Dear Trekker,
As you may be aware, I’m still in Europe (Heidelberg, Germany… tough assignment) hanging out once again with all types of young people many years behind me on their life journeys. It continues to be an interesting adventure to say the least. How do we span the generation gap effectively? How do we remain “learners”, as well as “lovers” and “livers” of life and Life? Is there really such a thing as absolute truth that exists apart from my experience of it?
Post modernism is the mood of the day in youth culture! What is postmodernism, you ask? I recall a sports metaphor which sums it up: Three umpires were having a beer after a baseball game. The pre-modern umpire says, “There are balls and strikes, and I call ‘em exactly as they are.” The modern umpire responds, “Oh yes, there are balls and strikes, but I call them as I see ‘em.” The post-modern umpire quips, “Maybe they are balls, and maybe they are strikes, but they ain’t nothing, until I call them.”
Let me say upfront, whether you do or do not believe post-modern thinking today is the social and academic ocean you are swimming in, is beside the point. The chickens are coming home to roost! What we have been sowing in our classrooms and academic elites for decades is blossoming today. Kids think as post-modern umpires, instinctively. They have to be lead into objective truth, if we believe in truth outside ourselves. Truth is up for grabs!
No, it didn’t happen yesterday. I remember an in-depth conversation with a distinguished military colleague over thirty years ago. He was a West Point grad who had been taught to think; I was a philosophy major from a distinguished liberal arts college. Trained in C.S. Lewis logic, I bottomlined our discussion: “Look Chuck, C.S. Lewis frames it well… Jesus Christ was Lord, liar or lunatic.” Chuck responded, smiling wryly, “I’m with you, Jim. For you He is Lord.” We went on to discuss the concept and meaning behind “for you He is Lord.” “It is truth for you, not everyone, and that’s okay” is what people are thinking, and what Chuck’s point was that day.
Now, thirty plus years later, I deal with this mentality almost daily. In a recent discussion, I asked a struggling staff person, “Do you really believe in objective truth?” the staffer replied, “Yes, but…” and the explanation belied rational consistency. How do we overcome this reality and communicate objectively what we believe? How do we communicate scriptural truths in a fallen world… truth that was true, and therefore was recorded hundreds of years ago when “holy men of old were encouraged to do so by the Holy Spirit”, as Peter explains in his New Testament letter?
Clearly, as mere mortals we think two dimensionally, in space and time. We are the center of our universal thinking. Our challenge is to think not only in time and space, but transcendentally, apart from time and space, if objective truth actually exists and we desire to know it. A definition of anything objective could be that which exists outside of ourselves… that which may be true whether we believe it or not. God really honed in on Job (Ch 38) on this subject, who, was also speaking words without three-dimensional logic. “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation… who marked off its dimensions… who shut up the sea behind doors, etc?” [Trekker, if it’s been a long time since you read Job, please read Chapters 38-42. It will be the most humbling and enlightening exercise you’ve had in a long time… if you are anything like me.]
So the challenge is, how do we communicate objective truth to a fallen world? We must swim, not float, in the cultural sea, without being a part of it! We identify with the world, but we must not derive our significance from it! We do not neglect our anchor in or relationship with Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, the Way, the Truth, the Life, who enables us to move confidently in “another” world even as He did when He visited us 2000 years ago!
A caution! The challenge to “live” Jesus (incarnate Jesus, “be Jesus with skin on”) is so enormous, if we neglect our first priority… Jesus only and our relationship with Him… we will not succeed over time in communicating what we believe to the two dimensional, secular world, which believes nothing is true or genuine unless “they” say so!! We can become so caught up in our “thing”, like Eve in the garden, “our minds may be somehow led astray from sincere and pure devotion to Jesus the Christ.” (II Cor 11:3) Let’s not let it happen, trekker.
Our life and communication, to be effective, cannot be faked! It emerges, yes, overflows, from an authentic, transparent daily walk in the presence and power of Jesus. The dynamic of a robust life, which explains our effectiveness in Kingdom living, is explained in Scripture: “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13)
Trekker, life is full. I will be carried along by a consuming worldly wind, or I can be transformed in Jesus! If I desire to communicate Truth in the postmodern world, I must live it. To live it, I must catch the mystery of the Gospel, “Christ in you (me), the hope of the world.” (Col 1) Throw in some truth in what God is accomplishing despite my screw-ups, add some accountability through others, put a smile on the face (a universal language of love), speak truth in love, and release situations, opportunities and outcomes to God! We are neither original creators, just judges nor merciful messiahs! We are just trekkers, putting one foot in front of the other, ever moving forward and upward, in hope and faith. Don’t quit trekker! It’s always too soon. Postmodern clouds will drift and lift over time. And remember, we never trek alone! Stay the course and be faithful.
Your friendly trekker,
Jim Meredith
Fell out of bed feeling down. This has brighetend my day!