The New Absolute

In our day it is not kosher to talk about absolutes.  What the Apostle Paul wrote about the church being, "...the church of the living God, the pillar and bulwark of the truth," (I Timothy 3:15) is more likely to raise a disbelieving eyebrow than a hearty "Amen."  First of all, there is a basic distrust of the church, a too prevalent thing today, and, secondly, the idea that the church would be the keeper of the truth is beyond any possibilities.  The church and the truth it proclaims is regarded as irrelevant, out-of-touch with the real world, and mostly an anachronism. 

 

What is interesting is that those who declare the church irrelevant and the truth set forth in the Scripture as anything but absolute have embraced a new keeper of truth and a new absolute.  The keeper of truth is common consensus and the new absolute is inside the secular doctrine of Relative.  Nothing is absolute anymore.  Everything is relative.  Relative is the new absolute.  And, who has a grip on this new absolute?  A society that has chosen to delegate the Word of God to second rate status has taken the place of the church as the source of understanding.

 

We live in a time of trendy fashionable thinking and midst a culture that questions the authority of what has always been known as the Word of God.  The truth is that the Word of God continues to be what it has always been.  It has not changed.  It is still an authoritative Word which "...is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work."  (II Timothy 3:16-17)  One thing which is overlooked in this word is the word "righteousness."  It is not a word which speaks of some super spiritual state, but a word which speaks of humanity living in a right relationship with the Creator God and those who share life with us.  Nothing can take the place of this word of absolute truth as we seek to live as we were created to live.