Last week Google CEO Eric Schmidt was the featured guest at a pre-G20 technology forum in Pittsburgh. During his presentation Schmidt explained, “Google is in the business of trying to produce the very best search results, but we don’t claim to know what the truth is.” Jeff Jarvis, author of What Would Google Do, writes: “Google is in the organization and knowledge businesses. Google knows more about what we know and want to know and what we do with that than any other institution.”

Schmidt and Jarvis know exactly what sort of business Google is in. The company stockpiles the world’s information, makes it easily accessible to anyone who wishes to use it, and leverages this information in its highly-successful advertising business. Described as the fastest growing company in history, Google now defines a generation, an economy, and a worldview. With such influence in the world it might surprise some and concern others that Google’s CEO freely admits his search engine doesn’t know what the truth is.

Schmidt’s confession was no more in the context of knowing who makes the best French fries than knowing who killed Kennedy. For me to suggest that Schmidt’s comment was in some way intended to be post-modern spin candy in opposition to truth would be silly. Yet some may find it troublesome to consider the millions (200 million search queries per day) of people who turn to Google for their information- presumably expecting that information to be the truth.

Schmidt’s comments concerned me even more as he warned… “Legitimate truth groups, ones that are actually trying to get a real message out, will have to battle with well-funded, targeted – literally people trying to deceive…” The church is certainly a legitimate truth group, and what greater truth is there than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Was Schmidt’s presentation some sort of subtle message to the church; was he trying to warn us of impending doom or that we must be on guard, ready for whatever sort of deception the latest internet hack is capable of throwing at the Christian faith? Regardless of his intentions or lack thereof, I believe that is exactly the message we need to be hearing.

Schmidt and his squad of tech-wizards are all about information whether true or false, and the way in which they gather all this information is beyond anything I will ever comprehend. But they don’t decide what is true. If some crazy creates a website to tell the world that he is the 2nd Coming, Google will know it and Google will share it.

Google means no harm by sharing the world’s information. In doing so, Google does not try to establish truth, to persuade, or to insist upon anything; they intend only to inform. Yet there is an entire cohort of young people bearing its name (Google Generation) who prefer the search engine to a library, a webpage rather than a book. Whichever answer wins Google’s popularity contest (PageRank) whether of fact or fiction, is only a click away.

Google’s founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, believed there was a better way- they were determined to create a better way for internet users to find the information they were looking for. On and offline, I don’t believe people just are just looking for information- I believe they are searching for the truth – One Truth. I believe the truth they seek can be found on Google or in the arms of our churches. Either way, I believe God will have His way. He will reach the hearts of those who seek to find Him. (Matthew 7:7) The question is whether we as the church are as determined as Sergey Brin and Larry Page to help them find what they are looking for.

Jason Lewis CFRE, senior consultant with The Frank Group, has served Christian ministries in a variety of leadership roles, trained hundreds of non-profit leaders, and shared relationships with a continuously growing number of generous individuals. You can read more about Jason’s ministry at The Generous Life.