Street Theology vs Bible Theology - Your Truth vs My Truth (Postmodernism and the Gospel)
17th August 2023
Text - John 14:6 NIVUK
Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
“You have to live your truth.”
“What is true for you may not be true for me.”
“We can't all be the same way or believe the same thing.”
Phrases and declarations like these have shaped the thought process of our generation. We have been groomed for it from childhood. Through the shows we watched, the popular songs, the movies, animations, and even well-meaning books. An average young person today will tell you their lives and choices are strictly theirs alone. In Nigerian colloquialisms, “make you dey your dey, make I dey my dey”.
While the gospel of tolerance and accommodation is one our world so desperately needs, this can only thrive on the foundation of absolutes. Absolutes are like curse words in our postmodern vocabulary book you see. One will believe you more and quite faster if you say “Yeah, I think we are all serving the same god despite our diverse means of worship” than they would if you said that “the Judeo-Christian God is the one true God.”
One of the most interesting things about this stance is that it leads to a moral decadence as we see in our society today. Because if my ‘truth’ says rape is not wrong, what can your ‘truth’ do about it? The world as we know it has certain moral laws guiding it. These laws transcend race and ethnicity, even faith and culture. This is why murder is as wrong in India as it is in Poland, and stealing is as wrong in Mali as it is in Australia. When we let the tentacles of postmodernism worm their way through our lenses of viewing right and wrong, our standards are compromised. And here's the thing,
We NEED this standard. An absolute outside of ourselves to guide our affairs.
The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, ... Romans 1:18 NIVUK (emphasis added)
It is important to note the little word the. The English language calls it a definite article.
The truth is not a version or a type or a form or a part of a whole. The Truth is a person.
Jesus is The Way, The Truth, and The Life. And if these sound intolerant to our world, check out the verses below.
... since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.- Romans 1:19-20 NIVUK
God is not an unfair, grouchy, celestial being sitting in heavenly places eagerly waiting for the end of age so he can crush humanity. The Bible says that He is not willing that any should perish.
The heart of God is that all of mankind be saved and reconciled to him.
So when next you encounter someone telling you that God is not fair, remember this. He did not hide from anyone. And He has made it plain to all of humanity. He also has given us a choice.
There's this satirical song from the first Addam’s family animation and it keeps ringing in my head as a subtle yet blatant confession of the strategy the world is using today. It says ‘what's so great, about being yourself, when you can be like everyone else? ’ The tune is catchy and from the show, Wednesday Addams was not buying it. Neither should you and I.
There is a need for us to step out of the bushel and shine, to step out of the salt-shakers and season, preserve and cure. '
The world needs the truth of the gospel. Being quiet about it is not an act of love but one of disobedience and God help us, evidence of an absence of God’s love.
Dear soldier,
Dear believer,
There is an absolute Truth. It is a person.
For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ - John 1:17 NIVUK.