July 2010: Why we Christians reject Post-Modernism. (A brief yet important summary)

In these last few weeks, I have received a growing number of posts from believers asking for advice regarding Post-Modernism (and its brainchild, the Emergent Church) and how we are to face it as Christians. Although it is notoriously hard to define, there are certain key principles which undergird the movement and, to my concern, they are becoming ever more prominent in evangelical churches. In this article, we will deal briefly with three of them and answer each of them biblically, namely, 1) truth-relativism, 2) moral-relativism and 3) hedonism.

I.- Truth-relativism

Our fundamental problem with Post-Modernism is the issue of truth. Truth-relativism states that all ideas of truth are relative to the persons or groups holding them, and therefore, there is no such thing as an absolute truth. For this reason, Post-Modernism detests dogmatic declarations and the orthodox faith, just as the liberal Catholic Erasmus rebuked Luther for making truth assertions during the Protestant Reformation. If you want to be Post-Modern, forget all about your doctrinal statements such as ‘All Scripture is inspired by the breath of God’, ‘There is a hell’, and ‘Christ is the only Way of salvation’. Why? Because they are all relative! In fact, it may surprise you that nearly two-thirds of evangelicals under 35 now believe that Jesus is not the only Way to eternal life! Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims, Eastern mystics, Animists, agnostics and even atheists may get to heaven. Where have we come to? Salvation by Christ alone was a truth for which our forefathers shed their blood!

We can only repeat the words of the apostle Peter to a first-century generation which worshipped a thousand Greek and Roman deities, “There is no other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). To preach this is to be labeled intolerant, bigoted and sectarian but let us be very clear on this point, salvation is only and exclusively in the Lord Jesus Christ and in no other! Can you say ‘Amen’? Truth is personal, absolute, universal and unchanging because Jesus Christ is the Truth (John 14:6), and whatever He says is our authority. To hell with any other voice!

II.- Moral-relativism

In the words of Post-Modernism’s chief forerunner, Friedrich Nietzsche, moral-relativism means that there is no wrong or right, no good or evil. He wrote, “Men and men alone have determined what’s good and what’s evil”. In other words, you can live as you feel like. There is no restraint. I read an article in summer 2008 by a church youth leader who said that she taught her young people to sleep about with one another until they found someone with whom sexually compatible. Do we not realize that the only thing compatible with sex before (or outside) of marriage is the lake of fire and brimstone?

Ethics are no longer based on biblical convictions but statistics; the question is not, “What does the Lord say?” but “What do the people say?” This is the height of apostasy. If the truth is relative then so is morality. If there are no foundations, then there can be no rules. As Les Thompson wrote, “This is worse than the AIDs epidemic!” That is why Post-Modernism despises holy spokesmen. The New Gospel preaches that “nothing is bad”. Let the girls come to church half-naked! Let same-sex marriages abound! Let adulterers preach in the pulpit! Abort your babies before they get a chance to live! Kill yourself if you so wish! Do as you like; for all is relative!

Moral-relativism has no time for the word “sin”. But the harsh words sin, iniquity and transgression continue to appear more than 1,000 times in the Sacred Scriptures. It is a false prophet who doesn’t dare to speak of sin. There is a righteous God to whom we have to give an account.

III.- Hedonism

Hedonism is the direct result of moral-relativism. It views the pursuit of pleasure and happiness as the end of life. But the chief end of man is to live for the glory of God. As Paris Reidhead once pointed out humanism aims to make man happy this side of eternity whereas Christianity makes man happy at the other side of eternity. We live in a society awash with sex. Sex sells. Sex is everywhere. We’ve got girls selling their virginity online and pornography has become a multi-billion dollar industry. Was Sodom this bad? Did Gomorrah get this perverted?

The motto of this age is “no sacrifice, no effort; just pleasure! Pleasure beyond all measure!” Post-Modernism burns the brakes off evangelicalism; it doesn’t believe in limits. It tells you to enjoy yourself with what most satisfies you, be it drugs, drink, sex, orgies or giving yourself over to the most exotic fantasies. This is the fruit of a child of the devil. The true servant of God keeps himself holy because the Lord is holy (1 Peter 1:16). Everything has become self-centred: even church worship is geared towards the needs of the people and not to honour the Lord. God is a manageable deity that we can manipulate at ease.

Conclusion: how do we react?

In the midst of an age of great confusion and mixture, the voice of Elijah will be heard again. God will raise up faithful messengers to condemn the mess of pottage that Post-Modernism has tried to sell us. The most pressing need of this hour is for the church to get back to the centrality of the Scriptures and the pulpit in our faith and worship. The Protestant Reformation was built upon the solid rock of the Word of God, but nowadays we spend an hour-and-a-half with the worship team and announcements before giving place to the preacher. Why is it so?

The Word has been relegated to a secondary place in our evangelical church and that’s why these heresies are sprouting up right, left and centre. People are more interested in emotional experiences, social events and psychology; but the time has come to get back to the Bible! The Bible gives solidity and it says a resounding “no” to truth-relativism, moral-relativism and hedonism. In a word, it says “no” to Post-Modernism and proclaims that truth, morality and eternal pleasure are found in One by the name of King of kings and Lord of lords.

Post-Modernism is a passing fade, a mere spirit of our times; but King Jesus will reign forever more (Jude 25).