I have been told that the belief espoused in my previous blog entry, and the association of it to the Christian message, is offensive. I was told that it is divisive and not unifying.
This reaction came from someone whom I have seen preach unity and inclusiveness and relativism. Why am I not surprised?

The truth is indeed divisive. It separates itself from what is false, wrong, and sinful. Of course it is not unifying. What business has truth and falsehood to be unified?

But it goes deeper than that.

This belief, that truth is objective and absolute, will naturally offend all those who do not believe in the Creator God who is holy and righteous, and who do not see that the source of absolute truth is bound up in the character of this same God. Without a belief in God, we have no moral absolutes. Our values will be relative to the ideals embodied in our human cultures and subcultures, and will vary accordingly. There will be no higher authority to whom to appeal… just one culture ascribing to a value which may or may not be accepted by that of another.

Introduce God, the ultimate authority, and we have His judgement on what is right from wrong. But whose God? All three of the great monotheist faiths - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - share the God of Abraham as their foundation… the holy and righteous God who through Moses gave us the Ten Commandments and the law as spoken through the prophets of the Old Testament. Need there be any doubt which God?

Christians believe that Jesus is the fullest revelation of God, and accept claims that Jesus made which to many are considered outrageous and obscene. It was actually these claims which, progressing the concept of absolute truth and in their combination, caused such offence.

Orthodox Christianity teaches that truth is objective and absolute, that it is bound up in moral absolutes that exist as a product of the character of God. Absolute truth is not for just one flock, but for all of God’s creation.

This truth is packaged up in the life and death and resurrection of Christ. Jesus was the one who made the claim: “I am the way and the truth and the life.” He also said… “No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) This claim is totally consistent with another statement He made: “I and the Father are one.” (John 10:30) These claims are totally outrageous… unless they are true.

The Christian message is about love…. the love of God, which is indeed for all of His creation, embodies His entire character which includes holiness, righteousness and has no tolerance at all for sin. The Christian message is not about God overlooking sin and not minding that you have not accepted His solution for the moral guilt of mankind. After all, in His great love for all of us, He gave His Son to be the propitiation for our sin. God’s love and His truth are intimately related.

Christ offended many by His message. He even evicted the marketeers from His Father’s temple, upturning their tables and wares. I’m sure they did not like that very much. He offended to the point that He was put to death. His message will continue to offend those who choose to find it offensive.

No matter how the message is delivered, the message by it’s very nature will still offend those who do not want to deal with it. Should the message be changed to suit the listener, to not offend him? Should a Christian deny Christ and tell something different that is not His truth? This is not to say how the message should be delivered - of course it should be delivered with respect and thoughtfulness and compassion, without abrasiveness, beginning from the truth known to the listener - but what ultimately the truth should be in that message.

In the interests of unity, relativism and multiculturism, rather than of truth, should we espouse universal acceptance of all truths as truth even when they contradict, regarding that as the key virtue… instead of God’s love?

Others might believe so, but I don’t.