Now, I am not usually one for reading daily devotionals such as UCB’s Word For Today but I happened to be flicking through the pages of this month’s booklet, and stopped at today’s entry. The whole entry made me think, about the issues which were raised but also other issues which are connected. I’ve pasted the devotion in below and my thoughts are further down the page.

 

The first lie ever recorded was the one satan told Eve when he said that God didn’t really mean what He said, and he’s still peddling the same line.

You hear it in comments like:

a) ‘If you’re sincere, it doesn’t matter what you believe.’ What if you’re sincerely wrong? If your car brakes don’t work your sincerity won’t stop you; telephone poles and buildings will

b) ‘We must be careful not to offend anyone.’ What if people don’t want to hear the truth or live according to it? Should we soften or edit the Scriptures based on what we think they can handle? If you love someone, wouldn’t you interrupt their sleep to keep them from burning up with the house?

c) ‘There is truth in the Bible, but not all the Bible is true.’ Paul writes that ‘All Scripture is God-breathed’ and Isaiah says, ‘If they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them’ (Isaiah 8:20). Twelve inches must make one foot, otherwise we’re all open to each other’s interpretations and subject to each other’s value judgments and somebody’s going to get the short end of the stick.

Now, when we become arrogant in presenting the truth, the cause of Christ suffers and spiritually hungry people are turned off. We who have received grace and mercy must show it. But let’s not compromise what God’s Word says. Interestingly, when polled recently, the majority of today’s young people (16 to 29 year olds) said, ‘Give it to me straight. And if you don’t live it, don’t give it!’ How refreshing! Bottom line: God’s Word is wholly, solely, fully, completely and altogether true. So be faithful to the Scriptures!

 

These sorts of questions and challenges are the ones which we are all faced with in day-to-day life; sometimes from both Christians and non-Christians.  However, my thoughts of late have been along the lines that we do need to stand up for what we believe in, but in order to do this we must actually know what we believe in.  This, today, is often the obstacle.  We have diluted our faith and our beliefs so much that often we are so easily swayed by the half-baked arguments such as those above. Why? Perhaps because we have a half-baked faith too - not knowing our doctrines, our true beliefs, why believe what we do believe… and sometimes not even knowing our own scriptures or our own Saviour or God.

 Universalism vs Relativism - \'No missing links\'

The other realisation which came to me when reading the above was that although the above excerpt says that young people want it told straight or not at all, there’s obviously the growing challenge of Relativism that the postmodern thought brings with it. Does a postmodern Church mean that we must accept a lukewarm relativist Christianity?  Is it really all or nothing?  Can a modern church with Universal values and ethics really survive in a postmodern culture?

Where should we stand with Universalism vs. Relativism as the Christian Church?

I guess I’m asking more questions than I can answer myself… anyone got any answers?

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