I read with interest that the word TRUTHINESS was voted the word of the year for 2006, according to an online survey by dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster. Stephen Colbert, a Comedy Central satirist, was credited with the definition as "truth that comes from the gut, not books". Merriam-Webster's president said what constitutes truth is a question on a lot of people's minds and that truth has become up for grabs. In the November 2006 issue of this blog I noted that without a source for truth, any version will do. In the April 2006 issue I mentioned Josh McDowells book "Right from Wrong", that points out how young people are confused about truth. Josh published this book in 1994 after recognizing this confusion in his travels for many years before that. The confused youth of the 80's make up a substantial portion of our adult population today, so it is no longer only youth that are confused about truth, but I find people of all ages unsure of truth. The October 2005 and March 2006 issue of this blog reflected on the strain modern American culture puts on the spiritual beliefs of all age groups, but especially the young.Newly elected President of the 2007 Florida State Baptist Convention, William Rice, said his goals include bridging the gap between younger and more traditional pastors, encourage embracing contemporary culture in services, embrace the denomination's evangelical mission, and be more aggressive about spreading Christ's message. There is nothing wrong with these goals for the 1 out of every 17 Florida residents who are Southern Baptist, nor the millions of other Christians of many denominations that reside anywhere in the world. I am concerned, however, at how the various interpretations these simple goals can be viewed by those that have elevated traditions to truth. According to Wikipedia, the word tradition comes from the Latin word TRADITID which means to hand down or hand over. It is a set of customs or practices. Although traditions are often presumed to be ancient, unalterable, and deeply important, they are frequently changed to suit the needs of the day. My January 2006 blog asked "Is the Bible the source of truth as I believe, or is truth so relative that we can each make up our own"?
In the Roman Catholic Church, traditionalism is the doctrine that Sacred Tradition holds equal authority with the Holy Scripture. Protestants have condemned that view as heretical since Martin Luther's theses in the 16th century. Muslims believe that the Qur'an is the unadulterated word of God as revealed to Mohammed, who ruled over the first theocracy in 622. The fundamentalist view of Islam says the correct interpretation of Islam relies totally on the Qur'an excluding tradition. As their God, named Allah, has no son, father, or partner, the Islamic religion and the Christian belief in Jesus and the Trinity are at odds. This vast difference literally changed the world as we know it in the last century. The Ottoman Empire existed from the 1200's to the 1920's when it was first broken up after World War One largely due to the genocide of Armeniam Christians, then changed again after World War Two. The successors of Mohammed are referred to as caliphates, and their heirs ruled the Muslim world until the caliphate was abolished by the League of Nations and the mostly "Christian" European countries were given control of their lands. 90% of Muslims are Sunni's, while 10% are Shiite's today. Shiites, who are primarily in Iran and Iraq, believe the only true caliphate (known as the 12th imam) disappeared in 931 and they were without a leader until Ayatollah Khomeini in 1978 forecast the return of the 12th imam. Osama BinLaden is one of the 940 million Sunnis. Their response to the wave of atheism (their view), lewdness, and moral decline they believed were brought upon their people by Europeans and the "western" world is part of the violent response that has grown over the past 75 years and situation the world is in today. An entire generation of Arab's have grown up with traditional thoughts that include a growing hate for what they are told our country represents. Is it freedom, morality, power and atheism, or is it truth that we represent?
Christian fundamentalists believe in the doctrine of Biblical inerrancy. In many cases, fundamentalists draw a connection between features of the surrounding culture, such as alcohol, tobacco, dancing, gambling, and movies with an immoral or unbelieving way of life. These endorsed strict codes of conduct have taken traditional positions in many denominations including Southern Baptists. In June of 2006 at the national convention of Southern Baptists 15 resolutions were passed. Resolution 1 urged Congress to vote affirmatively on the Marriage Protection Amendment to represent the conviction of the vast majority of Americans. Resolution 5 stated total opposition to manufacturing, advertising, distribution, and consumption of alcoholic beverages, despite the lack of biblical conclusion. Resolution 6 urged the federal government to control and secure the countries borders, although it did urge Christians to follow the biblical principle of caring for the foreigners among us (see May 06 blog). These are only 3 of the 15, but the blending of American Christian traditions with biblical mandates is obvious. There isn't necessarily anything wrong with the beliefs expressed, but the church has succumbed to the same "truthiness" as the culture. Truth is coming from the gut, not THE BOOK. A similar concern about the International Mission Board imposition of rules preventing private prayer language makes the same point. This is not about Southern Baptists, I'm only aware because I am one. It is about THE CHURCH.
I submit the goals of Florida Southern Baptist President Rice should be seen by American Christians as: 1) If there is a gap between younger and traditional pastors it should be bridged only with the inerrant WORD OF GOD, not conservative or liberal interpretation, what a majority believes, or perceived principles that align with traditional thought. 2) contemporary culture as well as traditional culture should only be insisted upon or embraced in services if it comes directly from a BIBLICAL MANDATE (in other words everything else is just what you prefer and the assembling together is not about you anyway). 3) the evangelical mission of the church IS spreading Christ's message and most Bible's have those WORDS in red so we can have a truth source to compare our activities with. I am alarmed at the extent beliefs and traditions are elevated to the level of truth. As Josh McDowell defined in the book mentioned earlier: "Absolute truth is that which is true for all people, for all times, for all places". Excellent guidelines, rules, ordinances, beliefs, resolutions, laws, traditions, and perceptions must never be at the same plane as the truth. It doesn't mean there is anything evil about these things, it means since they don't rise to the level of the truth, they are not to be imposed on all people at all times in all places.
In John 14:6 Jesus said "I AM the way, the TRUTH, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. In Matthew 15:3 he asked why the Pharisees and scribes broke God's commandments because of their traditions. In the Sermon on the Mount he clarified many traditions and perceptions of the day as written in Matthew chapters 5,6, and 7 with THE TRUTH. Stephen Colbert had it right about truthiness, it come from the gut. Avoid imposing what seems to be logical, moral, acceptable, cultural, relevant, traditional, patriotic, fulfilling, comfortable, or right unless it is an absolute truth that can be found in the WORD OF GOD. Based on John 14:6 either Jesus is wrong or all opposing beliefs are wrong. There can be no middle ground, but there can be obedience and activities that accomplish his purpose. His final spoken words on this earth said "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I AM with you always, to the end of the age". If we are to go and teach so that the billions of unbelieving souls will not be lost, we can't risk adding more to the message. We should not be discipling the lost and evangelizing the saved. In the war on terrorism the events of the past century (see October 06 reflection blog warning) will repeat themselves if as Christians we don't grasp the difference between truth and truthiness. I have purposely referred to the previous blog entries in this submission to show that this is not a new train of thought but an insight that deserves consideration with a growing sense of urgency. The fundamentalist view of Islam has the right approach (I'm not talking about the violence, I'm talking about the unadulterated view) but the wrong book and the wrong God. Let's not make the mistakes that happened earlier with the right book, the right God, and the wrong approach ( a student of history might remember a little thing called THE CRUSADES). John 3:21 states that anyone who lives by the truth comes to the light so that his works may be shown to be accomplished by God. Live by THE TRUTH and have a Happy New Year.
