I like the cartoon animation film,
“Horton Hears a Who,” and I especially appreciated Horton the
Elephant's motto (I'm quoting from memory):
I meant what I said, and I said what I meant,
An elephant is faithful, one hundred percent!
I wish all Evangelicals believed as much about God. But as it
is, relativism still rears its ugly head within the church, and it is not uncommon to hear people say that the Bible can mean different things to different people. The
following is a reflection on why relativism as an approach to truth
is simply unlivable, and why in spite of this, Evangelicals
(including myself) are tempted to approach God's word with a
relativistic mindset.
Relativism vs. Universal Courtesy
It is the most
basic rule of courtesy that we assume that a person means exactly
what he/she says. When we offer a friend some food, and they say, “No
thanks,” we shouldn't shovel our food onto his/her plate, anyway.
And who hasn't experienced frustration when a parent/teacher/boss has
reprimanded us mistakenly, but wouldn't listen to our explanation? We
expect people to take us at our word. When they don't, and
when we don't do the same, it's discourteous.
Rude. Bastos.
Mayabang.
So
how can someone who claims to be Evangelical, who claims that the
Bible is God's written, inspired, infallible, inerrant word... how
can he/she say that God's word can mean different things to different
people? Interpeting the Scriptures that way is outright disrespect to
God's wisdom and intelligence. If I may adapt the words of Horton:
God meant what He said, and He said what He meant.
The Bible speaks clearly, one hundred percent!
We
must not twist His words to suit our personal or cultural
preference.
Why It's So Tempting to be Relativistic
1. It's easier. In order to understand what a passage of Scripture
really says, one has to read carefully, keep the context in mind,
analyze the words, do background research, and compare the passage
with other passages, to name a few things. It's fairly hard work. And
sometimes, let's be honest, it can get frustrating when the meaning
doesn't jump out at us after the first few minutes of reading and
re-reading the text. And so, making up our own interpretation is just
the easiest thing to do.
2. It's faster. Doing all the stuff I mentioned above is
time-consuming. It can easily turn a 15-minute devotion into an
hour-long meditation. This isn't very easy for people of our culture
to accept. Why spend so much time trying to figure out the correct
meaning of the text, when I could be sleeping, or studying, or
working, or playing video games?
3.
It meets felt needs. I, just like any other Evangelical, believe with
all blood-eanestness that God's word is powerfully, often painfully,
personal. But I believe many Evangelicals conveniently ignore the
other side of the coin, that God's ways are higher than our ways, and
His thoughts than our thoughts. The word of God wasn't made flesh
(Jesus), so that we could stop being insecure with ourselves and
start living happy, successful, and ulitmately selfish lives. Jesus
bore God's wrath for our sins on the cross so that we would be
ransomed from the wrath of God; so that we would be set free from the
power of selfishness, pride, vanity, covetousness, lust, any every
other petty
pursuit that robs Him of our complete and utter devotion and faith;
so that He could take us out of ourselves, beyond ourselves; so that
we could know His righteousness, His ways, His glory! But sadly, we
seem to be willing to set all this aside. Maybe we just want God to
talk to us about being self-confident, positive, healthy, wealthy,
family-oriented, society-loving, nationalistic, and (by the way)
“God-fearing” people.
4.
It caters to popular notions of tolerance, respect, and love. Many
people object to the notion of absolute truth, because when you claim
that you're right, you're implying that everyone else is wrong. That
can't be loving, the modern mind reasons. In “Christianese,” it
sounds something like this: “What does the passage mean for
you?”
or “It's ok that we all have different interpretations of the
text.” Now while that may seem kind and inclusive, it is actually
unloving. “The gospel is the power of God for salvation for
everyone who believes.” (Rm.1:16) To the extent we obscure the true
meaning of a text, we also obstruct the work of God in the souls of men and women in desperate need of the Holy Spirit's transforming work.
Paul's
Command to Timothy
In closing, God's word is living, active and more powerful than any
human philosophy we might be tempted to put in its place (Heb.4:12).
This is precisely why Paul commanded Timothy, “Do your best to
present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to
be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.” (2Tm.2:15)
May we who love God and the gospel cast aside all traces of
relativism, and trust in God to work mightily in the lives and hearts
of people as His word is faithfully shared.
See Also: Bible Translations: Dynamic or Literal?
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