“We hold these truths to be self–evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

That statement, that claim, that declaration depends on a number of shared presuppositions.
Let’s start at the end and work our way back. 

• certain unalienable rights – this is where many of the conversations of the day are centered. But you cannot get to a conversations about rights if the foundations of that conversations have been undermined. We frustrate ourselves when we attempt to construct a framework from rights upon individualism and a freedom that is not grounded in our common humanity as creatures in view of a Creator who is sovereign over all. 

“We hold these truths to be self–evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

• certain unalienable rights are derived from or endowed by their Creator – the Declaration of Independence presupposes a shared or common belief that God is and that God created and that human beings are a distinct, indeed exceptional creation of God. The only creatures who bear God’s image, endowed with rights that are unalienable, intrinsic, and equal – which takes us back another step: to the words “created equal”

“We hold these truths to be self–evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

• created equal – the conversations of the day related to race and abortion and euthanasia and disability and medical ethics and race and slavery and pornography and human trafficking and immigration and virtually every other ethical/political debates are rightly grounded right here in the reality that all of us and each of us are created equally in the image of the Creator God. We stand on equal footing in Creation, at the Cross and in the Kingdom. That equality has often been misunderstood and misapplied but it is real and persistent and unassailable. And, backing up two more words, it fully inclusive of all people. 

“We hold these truths to be self–evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

• all men – not some, but all. Not one ethnicity, but all. And not just men, but also women. And not just adults, but also children. And not just citizens, but also aliens. And not just the healthy, but the infirm. And not just young, healthy people but the elderly and infirm, the disabled and the widowed, the orphan and the refugee. Each and all. We see that, right? When we look with the perspective of the Father, when we look with the perspective of heaven, when we look with the perspective of eternity, we see that, right? It’s self-evident, right? That’s a presupposition as well…

“We hold these truths to be self–evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

• self-evident means it is not hidden, it does not require special information or revelation. It is obvious to all who bother to pause and consider it. And that we are humble enough to concede to the reality of a substantial truth beyond ourselves, our current urges and our current circumstances. This may actually be the heaviest lift of the entire opening sentence of The Declaration because it requires the individual to do something. It requires us to think and consider and evaluate and, in humility, yield to the reality of a Creator God and to the reality of the Created order and to the ordering of life in ways that align with that. Which leads us to the next word, which is actually the prior word and that is truth. 

“We hold these truths to be self–evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

• truths exist whether we acknowledge them or not. Truth is a transcendental reality. It is inescapable. It is persistent and consistent. Many suppress it and others deny it but Truth does not go away. Truth is and Truth holds – but what happens when the collective we no longer hold to Truth? 

“We hold these truths to be self–evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights…”

• we hold – what do we hold today and who are “we?” What do “we” hold as True truth today? In a culture where each person presumes to hold their own truth and little is held as Truth common to all, we find ourselves talking past one another in a seemingly endless battle over rights – staking out ground over and against one another so as to have enough space to live something foreign in generations past: our own truth. If you have your own truth and I have my own truth, we do not hold the same truth – it is no longer self-evident because it is self-centered and not God centered. Our equality falls apart because it is an equality dependent upon the individual’s ability to allow the other to hold truths that everyone beyond the individual can clearly see are not true. It requires we participate in lies and live by lies and our very nature resists that. 

The next time you find yourself at odds with another person, consider starting with a conversation about presuppositions – what CAN we agree on? What do we agree on? Where is our place of common understanding about God and Creation and human beings and our shared humanity and calling in life? 

We may well have to go back to rebuilding the foundations in order that we can go forward in building the future filled with hope God has planned.