Chris' Corner - Sunday, September 20, 2020
It’s amazing to us, to hear people talk about the riots, looting, burning business properties, destroying government buildings, and attacking and shooting police officers, as justified behavior. Would this be acceptable if these same actions were displayed toward them, their property, or their families?
The answer would be “yes” if there are no moral absolutes. This philosophy suggests there is no standard by which we can distinguish between good and evil. They say no one can really say there’s a right way or a wrong way of doing things. There’s no moral or immoral. There are no moral absolutes.
This is a very comforting doctrine for those who want no restrictions on their behavior. We live in a society where people believe they have some kind of “right” to their perverse sexual activities, to kill unborn babies, to tear up our towns, to attack people who don’t agree with them, or to shoot police officers because they have some political agenda. When ruled by subjective thinking, the end justifies the means. This mindset believes everyone can do what they think is right for themselves, rather than abiding by objective standards which are the same for everyone.
If there are no moral absolutes, then each and every person determines what’s right for themselves. So what happens when someone’s personal “right” interferes with someone else’s personal “right” — who’s right? The consequences of no moral absolutes is utter chaos. We are witnessing that very thing on a daily basis in this country.
The very last verse in the book of Judges says, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25; cf. 17:6). Without someone in authority, without law and order, there can be no structure, no peace, no calm.
The wisdom of the Supreme Ruler of the universe whose law is over all of humanity, tells us, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the LORD weighs the hearts” (Proverbs 21:2). “O LORD, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23).
Truth is not relative or subjective. Truth is absolute. Truth is not determined by our own thinking. Moral truth comes from God. This truth is not elusive. It can be found. It can be known and understood.
Listen again to the voice of the ultimate and final authority, God. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:17). “We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error” (1 John 4:6). “Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).
Those who teach moral and scriptural absolutism are typically branded as judgmental, narrow-minded, and legalistic. This should not deter us from speaking the message of truth. If the whole world goes the way of relativism, truth is on the right side of things.
“Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2). “He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).
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