THINK

John Piper, in his book, Think, challenges both believer and unbeliever to do just that.   I’d like to share an excerpt from the chapter, “The Immorality of Relativism”, page 114:  “Relativism leads people away from a love of the truth and so enslaves them and destroys them.  The formula is simple:  when relativism holds sway long enough, everyone begins to do what is right in his own eyes without any regard for submission to truth.  In this atmosphere, a society begins to break down.  Virtually every structure in a free society depends on a measure of integrity—that is, submission to the truth.”  He quotes Michael Novak: “Vulgar relativism is an invisible gas, odorless, deadly, that is now polluting every free society on earth.  It is a gas that attacks the central nervous system of moral striving.  The most perilous threat to the free society today is, therefore, neither political nor economic.  It is the poisonous, corrupting culture of relativism.”

John goes on to talk about the poisonous effect of relativism on personal integrity.  Consider the following…THINK: “it [relativism] erodes the sacred duty to tell the truth and keep one’s word.”  As Jesus dealt with the chief priests and elders in Matthew 21:23-27 in regard to the their question, “By what authority are you doing these things?”, He asked them a question: “from where did the baptism of John come?  From heaven or from man?”  You know the scripture, if not, read it, but the bottom line is they “made up a truth": We don’t know.”  What bondage!!  They cannot own the truth because they are enslaved to the fear of shame and harm.  And what a prostitution of the gift of thinking!” (page 115)  

 “Jesus came into the world and died for our sins to set us free from this slavery.  When God is for us in Christ, we do not need the praise of man.  When God promises to be with us and work all things for our good, the power of fear is broken.  This is why the gospel makes us rational, not rationalistic, simply free to see and speak the truth.”   Good Stuff!!  I highly recommend this book.

Right Thinking

How does one combat thinking wrong?  Think right!  How does one know what is right?  Go to a source that you know is true and seek to know that truth.  What is truth?  Jesus had just told Pilate that He was born and came into the world to testify to the truth.  He said, “Everyone on the side of truth listens to Me.”  Thus Pilate’s famous question that still lingers in the pseudo intellectual mind today, “What is truth?”

Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father except by Me.”  Yesterday our guest pastor preached his evangelist message, “Why I Believe in God in an Age of Skepticism”.  He said that people, in regard to a belief system must do three things:  Know – Believe – Trust.  He was addressing his sermon to the skeptic, both agnostic and atheist.  However, as I prayed this morning over a mentally tormenting issue in my head, I began to apply this principle.  As I ended my prayer, the issue became less intense and the “truth set me free” from wrong thinking.  Thus, thinking right won over wrong thinking.   Because of Christ, I have access to God during these times.  I must run as though my life depended on my communication with Him.  And it does!

Right thinking for a believer is that we are saved by grace from our sin that separated us from the Creator, God.  We are here to honor and glorify Him.  Let’s not lose that perspective.  Trials will come; God’s Word stands true and powerful through them all.  We must persevere and as we combat our own sinful thinking, we gain strength through that victory to teach other saints and bless unbelievers with the good news.