The Philosophy Behind the Craziness
How the Church is Being Impacted
How We Must Respond . . . According to Paul
The flight from common sense in our culture is obvious. Children are being told they can choose their own gender by merely “identifying” as either a boy or a girl. Men and boys who “identify” as women insist on playing in girls and women’s sports and sharing their locker rooms and restrooms.
In this flight from common sense, children are being
taught that men can get pregnant and have babies and that a woman can become a
father. They are told that there are no absolute truths and things such as sex
and gender are manmade social constructs imposed on society by a powerful
elite.
In this flight from common sense, we have seen
supposedly intelligent individuals, including university professors, struggling
to define a “woman.” They struggle because in their flight from common sense,
they now accept that a woman may have male genitalia.
Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders expressed the thoughts
of many when she said, “The dividing line in America is no longer between right
or left. The choice is between normal or crazy,”
The
Philosophy Behind the Madness
This kind of thinking is a blatant departure from science,
reason and common sense. It is based on a recent philosophical worldview called
“postmodernism.” It is called postmodernism because it has replaced modernism,
which was characterized by its emphasis on reason.
The modernist rejected the Bible and religious dogma
and, in their place, emphasized reason, logic and scientific inquiry as the way
to discover objective truth. This led to a surge in the field of “apologetics”
wherein Christian scholars offered logical and historical evidence for the
Christian faith.
For the postmodernist, however, there is no objective
truth to be discovered. Truth is not something to be discovered; it is
something to be created. Since there is no God and no objective truth or
reality, “I” am free to create my own truth and my own reality.
This means that postmodernism is very ego and
“I” centered. I choose what is right for me and the world must accommodate my
choice regardless of how irrational and nonsensical it may be. What matters is that
it feels right to me. For the postmodernist, truth is rooted in feeling and emotion,
not reason and common sense.
This is why students on liberal university campuses
have demanded “safe spaces” where they can feel safe with their feelings and
not challenged and upset with rational, logical arguments by conservative
students or guest speakers. No wonder that some critics have called them
“snowflakes.”
Postmodernism is a contemporary expression of the
satanic lie of Genesis 3:4-5. The serpent told Eve that they did not have to
listen to God. In fact, if they would ignore God’s word and follow the good
feeling they had while looking at the forbidden fruit, they would become as
God, able to know (determine) good and evil for themselves.
James
Talarico and Postmodernism
Sadly, this postmodern worldview has seeped into the
church. I recently came across on the internet a “Christian” pastor telling her
congregation that there are many paths to heaven other than Jesus. She called
it being “inclusive,” but it is an obvious “Christian” expression of
postmodernism.
Denominations such as the Presbyterian Church (USA)
now ordain to the ministry individuals who are biological men and identify as
women and biological women who identify as men. Such institutions still use Biblical
words, such as redemption, faith, grace, Jesus and salvation, but those words have
become infused with new meaning that reflect the ideas of the postmodern
worldview.
This helps explain why the Democrat candidate for
senator from Texas, James Talarico, can call himself a Christian and claim that
there are six different genders. Talarico
is a member of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, which is a part of the above “progressive”
denomination. He holds a Master of Theology from the Austin Presbyterian
Theological Seminary, which is also a part of the above denomination.
Google AI describes the seminary as “theologically ‘progressive’
and politically liberal.” “Progressive” is the word used to describe those
today on the far left, such as AOC, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Rasheed
Tlaib and others. Talarico has obviously been indoctrinated into a worldview that
calls itself Christian but has been shaped by the postmodern way of thinking.
This rejection of reason and common sense can only
lead to confusion and chaos in society. If we are going to have a structured
and peaceful society, we must reject postmodernism; otherwise, we will become
the sort of chaotic society described in Judges 21:25 wherein, “everyone did
what was right in his own eyes”
How
We Can Respond
In Ephesians 4:15 Paul gives us the key for
confronting the contemporary flight from reason and common sense. He exhorted
the believers in Ephesus to continue speaking the truth in love. In
other words, never compromise the objective truths of the Gospel but always
speak those truths in love.
Paul lived this out when he went to minister in the pagan,
idolatrous city of Ephesus, which was home of the massive temple dedicated to
the famous mother goddess known by the Romans as Diana and by the Greeks as
Artemis. There was a constant stream of visitors to Ephesus to worship at her shrine,
and the culture and economy of the city were based on the temple worship of
Diana.
In his approach, Paul did not go on a tirade against
Diana but neither did he try to be “inclusive” and accommodate her. He focused
his time and energies on proclaiming the factual, historical truths about Jesus
concerning life, atoning death and glorious resurrection. He did this day after
day for three years.
His message had such an impact that multitudes began
forsaking the mother goddess, which resulted in the economy of the city taking
a downturn. Artisans and merchants, who made and sold souvenir images of the
goddess and her temple, suddenly saw their sales plummeting and they blamed it
on Paul and his peaching. This led to a riot against Paul with devotees of Diana
filling the 20,000-seat stadium to express their anger and fury at Paul.
When the city clerk was finally able to quiet the riotous
crowd, he pointed out to them that there was no evidence that Paul had ever
blasphemed their goddess so there was no basis for their fury. He suggested
that if the merchants had an issue with Paul, they needed to take it to the
courts. He then dismissed the crowd (Acts 19:35-40).
Following Paul’s example, we must never compromise
truth to be “inclusive.” We must never accommodate unbiblical and irrational views
in order to be liked and accepted by contemporary culture. But neither must we ever
take an angry, combative approach toward those ensnared by this falsehood.
We must follow Paul and “speak the truth in love,”
remembering that we have been entrusted with a Message that is infused with
Divine power, Paul expressed this in Romans 1:16 where he said, For I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation for
everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.
Dr. Eddie L. Hyatt is the author of over
30 books and in over 50 years of ministry has served as a Pastor, Missionary, Revivalist
and Professor of Bible and Theology. His latest book, America’s Reawakening,
offers historical and biblical evidence that America could be on the verge of
another Great Awakening.
