Here is the difference between the Christian and the person of the world.
The Christian wants to be free of sin. The person of the world wants to be free to sin.
“Of” and “to” are small words that make a world of difference.
To be free of sin, one needs to know what sin is. To know what sin is, it is necessary to know what truth is. To the Christian, truth has a simple but demanding source.
“Jesus said to him, I am the way; I am truth and life; nobody can come to the Father, except through me.” (John 14:6)
Pilate dismissively asked, “What is truth?” when he was staring Truth right in the face, for Jesus and His teachings are one and the same, although Christ is much more than His teachings.
To be free to sin, one needs to deny there is any truth to know, an attitude we call moral relativism.
Moral relativism is simple enough, but it is anything but demanding. If there is no such thing as truth, there is no need to justify anything. Arguments don’t matter to a moral relativist. Arguments may be, and often are, put forth to justify all sorts of perverse ideas, arguments that make a mockery of rational thinking. It was the Apostle of Common Sense, G. K. Chesterton, who many years ago predicted, “We shall soon be in a world in which a man may be howled down for saying that two and two make four …”
But in the end, arguments don’t matter. It is the devilish desire to sin that drives down souls and societies.
So I reflect:
- Do I ignore or twist the truth to justify what I want to do, or what I don’t want to do?
- Do I follow Jesus only when it’s convenient, and try to hide from Him when it is inconvenient?
