Relativism

Earlier this week, I posted about my experience at Winter Jam 2012.  A one sentence summary of the post would be that I observed a lot of behavior that you would not expect from Christians at a Christian event. 

I promised you a post on Thursday about what I am reading about that explains why this is happening.  I apologize for not getting this post to you until now.  Please forgive me! 

I am reading a book called Apologetics for a New Generation by Sean McDowell. This book looks at being biblically and culturally relevant in our approach to talking about God. I think it is very obvious that our times have changed. This book takes a look at how we can bring biblical truth into the changing times.

We're at a point where what constitutes truth is a question on a lot of people's minds, and truth has become up for grabs." (p.43)

We have entered a time of relativism. Relativism can be defined as the concept that points of view have no absolute truth or validity, having only relative, subjective value according to differences in perception and consideration. Basically, what used to be set in stone truth is no longer set in stone truth.

Abortion used to not be an option.  Cussing out your parents used to not be an option.  Laying a hand on your wife used to not be an option.  Those used to all be objective truths.  Those things just didn't happen.  They weren't an option!!

Society says it is okay to claim yourself to be a Christian on your religious views on facebook and post pictures of yourself half naked.  Society says it is okay to live with your boyfriend because you’ll eventually get married.  Society tells us it is okay to lie to our parents about where we are going.

The problem is none of the things above are okay.  The relativistic changing of times says that there is no objective truth.  This states that we get to decide what is true and what is not true. 

The national argument right now is one, who's got the truth and, two, who's got the facts. Until we can manage to get the two of them back together again, we're not going to make much progress. (p. 52)

Here are three powerful points from the book that bring this whole post together.

· Relativism diminishes sin - If right and wrong are simply matters of taste, sin evaporates, neutering the Gospel.

· Relativism erodes moral conviction - Relativism says that it is okay to have sex before marriage. It tells you that everyone is doing it and erodes your moral conviction.

· Relativism makes religion irrelevant - Religion is not considered an objective truth to which we submit, but only a matter of personal taste which we chose.

I believe that the kids at this Christian event acted in a manner that did not represent Christianity well because of the three points above. They get to decide what is right and what is wrong now. They can justify poor actions with, "everyone is doing it." And, God seems irrelevant to them or it is only a private part of their lives.

Come back on Monday for a post about our call to action.  We must bring these currently subjective truths back to objective truths.  We can and must raise the bar for the younger generation.  Don't worry, I have already written the post and is scheduled for Monday at 8:00am.