Pastor Doug Melder brought a deep sermon on relativism and truth this weekend at North Way Christian Community. Relativism is a difficult topic to approach for anyone because convincing a relativist of absolute truths that they disagree with is a daunting task, but Doug spoke truth in a clear and humble way. Check out his sermon after the break…

As I was thinking back through the sermon, I began to remember things I’ve seen or heard people say that tie into the definition of relativism. The following are the three main points from the sermon with comments that give real life reference to the aspects of relativism:

1. Relativism says truth is elusive, but Jesus reveals that Truth is knowable in Him.
   • Let’s just agree to disagree.
   • I just can’t bring myself to believe that.
2. Relativism says that truth changes with culture, people or context, but Jesus reveals that Truth is absolute.
   • Culture is different now than it was then.
   • It’s socially acceptable now.
   • What I do is my own business.
   • It’s not hurting you, so why does it matter?
   • Get over yourself and join this century.
3. Relativism says that truth is a form of slavery, but Jesus reveals that Truth is freedom.
   • It’s my life; I’ll do what I want.
   • It’s nothing but a bunch of rules. Forget that.

I see relativism in many of my friends from high school and college. That should not come as a surprise considering my age, but it irritates me. I don’t really like to argue, but something in me wants to try to convince them that they are wrong in their beliefs, and that there is absolute truth that they are rejecting. I’ve entered into long debates about controversial topics with a few of these friends, and they have all ended with lines like what I mentioned above.

I’ve chalked the results of these conversations up to being less researched or less intellectual than my friends. I think Doug touched on a deeper issue in his sermon though. Maybe I am not practicing the Biblical side of tolerance. Maybe I am not accepting them in love:

Beliefs matter, but we will lose the ability to proclaim our belief about the most essential matters if we fail at acceptance in love. This is exactly the enemy’s plan; we can’t play into it. We have to be tolerant in a manner that invites tolerance back in our direction, and from this position we are then able to proclaim truth. And today, people [who] maybe believe differently just might become convinced by the way we love them, and accept them, and proclaim the truth.

Pastor Doug Melder

If you watch the sermon to the end, you’ll see six applications in the form of 140 character tweets. The one I need to apply most is number four:

Don't attack relativism in other people; attack relativism in yourself. Set your compass to Truth North and others will follow. #Blindspot

— Tony LaMarca (@tlamarca) June 30, 2013

It’s hard to attack the issues in my own life rather than attacking what I see in others.