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In April of 1995, following the Oklahoma City Bombing, rescue workers left this message in paint on one of the surviving walls: “We search for the truth. We seek justice. The courts require it. The victims cry for it. GOD demands it!” The bombing in Oklahoma City was the very first case of terrorism at home, and it shook the nation. The safety and security that America had long taken for granted was being challenged, and the question of truth was in everyone’s minds. The cry for truth and justice resonated loudly, and the culture rushed to provide the answer. Unfortunately, the answers of our postmodern society were unfit to provide a solid answer, and unable to promise a secure future.
Dr. Gene Edward Veith, a columnist for WORLD Magazine and author of 18 books, wrote about the conflicting worldviews that are prevalent in society today in his book, Loving God with all your Mind: Thinking as a Christian in the Postmodern World. He identifies the fact that the world we live in today has an overall climate of postmodernism, which denies absolute truth, and holds to a belief that truth is a construction of the will. In short, “the human being is the creator of truth.” According to this belief, truth must be relative, and therefore indefinable. And if that’s true, how can we ever find justice?
Sadly, justice is the first thing to be lost in a society where truth is relative. Our courts are an example of this moral disintegration. Our judicial system is based upon the Constitution, the supreme law of the land. But what happens when supreme law is relative? Postmodernism wants us to believe that truth is fluid. It is constantly changing, and always able to be shaped in whatever way we see fit. This has led to a re-interpretation of the Constitution by our highest courts, which can only end in a disregard for our basic rights. Life is no longer valued. Private property is no longer protected. And because truth isn’t solid, we can expect even more new interpretations in the future.
Ideas have consequences. Our ideas shape our beliefs, which we use to interpret the facts that we encounter. Our beliefs will ultimately shape our conclusions, and our conclusions are what determine our actions. Under a postmodern worldview, that means a person who completely believes that he should blow up a building would honestly be right in acting upon the ‘truth’ that he created. The terrorist attacks on September 11th were ideological attacks. The radical Muslim terrorists had deep religious convictions that killing the “infidels” was truly righteous. Our problems only get deeper when there is a clash of postmodernism, which is inevitable under such an erroneous belief. What happens when two people’s constructed truths collide? Here then, is our dilemma: Truth is a construction, and in our society we construct our truth around pleasure, building our own luxuries high around us like great towers. Then along comes another man. We wouldn’t dare confront him, because he is entitled to his own truth, which he can construct and live out as he sees fit. But if this man happens to be a Muslim extremist, then truth for him may consists of the destruction of our towers. Looking at it this way, it is very easy to see why our government is so slow to bring justice to our enemies.
There is only one way for us to avoid this pitfall, and it is both proverbial and simple: Let the Lord build the house. God’s ways are perfect, and His law is truth. Even when our courts no longer require justice, and even when our citizens no longer cry for truth, we can always trust God to demand it! Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He is unchanging, absolute, and flawless, and He is the perfect answer to all our problems. This is our truth, which the Bible says has the power to set us free! Armed with a solid foundation, we can intellectually and capably engage our modern society.
Withdrawal is unthinkable. Having found what truth is, we can never go back to a flawed belief, no matter how blissful ignorance seems. Compromise is not an option. The very nature or our truth makes it absolute and unchanging. Postmodernists constantly change and clarify their beliefs, which will quickly bring them to circular reasoning and dead ends. Using logical and systematic methods, we can easily isolate a postmodern worldview. If truth is relative, then what is right? If we invent what is right, why do we punish murderers? Our culture can’t give us the answers. Only a fundamental, supreme law can govern a nation.
Peter Marshall, the U.S. Senate chaplain in the early 1900s prayed on the senate floor, “Give to us clear vision that we may know where to stand and what to stand for—because unless we stand for something, we shall fall for anything.” As we look at the direction our nation is going and see our society falling down around us, it is clear that we need basic truth instilled in our culture once again. The only way for us live in this world is to truly love God with all of our heart, soul, and mind. Only by standing for Him can we successfully stand in this world, and thereby make a positive impact on our culture for God’s glory.
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