Are Christians using Relativism?

Are Christians using Relativism?


John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

John 14:24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

John 14:25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.

John 14:26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

How many times have we heard people say that, well I don’t believe that Jesus was talking about our day and time after all it is not the same as it was then, things are different or I worship Him in my own way? First let me say that I am simply a layman. I don’t have a college degree from some seminary nor do I hold some position in the church. I am simply a man that loves the word of God and serving my Savior. Over the past several years I have witnessed an even greater trend of worship than I ever thought possible. I have heard many people within the church body use the exact same excuse for not living their lives for Christ as non believers give for not believing in God. It is as if the entire concept for Relativism has been applied to the Christian faith in the denial of absolutes and yet Jesus clearly said here; that He that loveth Him not, keepeth not His words. Therefore is appears to me that we have an absolute truth, that if one loves Him they will keep His word and if they don’t love Him, they won’t, however many believe that it is relative to the believer and their view point of the scriptures. For example I have often heard people say; well Jesus said I have to love you, but that doesn’t mean I have to like you. How can you have one without the other? The truth is you can’t. If you truly love them then you also have to like them because they are intertwined and when we attempt to distinguish between the two we fail to truly meet the need of the person. You see if I liked you then I would be concerned about your well being. I am not simply speaking about your spiritual well being but you’re physical as well. That means I am going to get involved with you as a person. I am going to make an investment in you that requires me to spend time to get to know you because if I get to know you I am going to recognize areas that require a special touch and this can only be accomplished when our relationship with Christ goes beyond lip service only. It requires us to love Him so that we keep His words and they abide in us and if they abide in us then we know that He abides in us and the evidence is revealed in the fruit that we produce.

We are responsible for the denial of absolutes in the world because we have lived as if there are no absolutes. We have encouraged relativism not only in the world but in our children which has made it easier for them to deny Him because we have not wanted to truly pick up our cross and follow Him. In many of us there is not even the slightest evidence that He resides in us and yet we claim Him as if He were just some fad. Paul says in Rom 1:32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Yet we fail to see how it applies to us in our lives and how it affects the lives of others around us. We wear our robes proudly as the Pharisees did walking around as whitewashed tombs ready to drag our neighbors out into the street to stone them for their faults when we are as stinking grave clothes on the inside. Have we chosen to follow vain philosophies of men rather than the gospel of Christ? I firmly believe that we have so precisely intertwined the two that many of us can’t see the truth nor do we want too because if we did we would have to acknowledge that we are not in the body of Christ. Many of us are going to allow our pride to carry us straight to hell. We are going to stand before Him only to hear depart from Me, I never knew you. My heart breaks because I have been guilty of these very things that I speak of and I will have to account for them. Yet the question is if these things are applying to you what are you going to do about it? Are you going to continue to deny that the scriptures do not apply to our day and time or that they are relative to the hearer? If the Holy Spirit is not reminding you of His sayings, you might want to check your condition because there are only two possibilities here; one is that you are already abiding in His words and the other is that you are not His child because if you are His child these things are going to step on your toes if you are not abiding in His word.

I say these things because of the number of people with whom I have spoken to who have confirmed these very things. Many of them have seen no difference in themselves and others who have claimed to be Christians and while it is not an excuse it confirms that we have been blaspheming His name among the nations, when He had set us apart from the world that others might see us and recognize Him as God. I say this because I have seen people hurting and being turned away from the church because the body of Christ has refused to love as Christ loved us. I say this because I have seen God’s people give with conditions and when those conditions weren’t accomplished they refused to give again, when God commanded us to give freely without being grieved. (Deut. 15: 1-11) I say this because I have seen the denial of His promises. I say this because I see children in the church who do not even know the basics. They do not know the books of the Bible nor do they know the creation story. I say this because they refuse to acknowledge Him as God. I must wonder how many of us have chosen to not follow Him any more because what He say’s is just too hard. (John 6:66)