Why Commitment to Shared Reality Matters

Frederica Mathewes-Green and Dave Hanegraaff unpack why the most important word in A Commitment to Reality is commitment—because reality doesn’t disappear when we deny it. This clip gets at why a commitment to shared reality matters.

We are living through one of the most disorienting periods in human history—leaving many to wonder: What is reality? As artificial intelligence accelerates and institutional trust erodes, our shared sense of what is real continues to crumble.

A commitment to reality is a dedication to discerning what is true and developing the discipline to live in alignment with that truth—with reality. This podcast is an apologetic for reality—each episode serving as an intentional act of grounding our existence together as we commit to what is beautiful, good, and true.  You can help spread the word about this new podcast by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on and telling others!

Subscribe to A Commitment to Reality on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@ACommitmenttoReality for the full episodes + clips, as well as Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a-commitment-to-reality/id1876254826 , Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/378rR6Oz8YkbTOIqSfhlV3 and follow wherever you get podcasts.  You can help spread the word about this new podcast by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on and telling others!

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Just out of curiosity. What went through your mind when
you saw the phrase a commitment to reality?

Speaker 2 (00:06):
So when I think of reality, I think we have
the whole culture on this kind of making this sudden
turn from science as god to anything goes and let's
play around with it. And we're trying to halt them
right there in that corner and say, let's pay attention
to reality. Let's make sure you know what you're getting into.

(00:27):
Is that what you had in mind?

Speaker 1 (00:29):
More than anything, I think the vital word is commitment,
because reality exists whether you accept it or not. And
we live in this time where people are so scared
to challenge somebody else's conception of reality. You've got your
truth and I have my truth, and to contradict your

(00:52):
conception of truth is anathema. Yes, right, it's offensive, right,
And this whole thing where you know to be loving
and kind is to accept. And as parents, both of
us know that that's not always loving and kind. No,
sometimes you need to rebuke with love, Yeah, but to

(01:13):
say that's not really how reality is.

Speaker 2 (01:16):
An analogy that I often go to is if you
have a friend or relative whom you really love and
they smoke cigarettes, there's an appropriate time to rebuke. You
will be doing that in love because you're concerned for them,
but they are You can name something they're doing that
is harming. So I feel the same way about encountering

(01:37):
someone who's using a Weiji board or trying to predict
the future. They're doing something that's dangerous. As you say, though,
it's offensive when you call that out, and when you
deny that everybody can have their own reality. I wonder
if it'll just take tragedy, you know, Is it just

(01:58):
going to take repeated tragedy for people to understand how
dangerous this whole field is.

Speaker 1 (02:04):
Yeah. So, like I said, the emphasis being on commitment
was what really drew me in, and the phrase caught
in my head a couple of years ago. I said,
reality exists, and we need to commit to it because
if we don't, there's no limit to the ridiculousness of
how our lives will be. And I think we're seeing
that on some level in modern culture. None of the listlessness,

(02:28):
you know, when you live outside of reality. There's a
collective unease that we're all experiencing, that we all kind
of can tell that something's not quite right. My assessment
is that we have lost touch with reality.

Speaker 2 (02:42):
Now, as you're talking about this, I think it actually
connects to the epidemic of loneliness. That is, if everybody
has their own personal reality and they're going to be
defensive about that and proud about that, they are essentially
rejecting community reality. And that's what you mean by commitment
that it's not just a commitment to my own imaginary reality.

(03:06):
It's that you and I are facing the same reality.
And you know, we can say do you see this
going on? And you say, yeah, I see that too.
And I think that's the deeper thing going on in
our culture is people wanted to be independent and not
be part of the community, wanting to indulge themselves, and
advertising just pushes this constantly. You know, you're this unique individual,

(03:29):
so buy this mass produced product and prove how unique
you are. It's just crazy, but they are prey to
that because it feeds their pride, and I'm afraid it
will take some hard lessons before they realize there actually
is a real reality, and we know it's real because
we all share it and then be attracted back to that.

(03:50):
I think that's part of the problem we're facing. Commitment
to community reality, shared.

Speaker 1 (03:58):
Reality, something outside you. You know we're completely atomized.

Speaker 2 (04:03):
Yes, yes, something that exists, just like the visual world
out there that we can all agree on this. We
hear the same things, our senses perceived the same things.
The self indulgence is very, very attractive, but it's important
to bond with others. It makes you human to share
that commitment to reality. Yeah. Yeah, well there's a lot

(04:25):
to explore there isn't there and those what's going to
be a journey, So yeah, you'll be learning more and
more about it, but there's wisdom there in that little package. Hi.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
I'm Dave Hannigraf, host of the new podcast A Commitment
to Reality, brought to you by the Christian Research Institute.
I can't wait for you to hear these conversations. The
best way for you to support the show is simple.
Go to wherever you get your podcasts and follow or subscribe.
I'll see you there.