Search for Truth
Posted by: forthrightmag <forthrightmag@...>
http://www.forthright.net
Going straight to the Cross
We're playing a different ballgame out there
today.
Search for Truth
by Warren Baldwin
"God said it, I believe it, that settles it." That
saying was posted on the office door of one of my
college professors in 1976. Later, I saw a
simplified version of that which simply read, "God
said it, that settles it." The author of the
shorter version was simply trying to say, "It
doesn't matter whether I believe it or not, what
God says is truth."
Such a confidence in the truth of God's Word is
commendable and certainly is to be expected of all
who are Christians.
But such confidence is also waning in our society.
Not just confidence in the Bible, but confidence
in anything that poses itself as a standard of
thought or behavior. Replacing confidence in the
Bible or some other authority is an attitude of
relativism. Relativism is "the doctrine that
knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation
to culture, society, or historical context, and
are not absolute." In other words, there is no
standard of right or wrong that is true for all
people at all times. Society determines what is
right or wrong.
Relativism has been identified as one of the
traits of current thinking referred to as
postmodernism. Postmodernism is the rejection of
Enlightenment thought which elevated human reason
over other aspects of life. Enlightenment thought
believed in human goodness and progress. Man could
do anything, including ending war, defeating
disease, and figuring out God. And we tried, with
science, technology, and increased learning. But
we failed, didn't we?
After several hundred years of rather futile
efforts in ending war, defeating disease, and
figuring out God, a new generation of people grew
up who "knew not the god of the Enlightenment."
This generation tends to reject the conclusions of
preceding generations about the goodness of man
and inevitable progress. They look around and say,
"Your technology, science, and religion have not
dealt adequately with the problems of war,
disease, or hunger. There has to be a better way."
And what previous generations held dear as valid
solutions to all problems current generations
reject. And they often reject religion with it.
God, Bible, church.
This is a problem, isn't it? Yes and no. I prefer
to call it a challenge.
Postmodernism is a challenge because it forces
those of us who believe "God said it, that settles
it" to think seriously about how we can reach this
current generation of thinkers with the Gospel.
Even though relativism may characterize postmodern
thinking, I believe many postmoderns are on a
search for truth. They want something stable to
hold on to. What will we offer them? We can reject
them as being uncaring and unspiritual, but that
is certainly not what God calls for us to do. We
can also scold them for not listening to us, but
that won't accomplish anything except to further
alienate them.
What insight has God given us into how to reach
out to people who might at first tend to reject
the spoken or written Word? What did Jesus say we
should hold out to people to attract them to Him?
How will people know that we are legitimate
disciples of Jesus and not just phony copies? The
answers to these questions might give us some
insight into how to reach the young person living
next door to us. Or even the young person living
in our own homes.