The Unlikely Apostle Pt. 2: “… Men Who Suppress the Truth…”

The end of World War II brought about the beginning of the postmodern era.  Two atomic bombs dropped upon Japan served to bring great fear into the hearts of human beings worldwide as speculation of apocalyptic times on the horizon grew. To combat this worldwide anxiety, people began spreading the message of peace, love, and acceptance of all races, religions, and cultures.

A stark change from the pre-modern and modern eras, postmodernism declares that there are no absolute truths, and neither religion nor science can determine the right way to live. The vast uncertainty of meaning in life has left people believing in few authorities, with perhaps the most influential of these being oneself. Naturally, this philosophical worldview has led to a culture of narcissism where people are chiefly concerned with gratifying their own perceived needs and wants ahead of anyone else’s…. all in the name of living out their personal truths.

Here’s an example:

A woman named Glennon Doyle Melton, also known as the Christian Mom Blogger, announced a few days ago that she is in a romantic relationship with U. S. women’s soccer star, Abby Wambach. This news comes on the heels of Melton’s statement that she and her husband had separated after his affair. Melton writes candidly about her joys and struggles, and has openly shared about her battles with addiction and an eating disorder.

While I cannot empathize with her in the area of her eating disorder, I have experienced the brutal psychological, emotional, physical and spiritual chains of addiction. One thing that I have learned through years and years of counseling is that people like me who are prone to addiction are pleasure centered. We tend to determine something’s truth and value by how much pleasure it will bring us. It’s very postmodern.

Though I don’t know Melton personally, I can sense this same pleasure-filtering approach to truth in several of the statements she has made about her decision to engage in a lesbian relationship.

“I want you to grow so comfortable in your own being, your own skin, your own knowing - that you become more interested in your own joy and freedom and integrity than in what others think about you. I want you to refuse to betray yourself. Not just for you. For ALL OF US. Because what the world needs -- in order to grow, in order to relax, in order to find peace, in order to become brave -- is to watch one woman at a time live her truth without asking for permission or offering explanation. The most revolutionary thing a woman can do is not explain herself. What I need you to know- and what I know you need to know- is that I am deeply, finally, FINE. Fine through my bones and soul and mind and just every fiber of me. You have the room to feel and react with your truth….because I am so unshakably certain inside of mine. I have officially become a woman who knows who she is and refuses to betray herself. So anyway. What I’m trying to say is. PRECIOUS WORLD: I LOVE ABBY. Love Wins. G”

Notice how Melton approaches truth in this quote. You have your truth and she has hers. Her husband’s truth was having an affair. Her truth is engaging in homosexuality. I’m not sure what their kids’ truths will be. But the only way we as human beings can be at peace, both individually and collectively, is if we all live out our individual truths without explanation or apology. So says Melton.

There are many problems with this line of thinking, but I’ll just point out a few. First, I promise you that Melton doesn’t really want people to adopt her worldview. Do you think she really wants child predators or other violent criminals to live out their truths with joy and integrity, only seeking to do what they love without offering explanation? Do you think she really wants her new girlfriend to cheat on her, just because she feels the urge and wants to stay true to herself?

Second, how do we find solid footing for discussion and discipleship when asserted truths contradict each other? Can Jesus be a false messiah and also the one true Messiah? Can Jesus never have existed and also have been born in Bethlehem? Can Jesus be the way, the truth and the life and also not the way, the truth and the life?

Third, the main problem with her approach toward truth is that it is completely out of line with the Scriptures. I could go into a lengthy explanation starting in Genesis, working my way to the Gospels, and closing in Revelation to make this point, but let it suffice to say that nowhere in the Bible does God bless homosexual relationships of any sort. In fact, every time a homosexual relationship of any sort is mentioned in the Bible, it is expressly spoken against.

The issue of homosexuality is, biblically speaking, similar to the subject of idolatry. Idolatry has always been condemned. Yet, as the people of God became more intertwined with the unbelieving culture, they began to view idolatry as less and less of a big deal until it became normative in Israel. Even though they knew the truth, they suppressed and twisted the truth to suit their own desires. What followed, however, was always wrath.

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. … For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator. – Romans 1:18, 25

We of the postmodern generation have lived out Romans 1. We have known the truth, but have suppressed it and exchanged it for a lie. We have exchanged the fact that Jesus is the revealer of truth for the lie that we are the revealers of truth. And in doing so, we have become worshippers of ourselves rather than worshippers of God.

We need to pray for Glennon Doyle Melton and her family. Also, we need to pray for ourselves. We are products of the same culture and are prone to viewing truth through the same lens, whether we realize it or not. 

So may we repent of this blasphemy. May we repent of the exaltation of ourselves. May we love God’s truth and obey the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The apostle … says: “For the wrath of God shall be revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of those men who hold back the truth in unrighteousness.” … So the apostle says … in the Epistle to the Thessalonians: “Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; and to you who are troubled rest with us, at the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ from heaven with His mighty angels, and in a flame of fire, to take vengeance upon those who know not God, and upon those that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” – Irenaeus 180CE, Volume 1, p. 838 [CD-ROM]