The Slide of Morality

The Claims of Postmodernism

• Postmodernism, also referred to as relativism, is the notion that there is no absolute truth.
  • “There is no absolulte truth!” Well, is that statement absolutely true?
  • “All truth is relative!” Apparently, all truths are relative except when it comes to that specific phrase.
  • “That might be true for you but not for me.” Can I say that about your statement?
  • “You ought not to challenge someone else’s beliefs” is, in reality, a challenge of someone’s belief.
• Not only is this type of thinking religiously offensive, but it is rationally absurd.
• We substitute God’s eternal truth for our temporal opinion.

The Evidence of Scripture

• Genesis 3:1 – He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
• Judges 21:25 – In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
• Jeremiah 6:15 – Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush.
• Ezekiel 28:17 – Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor.
• John 6:44 – You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
• 2 Timothy 4:3-4 – For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

The Importance of Leadership

• After King Solomon, God’s people gradually moved further from living like God’s people.
• The majority of the citizens would gravitate toward the morality of their current king.
• 1 Kings 14:16 – And he will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and made Israel to sin.
• 1 Kings 16:30 – And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him.
• 2 Kings 22:1-2 – Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign…he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.
• The greatest of prophets came about during the darkest of times.
• Authorities can limit the outlets for sin, but no leader can legislate righteousness.
• While we all would prefer for God to work through godly rulers, we can never forget that He can still work in the absence of them.
• As our culture continues to slide into immorality, we can never excuse the Church from doing what we were called to do: work to influence individual hearts.