THE CULTURAL FLIGHT FROM COMMON SENSE AND WHAT WE CAN DO ABOUT IT

 

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.