The Truth Shall Make You Free!

The very last verse of the Book of Judges (21:25) declares, “In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes”.  It was written as a brief but concise description of how far the nation of Israel had strayed from the truth of God’s law.  In fact, in many cases they were outright rejecting it.  There was no longer a common standard of right or wrong among the people; moral authority was no longer tethered to God’s standard, and Israel teetered on the precipice, soon to descend into the moral decline which ultimately provoked God’s wrath.

To a large degree, America today is not far from an identical situation.  We find ourselves in cultural and moral confusion, the end result of the current favored academic and philosophical fade, Post-Modern Relativism.  This is a fancy way of essentially saying that there is no such thing as “absolute truth”, that truth is “relative” to the individual.  In other words, “what you believe is true is fine for you, but may not be true for me”.  If this sounds a bit bizarre, this little anecdote will hopefully explain why:  There was a college professor, who stood before his class and boldly proclaimed “There are no moral absolutes.”  To which a puzzled young student asked, “Are you sure of that?”  The esteemed professor confidently replied, “Absolutely sure.”  Now, I don’t know about you, but to me the contradiction is profoundly self-evident!

But because of this pervasive belief, our culture suffers from an onslaught of numerous strange departures from previously held moral “truths”.  The “gay” community demands the “right” to marriage, while heterosexuals are running from it.  We are now being told that guns should be outlawed, but pot shouldn’t be.  We find in many states that a 14 year old girl has to get her parents’ permission to go on a field trip, but not to have an abortion.  It is not difficult to see why many feel America has reached the tipping-point, and is perched similarly on the slippery slope as was Israel at the conclusion of the Book of Judges.

In opposition to modern philosophical trends, Christians believe God has revealed and established absolute truth, not only through His written word in the Bible, but that this truth was embodied by His son, Jesus Christ, who emphatically and unequivocally declared: “I am the way, the truth, and the life”.  Secular philosophies suggest we can have freedom by denying the existence of truth; but ultimately this is the path by which we become slaves to sin (and government, for that matter!).  Contrast this to the promise Christ Himself makes: “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”.

Yes, I believe America is at a crossroads.  It is time “we the people” decide whether we will continue to sink beneath the shifting sands of Post Modern Relativism, or whether we will return to building our cultural foundations upon the “Solid Rock”. 

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance”.