Postmodernism And The Church

Postmodernism And The Church

Is Postmodernism Destroying Authentic Christianity?

What Is Postmodernism?

Postmodernism is the new age or era in which everything from our modern era is being called into question, reexamined, and challenged under the premise that all truth is relative and absolutes do not exist. In 1964, folk-rock singer-songwriter Bob Dylan characterized postmodernism in his song, The Times They Are A-Changing. The third and fourth verses read like this:

Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call, don’t stand in the doorway, don’t block up the hall. For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled, there’s a battle outside and it is ragin’. It’ll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls, for the times they are a-changin’

Come mothers and fathers throughout the land, and don’t criticize what you can’t understand. Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command. Your old road is rapidly agin’. Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand, for the times they are a-changin’. (Dylan 1964)

One way of understanding postmodernism is when we “think outside the box.” In this context, postmodern thinking moves us outside of the well-defined and absolute historical boundary of the box, or the established rules or principles that are long-held as the definitive guidelines. Much of our conventional thinking warns against crossing over the box lines to discover the unknown. However, it has been argued that creativity, innovations, and reforms reside outside our conventional or historical way of thinking and doing things. Therefore, outside-of-the-box thinking, questioning, experimenting, testing, researching, reexamining, and redefining are necessary for the creation and development of new things, enhancements, and processes. Outside-of-the-box thinking is responsible for many scientific, medical, and technological advances. The Arts, e.g., music, dance, sculpting, painting, architecture, fashion, and film, to name a few, are devout adherents to the postmodern philosophy. One cannot intelligently argue against the many wonderful things that have been achieved through postmodern thinking. Nevertheless, we reject the premise of postmodernism that teaches there are no absolute truths.

The postmodern era is advancing and modernism seems to be on life support. Clinging to the old ways of doing life, e.g., politics, government, business, culture, etc., are all considered wrong or flawed. Everything and anything can be labeled broken, unfair, or obsolete. All must be reexamined under the premise of postmodernism, i.e., there is no absolute truth, only subjective relative truth, and these new truths must be explored and discovered to create a better life for all. This is the premise upon which postmodernism rests and it is wrong as we shall soon see.

Another aspect of postmodernism is the philosophical way of thinking and processing our lifestyles, experiences, values, morals, and beliefs under the premise that there are no absolute truths, rules, principles, or boundaries. All absolute truth becomes alleged truth and is not to be trusted. Absolute truth and all truth is examined, tested, and filtered through one’s subjective experiences and reasoning. If the outcome of our experience seems good, pleasing, harmless, or beneficial to us, then the so-called absolute truth prohibiting such activity must be wrong—right? Therefore, we will likely conform to the value of our experience and not the absolute truth we have been taught since the creation of all things.

The Danger Is Great

In postmodernism, you can challenge any absolute truth and interpret it through your subjective reasoning and experience. Through the use of complicated narratives, dissimilar comparisons, individual feelings, personal experiences, and personal beliefs, the absolute truth can be found to be archaic, unsuitable, wrong, oppressive, hateful, and not for today’s culture. For example, if a man feels he is a woman trapped in a man’s body, Bruce Jenner becomes Catlin Jenner and he is applauded by postmodernists. Nevertheless, God forbids such behavior.

Absolute truths are timeless. Just because we reason that something seems pleasing and harmless does not mean it is right to do. Even if we do not see anything wrong with it, or lack understanding or unwillingness to accept the truth still does not make it right—it remains wrong. The married woman who slept with her cute coworker may have enjoyed the experience, but it is still the forbidden sin of adultery. The man who slept with another man may believe he found his true love, but it is still the forbidden sin of homosexuality.

Such is the case of God’s design for marriage and sexuality which defines marriage as the exclusive union between one man and one woman. To this absolute truth, the LGBT community protested and demanded that God’s marriage definition must be changed to include a same-sex relationship as a marriage. Same-sex advocates vehemently argued that God actually approves of same-sex relationships and cited various scriptures as proof texts. Only those lacking a working knowledge of the Scriptures bought the lie and believed the fairy tales. Unfortunately, God’s absolute truth was disregarded and redefined to include LGBT marriages. The times are certainly changing, but not for the good.

The danger of postmodernism with respect to God and authentic Christianity is in its premise, or more correctly, the false premise that rejects God’s absolute truth in favor of man’s subjective relative truth. The Scriptures declare many absolute truths that are timeless and immutable. They are essential for our lives here and now and throughout eternity. Here are just a few of God’s absolute truths that are timeless and unchangeable. If you believe in God’s absolute truths and do what they say, you will spend eternity in the presence of God.

Absolute truth: God is the Creator of all things including mankind. He loves us and has reached out to us through His Son Jesus to rescue us from our sinful state, give us the free gift of eternal life, and keep us from perishing in the eternal lake of fire:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

Absolute truth: Through man’s (Adam’s) rebellion we fell from God’s grace and sin separated all mankind from God. Not only Adam, but we too have proved that we are corrupt sinners and have a distinct sinful nature:

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23)

Absolute truth: Jesus is the one and only Son of God who came to restore us to a right relationship with God. There is no other religion, beliefs, god, supernatural beings, or higher powers that can free mankind from sin and give us eternal life—only Jesus:

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, (1 Timothy 2:5)

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14: 6)

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

Absolute truth: Godly sorrow and real heartfelt repentance are necessary to receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior:

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ⁴ Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” ⁵ Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (John 3:3-5)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17)

And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (1 John 5:11)

Absolute truth: Those who reject God’s plan of salvation will be cast into eternal darkness and the lake of fire.

He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. ⁷ Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. ⁸ But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.” (Revelation 21:6-8)

Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:15)

Conclusion

These biblical truths are absolute, not because I said so, but because God declared them true. Unfortunately, we humans are guilty of ignoring, watering down, and changing God’s absolute truths to fit our own sinful behavior. God’s absolute truths are timeless and always correct, regardless of the surrounding circumstances. Man’s philosophical premise that declares there are no absolute truths is completely false. We should all understand the grave danger of changing God’s absolute truth to fit our own sinful lifestyles. Please carefully consider some of the very last words found in the Scriptures:

I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. ¹⁹ And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll. (Revelation 22:18-19)

Our postmodern philosophy may be challenging people to think outside of the box, but when it comes to God, salvation, and eternal life they are absolutely wrong. Friends, postmodernism believes there can be many gods, no gods, or one god. There can be many religions, beliefs, and teachings, or no religions; but nobody knows what is right. Therefore, each person is free to do whatever feels right and works for them. Under postmodern thinking, everybody is right and nobody is wrong except those who believe in God’s absolute truth—the Christians. However, postmodernist thinking cannot be absolutely right that we Christians are wrong because they don’t believe in absolutes. To say there are no absolute truths is an absolute statement of self-contradiction.

May God’s Holy Spirit speak to your heart today and draw you into the timeless eternal truth found only in Jesus Christ, the only Lord and Savior of the world. Amen.

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