What would you say if, as I walk on your green lawn, I tell you that I wholeheartedly believe that your grass is orange? Laughingly, you may presume I am either joking or color-blind. What you wouldn’t, however, affirm is that the evidently green lawn you see could be orange. For to affirm my claim would be a fallacy. Yet, today, objective truth has been replaced with relativism, a dangerous ideology engrained deeply into society, enabling all sorts of evil. Relativism labels truth as subjective and normalizes evil. It blurs the light of definite truth by attempting to define it under the darkness of subjectivity.
Millions of lives are lost to abortion. God’s design for masculinity, femininity, and sex is continually attacked by the sinful ideologies of the LGBTQ agenda. Society attempts to play “god” through the legalization of euthanasia. Mainstream media continues to promote godless messages, defining labeling evil as good. Crime continually increases. How has society normalized such evil with no remorse? Evil becomes normalized when truth is labeled subjective. What better way to justify sin than to say there is no definitive truth? At the root of relativism lies denial, rejection of God’s truth, and a deep desire to justify sin.
Tracing it back to Eden
To understand the depravity that relativism causes, let’s first trace the depravity of our world today back to the fall. Rejecting God’s clear commands and blurring the line of definite truth is not only a 21st-century problem. It traces itself all the way back to Eden.
“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1-2).
Notice that the serpent’s strategy was to, first and foremost, blur the line of definite truth, planting seeds of doubt. What was a definite command from God was turned into a question; the very first question in the Bible.
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16-17).
Sin entered the world when God’s word became subject to human judgment.
Fast forward several years to where we are today, and the definite differentiation between right and wrong is continually attacked by false ideologies such as relativism. Society tests truth under the subjectivity of humanity’s sinful hearts and desires, whereas God calls us to test our hearts under the objective truth of scripture.
The Root of Relativism is Denial
Proverbs 1 beautifully depicts an essential reminder of the existence of objective truth and wisdom.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Proverbs 1:7).
One cannot despise wisdom without first recognizing that wisdom exists. Throughout scripture, foolishness is described as a willful despising and rejection of wisdom. To cling to relativism is merely an attempt to flee accountability and cling to sin. If morality is relative, what value does the word justice hold in society? Why do people of opposing belief systems’ stomachs churn at hearing one of the many heartbreaking events on the news? It is because human nature inherently can differentiate between right and wrong. One can despise truth but cannot claim that objective; moral truth doesn’t exist.
“They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.”
-Romans 2:15
The Perfect and Only Antidote
It is no surprise that relativism is embraced in a world that has strayed so far from God’s perfect design for humanity. How can one stand firm in faith in a world where truth is continually blurred under the darkness of subjectivity? The antidote to relativism is God’s restorative, perfect, inerrant words in scripture.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
Let’s strive to be like the Godly one in Psalm 1, fleeing from evil, meditating on the words of the Lord, and yielding much spiritual fruit.
From the lessons we can learn through Israel’s story in the OT, to the wisdom and encouragement we receive through the psalms, to salvation made possible through the Lord opening our eyes to believe in the atoning work of Christ’s death and resurrection in the NT, we have the best book to combat the hopelessness of relativism. Let’s cling to scripture’s beautiful, perfect, and definite truth.
Pray, Pray, and Pray for This World
Let’s allow our hearts to overflow with gratitude, thanking the Lord for choosing us and opening our eyes to know him. Let’s strive for humility through the knowledge that we, too, would be slaves to sin if the Lord had not opened our eyes to know him.
“But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed” (Romans 6:17).
As we see the brokenness of the world around us, let’s pray daily for this world, for its leaders, those who don’t know the Lord, to turn from the ways of this world and seek the Lord. The true and only antidote that perfectly combats relativism is God’s word. Salvation and the very words of our God in scripture are the very best gifts we have ever received.
“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” -Romans 12:2
“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.”
-Isaiah 40:8
“The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.”
– Psalm 119:130
