Is Truth Absolute?

How to combat the infiltration of relativism within the Church

When I was a teenager in the church in the late 90s, one of the primary pitfalls my peers and I were warned against was that of relativism (otherwise known as postmodernism). We were taught to be wary of the concepts “live your truth,” “truth is whatever you want it to be,” and “what’s true for me may not be true for you; and vice versa.” Our leaders and pastors constantly emphasized the fact that truth is absolute, and cannot be tweaked or softened to fit our preferences or (especially) our pet sins. They told us that the world would tempt us to compromise with sin, to take the easy way out, or to ignore the Bible when it became inconvenient to us. And of course, they were correct. However, what they failed to anticipate was the way the Church itself would participate in the relativization of truth as well. Why has this happened?

One factor is that in certain contexts, questions of knowledge have been replaced by a framework of a belief system. Issues of debate that should be subjected to categories of knowledge — known and established facts — are instead presented as personal beliefs.  This has the unfortunate effect of imbuing them with a sacredness that makes them difficult to challenge.  It stifles healthy debate, as the idea that everyone is entitled to their own opinion has been popularly translated as “all opinions are equally valid.”  Of course if we reflect on this for a moment, we can see that it simply isn’t true.  But reflection and consideration has given way to hot takes and shouting matches.  This, combined with the utterly democratic accessibility of information itself has marginalized the professional in favor of the amateur, who prefers to “conduct their own research” and “form their own opinions.”  On top of everything else, now anyone who wishes is able to platform themselves through the use of social media.  This has created a perfect storm, where we have convinced ourselves that our ideas on any given subject are just as valid as anyone else's.  

A second contributing element is the idolatry of personal freedom that has taken hold in modern western contexts, even within the Church. We’ve witnessed significant influence of this philosophy of living, demonstrated by such phrases as {this is} “what’s right for me…” with the subtext “you don’t have the right to tell me what to do.”  So many of us have wholeheartedly bought into the culture of customization, where everything is tailored to our preferences. We’ve become so accustomed to designing our whole lives around our likes and dislikes that it’s unconscionable to even consider another way.  In some cases it has led us to think of ourselves as so intensely unique that we’ve neglected our social obligations -- our group identity -- all together.  

Please let me be clear.  In many cases, making choices that particularly suit your needs is a perfectly reasonable approach to life.  We’ve all witnessed enough abuse, trauma, and manipulation in our culture to take a strong stand against the idea of violating the boundaries of another human being.  But when we look inward, we must be sure that our own preferences are not without the guardrails of our sacred duty to one another. “What’s right for me” ought never to be something that unduly burdens someone outside of me.  Preferences do not equal truth, and truth must be sheltered in our love for one another.

I was listening to a recent episode of the Holy Post Podcast, and I heard Skye Jethani (along with Phil Vischer and Christian Taylor) discussing the issue of Christians and truth.  He (Skye) made a compelling point about what it costs us when we become known as people without sound judgement.  He said this:

“Christians are buying into flat out lies and untruths...It matters on all issues -- so when the people most susceptible to deception and lies stand up and say ‘hey, but you should believe us because we have the truth about God,’ why would anyone listen?  Our credibility is shot.”

That’s painful, but it rings true.  The question I want to focus on is this: are we still a people that believe in absolute truth?  If we are, then we need to apply that principle consistently.  

What does that mean?  It means one, we assume our faith and our intellect are meant to integrate.  We prize wisdom, not as a nebulous force but as the result of fearing God, and thereby properly recognizing our role as creatures.  Identifying as a creature inherently means not thinking of ourselves more highly than we ought.  One implication of this is that any time we start to feel we know more than the experts on a topic, that should give us serious pause.  

It’s critical for the Christian that we value the role of experts in our lives.  We must do this because it locates us in the proper place mentally, emotionally and spiritually.  Appropriately honoring expertise is a way to demonstrate that we esteem truth.  Several problems arise when we don’t, when instead we believe that I am as capable as anyone else of coming up with the answers to any given question.  One, it diminishes the value of knowledge.  If simple access to information equals knowledge then learning itself is cheapened.  Whatever else we want to promote as Christians we ought not neglect the importance of spiritual formation of the mind.  Two, it furthers the lie of self-determination (“you can be anything you want to be”).  It’s good, healthy and necessary to recognize the limits inherent in our humanity and even in our circumstances.  We all have certain gifts and the ability to hone particular skill sets.  But our ability to excel in those areas will be hampered if we labor under the illusion that we can master everything, particularly if we don’t appreciate the time and effort needed.  

Finally, believing in absolute truth necessitates that we respect the doctrine of common grace.  All truth is God’s truth and therefore it may be discovered or housed in unlikely places.  It requires humility to accept and embrace that fact, but it’s critical if we are to demonstrate our credibility and trustworthiness to the world.  If we instead exhibit stubborn resistance to facts, whether they be from science, history, or current events, we will seal our reputations as stiff-necked adversaries of the common good. 

If we agree that we need the practices and mindsets listed above, we must also consider what affirming absolute truth doesn’t mean.  It doesn’t mean that as Christians, we can never be wrong.  If we affirm the bible’s teachings on sin, we would be foolish to assume that we won’t make errors in judgement.  Our minds and emotions are still affected by sin and still subject to deception, confusion and weakness.  The very existence of these forces ought to convince us all the more of the importance of truth and the urgency of seeking wisdom through humility and dependence on the ordinary means of grace in our lives.  

It also doesn't mean that Christians will never disagree on anything (if only!).  However, if we must disagree, let it be honestly.  Let’s seek truth together with the understanding that truth is knowable and that our endeavors to work it out must be defensible within the confines of both love (that kind that lays down his or her life) and wisdom (the fear of the Lord).  If we can achieve that kind of harmony within the Church, the world will be drawn to the beauty and wholeness of Christ, who is the ultimate Truth.