Relativism is the philosophy that each individual decides for himself what is right for him. Relativism extols tolerance and condemns any unwanted religious demands. Relativism says “I will decide what I want to believe and that will be truth for me.” Relativism has exploded in our generation, but it is now a new philosophy. Relativism has been around ever since God’s law has been around. Sinners will always choose to do things their way instead of God’s way until by grace he writes his law on their hearts!
Judges 17:6 – “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Relativism. The man Micah was a good example of what this verse means. Micah did things his way. He made himself a shrine, ephod, and household gods. Then he secured a Levite to be his own personal priest. Everything was in place now right in his own home. The only problem being that none of this is acceptable to God. In fact, all of it is against God’s will! Here he sits at home with gods on the mantle, and look how ridiculous his relativistic reasoning becomes! He says, “Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.” He actually thought that if something about his self-made religion resembled God’s pattern for worship (there was a Levite in the mix), then God would prosper him. So he does want God’s favor, but he also wants to bow down to some idols once in a while! Relativism.
Notice the Bible prefaces this widespread relativism by saying that Israel had no king. That is, no one was in charge who would keep reminding them and requiring them to follow the Lord. Our King is Jesus! When Jesus is Lord of our lives, there is no room for relativism, only room for worship unto the Lord! We must bow the knee to him, not our own household gods!
No comments:
Post a Comment