Our culture uses a common phrase to push back critical opposition. The expression is “my truth.” It’s an attempt to remove the possibility of someone disagreeing with you. Your decision or thought may be rationally absurd or surprisingly selfish, but if it is “your truth,” who could argue with you?
God. God could.
A culture that defends its beliefs and behaviors on personal ideations of what feels true to an individual is one that is destined to fail. No matter how much “you do you,” you will ultimately have to make an account before God.
Unadulterated Truth
Nowadays, when one begins to use such dirty words as “truth,” the crowds begin to exclaim from the streets,
- “There is no absolute truth!”
- Well, is that statement absolutely true?
- “All truth is relative!”
- Apparently, all truths are relative except for that specific phrase.
- “That might be true for you, but not for me.”
- Can I say that about your statement?
- “You ought not to challenge someone else’s beliefs.”
- That statement is, in reality, a challenge of someone’s belief.
Postmodernism, also referred to as relativism, is the notion that there is no absolute truth. What’s true for one does not mean it has to be necessarily true for another. Developed by the desire to see unity in humanity’s search for truth, postmodernism has attempted to silence exclusivist religions from maintaining vital doctrinal stances. Those who hold this worldview believe that the only absolute truth allowed is when it pertains to their inclusive beliefs. Not only is this thinking religiously offensive, but it is rationally absurd.
No matter how hard we try to put the theological backspace within everyone’s reach, we must quickly acknowledge the frivolous nature of such an attempt. Allowing everyone to come up with their unique version of God does not help us come closer to understanding God. What appears as valiant efforts to know God are actually devious attempts to dethrone God.
Unadulterated truth must be pursued and never neglected for something inherently lesser.
Oftentimes, in the quest for such a noble purpose, we substitute God’s eternal truth for our temporal opinion. We can see the goal up ahead in the distance, but it honestly isn’t the destination at which we thought we would arrive. Jaded by scratching the surface of such a startling discovery, we would rather elect a new leader and draft a new constitution. In our pride, we believe that if we can just recast the lead part, then we can rewrite the script and create a more satisfactory final presentation.
Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.
You must be logged in to post a comment.