The Truth, Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth...SO HELP ME GOD!

"The problem with the world is me. The problem is the fact that I do not acknowledge the supremacy of Christ in truth. The problem is that I start with myself as the measure of all things. I judge God based upon how well he carries out my agenda for the world, and I believe in the supremacy of me in truth. As a result, I want a God who is omnipotent but not sovereign. If I have a God who is omnipotent but not sovereign, I can wield his power. But if my God is both omnipotent and sovereign, I am at his mercy."

- Voddie Baucham, Jr., "Chapter 2: Truth and the Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World", The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World, ed. John Piper and Justin Taylor


Thoughts
I've started reading the book, The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World, it has been very challenging and thought provoking. If you want to read the book, you can download it in PDF form HERE. I'm still processing my thoughts around these concepts: it is very philosophical and, frankly, I feel like shutting the mind down sometimes.

However, one of the themes that I have been dwelling upon is the true philosophical nature of the postmodern world that we live in today. For Christians to be truly effective messengers of the Gospel, it will take understanding the philosophical roots and the many manifestations of the modern postmodern mindset. Its not JUST about the abandonment of objective truth and a sort of "kumbaya," "embrace everyone" culture. It is also about what REPLACES objective truth and reason. Ultimately, it is the embrace of subjectivity. Subjectivity in finding "the answers" within yourself, through your own thought processes, your own values. Because everyone's processes and values are different, a different truth.

We have to ask ourselves, how does this mindset affect views of God? How does it affect views of man? How does it affect how this world is to be fixed? These are deep issues, but ones that must be addressed.

It is alarming that this mindset is subtley (or not so subtley) creeping into the modern evangelical Christian culture (more on that later). The truth battle must not only be fought outside the four walls of the church, but on the pulpit, pews, and meeting rooms within.

We know that postmodern subjectivity cannot be the answer. God IS the Truth. He mas made it clear that we know the truth, if we know Him. God is a God of reason, and reason is connected to knowing the truth. He has made man in His own image with the capacity for reason (As a note, when talking about reason, I am referring to man's capacity to deductively or inductively determine truth, not "intelligence."). We can know the truth, and be certain that it is not just "our truth," but THE truth.




Verse of the Day:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
- John 1:1-3