Guest Sermon Series
Rev. Robert D. Shofner
St. John's UCC- Boonville Indiana
One thing that basically everybody in our society agrees with today ... whether we’re liberal, conservative, Democrat, Republican, Christian, atheist, whatever ... the majority of people today would agree that our nation is in a state of moral decline.
What is the cause of this crisis of values in our society? Two words. Truth decay. The fact is, we no longer value the truth in America. Instead, we value convenience ... is it easy? And we value pragmatism ... does it work? People don’t really care about the truth. In fact, many question, “Is there such a thing as truth?” They say, “What I really want to know is ... does it work and is it easy? And if it works in my life, and it’s easy, I don’t care of it’s true or not ... that’s good enough for me.”
This represents a major shift in values over the last fifty years in our society. Then, there was almost universal agreement about what was truth, what was right, and what was wrong, and what was truth. Today, though, is very different. There are many in our society today who say there is no such thing as right and wrong; there are no standards by which you can evaluate your life or your behavior.
Why is it that we went from general agreement on “This is true” to where we are today? What happened? We were sold a bill of goods. We fell for three very destructive philosophies that have replaced truth in our society.
The first is individualism. Individualism basically says, “I live for myself. Only I can be the standard for my life. Only I can judge what’s really true. Only I can judge what’s right or what’s wrong. And you don’t have any right telling me what’s right or wrong or true.”
This is nothing new. Individualism has gone on in nations for thousands of years. In fact, a long, long time ago, Israel fell into this same trap. Why? Judges 21:25, “In those days Israel had no [authority] so the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” Does that sound vaguely contemporary?
“I’ll just do whatever I think is right! And since there is no authority, no rules, no standards, no absolutes, I can do whatever I want.” That’s an easy philosophy to hold on to because it means I never have to feel guilty. Because I don’t have to measure up to your standards, and if you say, “This is right.” ... Well, that may be right for you, but ... for me ... I am an individual and I run my own life.
The result of that in the nation of Israel was anarchy and chaos ... and that will be the result in our country if we keep heading off that way. Because anything goes. The only thing that matters is me.
The second philosophy that we’ve bought in to is called secularism. Secularism can be summarized in three words, “God is unnecessary.” It doesn’t mean I don’t believe there is a God ... “Oh, I believe in God” ... I just don't need Him in my life. And we have been systematically removing God from every area of public life. Out of the schools, out of the government, out of the media. God is unnecessary.
Fifty years ago most school rooms had the Ten Commandments hanging on the wall. Fifty years ago most classes began with prayer. Fifty years ago more people went to church than didn’t go to church. Today, it’s exactly the opposite. Obviously there’s no Ten Commandments or prayer in schools. And the majority of people don't go to church. So where are they getting their morals? Jerry Springer? ... where you take the most bazaar creatures found on the planet, put them on stage, and say, “This is normal!”
Drag biker queens from Mars who are Nazi feminists. Amazing. And the audience sits there and says, “Oh, yeah, this is great.” The number one purveyor of values today is not God or the Bible or church or even parents. It’s television.
Secularism, where God is made unnecessary, is talked about in the Book of Romans, chapter 1 where it says, “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped created things rather than the Creator.” (Romans 1:25) That last part is called “materialism.” When we worship things rather than the God who created everything. That’s why there will be more people at the river or casino today rather than worshipping God. A lot of people worship their boat, or bike, or house, or career ... anything that is created, rather than worshipping the Creator. So God is unnecessary and I live for myself.
The third philosophy that we’ve fallen prey to is called relativism. It can be summarized in two words, “no absolutes.” The idea behind relativism goes like this. “You know, what’s true for me may not be true for you. And what’s true for you may not be true for me. Therefore, what’s right for you may not be right for me, and what’s right for me may not be right for you. And nobody can say what’s right or wrong, because all truth is relative.” Again, that’s a great way to avoid guilt, because we can always say, “Well, that’s your standard.”
This belief is revealed in a lot of familiar phrases, like: “It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you sincerely believe it.” Whenever I hear that, I want to say, “Oh, really?”
Let’s say, after church, you head out to Louisville and get on the freeway. And you start up what you sincerely believe to be the “on” ramp. But the truth is ... it’s really the “off” ramp. Now, is sincerity enough to keep you from having an accident? No. Does the truth matter in that situation? Absolutely. So, you’re driving up this “on” ramp, which is really an “off” ramp, and some guy is driving off the freeway ... he rolls down his window, and yells at you, “Wrong way!” And if you believe in relativism, you say, “Well, who are you to tell me what’s wrong? Who made you the judge of my life? It may be true for you, but it may not be true for me. For you, this may be an “off” ramp; for me, it’s an “on” ramp. So, don’t be so judgmental and narrow minded!”
A little secret ... when people tell you the truth, they’re not judging you, they’re being kind. There are very few people today who will level with you and tell you, “Look, you’re going down the wrong track. You keep it up, you’re going to blow it. You’re headed for a major head-on collision.” The people who tell you the truth are those who love you.
Another phrase that’s common to relativism is this: “There are no absolute truths in life.” In one of my college classes, the professor stood up in front and said, “There are no absolutes in life.” I raised my hand and said, “Are you absolutely sure about that?”
Don’t ever let anybody “con” you with pseudo-intellectualism. “There are no absolute truths.” That is not only illogical, it’s irrational. It’s illogical, because that statement in itself is an absolute. “There are no absolutes.” You just stated one, which means it’s wrong. (Think that through, now.) You cannot make an absolute statement that there are no absolutes. That’s illogical. And it’s irrational, because the fact is, the whole world proves that the world is built on things you can depend on because they are absolutely true.
For instance, there is an absolute truth called gravity. What if, say every eight or nine minutes, God turned off gravity? We’d all be floating around the ceiling. One of the reasons we build chairs is because we can depend on gravity to pull us down and something needs to hold us up.
Let’s say you come down with bronchitis. The doctor gives you a prescription, you take it to the pharmacist, and she gives you medicine for schizophrenia. You say, “I don’t need this!” “Well, there are no absolutes, so I thought this medicine would be as good as any other. In fact, you look a little neurotic, so I thought you should take this. And I thought that the dosage was little weak ... it’s prescribed for 80 milligrams ... so I thought I’d up that to 3,000 milligrams. It may kill you, but I don’t really care, because everything is relative, and truth is evasive.”
When you go to a pharmacist, are you interested in absolute truth? Yes. You want just the right amount of just the right medicine, because not every medicine will do, and every medicine is not equal.
Truth is narrow, folks. And God wants us to know the truth.
In our society today, which is dominated by relativism, the highest value is tolerance. And we value tolerance more than truth. We don’t want to say the truth, because we may offend somebody, they may disagree with us. So, what we’re supposed to do is tolerate each other. The worst sin in our society is to be intolerant. The worst thing to be called is “judgmental.” “You’re narrow-minded, judgmental, intolerant.” Friends, it’s not judgmental to tell the truth.
The word “tolerance” has been re-defined by our society. Look it up in the dictionary, and you’ll find, “The capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others.” Even if one disagrees with those beliefs or practices. The Bibles teaches that, as believers, we are to be tolerant. We should never treat people as less than human. Even the worst criminal ... or the person with the most immoral lifestyle ... we are to treat them with love and dignity. Jesus did. Jesus accepted people without approving of their lifestyle. He didn’t say, “Do whatever you want, it doesn’t matter.” It does matter. But He treated them with dignity. So, we’re called to be tolerant ... in the old meaning of the word.
Now tolerance means that every idea is equally valid, equally true, and that every lifestyle is equally right. That is not true. That is false. It is not true that every lifestyle is equally valid. It is not true that every thought or idea or belief is equally true. Because truth is narrow.
The ultimate expression of this new definition of tolerance is called “Political Correctness.” God has something to say about that. Ephesians 4:17-19, “They are hopelessly confused ... Their closed minds are full of darkness; they are far away from the life of God. They don’t care anymore about right and wrong.” They just don’t care. You see, some people are so open-minded their brains fall out. And some open minds need to be closed for repair. They’re not even thinking. Think, people! Don’t be conned by these pseudo-philosophies that lead to a dead end. That’s the cause.
So, what’s the cost? What’s the cost of not having any standards, not having any values, and not even agreeing on what’s true, right, and wrong. The cost is ... our culture is collapsing. And it’s amazing to me that the people who are noticing this are not the religious leaders, but the secular press. A great book clearly addressing all this is The Enemy at Home by Dinesh D’Sousa. In our magazines, a couple of cover stories ... “Everybody’s Lying ... Honest!” “Busybodies and Crybabies. What’s Happening to the American Character?” That’s a good question. The answer is found on another magazine cover, “The Generation That Forgot God.” That’s what happened. And if there is no God, then there is no standard of truth; and if there is no standard of truth, then anything goes.
Ever play Scrabble? Let’s say you invite me over for a game of Scrabble, and I come up with the word “Snipple-fritzer.” And you say, “That’s no word.” I say, “It’s a word to me. And it’s worth 57 points! Because it uses the ‘Z’.” At that point, we have to go to an objective authority called “Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language.” And if “Snipple-fritzer” is in that dictionary ... I don’t care what you think ... I get the points. But, if it’s not in the dictionary ... it doesn’t make any difference if I like it or not, it’s not a word ... I don’t get the points.
The Bible, God’s Word, tells the truth. There’s a lot in the Bible that I don't understand ... there’s a lot that’s not easy to do. But it is the truth. Because it came from God. And if we say something that’s contrary to the truth ... guess who’s wrong?
Isaiah 5:20, “Destruction is certain for those who say that evil is good and good is evil; that dark is light and light is dark.” God is not mocked. Whatever we sow, we’re going to reap. And what we see happening today is the reaping of what we’ve sown over the years. “A nation without God’s guidance is a nation without order.” Proverbs 29:18
To wrap this up, the question is not, “How can I change society?” but rather, “How can I live a life of value in a world that can’t even decide what’s right and wrong? And how can I raise my children with values when their teachers can’t teach basic values of what is right and wrong because of individualism, secularism and relativism? What do I do?” Psalm 11:3 says, “When the foundations of life are undermined, what can good people do?” Here’s the cure ... rebuild the foundation.
Rebuild the foundation of your life, your family, your business. And that means start with God. Why? Because God is truth. What makes something wrong? Because we say it’s wrong? No, because it’s anti-God. It’s against His character. God is honest, so when we’re dishonest, it’s wrong. God is faithful, so when we’re unfaithful, it’s wrong. God is just, so when we’re unjust, it’s wrong. When we are different from the character of the Creator who made us ... it’s wrong. When we are like the character of the Creator who made us ... it’s right. That make sense? That’s how we decide what truth is. Proverbs 2:9, “God shows how to distinguish right from wrong, how to find the right decision every time.”
Just one last thing. Each of us wants to make a choice: What will my standard be? What I think? What the world says? The values of individualism, secularism and relativism? Or God’s Word?
Let‘s bow our heads:
Father, I’m so thankful that You always tell the truth. It’s not always easy to hear, but it’s always the truth. Today, may we be people who say, “My standard for deciding right from wrong, for deciding what’s true, is God. Not public opinion, and not even what I feel is right, or even what’s convenient. Help us to build our lives on values that last.”
And the people said, “Amen.”
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