falsely accused. His worldview was shaped by eternity rather than culture.

Pastor Tim challenges listeners to ask honest questions about what is really shaping their own beliefs. What shapes how someone views politics, other people, finances, or even their own faith? He encourages the church to examine whether their worldview is built on culture or on scripture, since a view built on culture will always keep shifting.

The second lesson Pastor Tim draws from this passage is just as direct. "Truth isn't created, it's only discovered." People do not get to invent their own truth because none of us created reality in the first place.

He uses simple, almost humorous examples to make the point. No matter how strongly someone argues that two plus two does not equal four, or that gravity is not real, reality does not change to match their opinion. The same is true of deeper questions about right and wrong. Truth is not something people vote on or personalize. It already exists, and it is discovered rather than invented.

He circles back to the illustration of the dress. Even though people debated for days about the true colors, only one person actually knew the answer, the designer who made it. In the same way, Pastor Tim says people can trust God because he is the one who designed reality itself.

He points to Jesus's words in John 14:6, where Jesus calls himself the way, the truth, and the life. Because Jesus stepped out of heaven and into human history, Pastor Tim believes his words can be trusted more than any shifting cultural opinion. He shares that when scripture challenges something he wants to believe, his own practice is to trust God over his own preference, even when that is hard to do.

Pastor Tim closes the message with a simple but challenging invitation. Instead of assuming everyone else needs to change, he asks listeners to pray a humble prayer. "God, show me where I'm wrong."

He reminds the church that real peace will not come from winning arguments or proving a point. It will come from surrendering personal preferences to God's truth and asking for the wisdom to extend grace while still holding onto what is true.

The message ends in prayer, asking God to bring healing to strained relationships, wisdom to represent Jesus well, and unity back to his people.

We would love to have you join us in person. The Tree Church meets at two locations, Lancaster and Logan, Ohio, with services each Sunday at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM. Whether you are searching for a church in Lancaster or a church in Logan, our doors are open and we would love to meet you.

Lancaster Campus: 721 N Memorial Dr, Lancaster, OH 43130, USA 
Logan Campus: 36 Hocking Mall, Logan, OH 43138, USA