Of course, I start with John Piper. His second lecture was on "The Challenges of Relativism," how to destroy or at least expose this destructive stronghold that hinders people from the truth.
He clarified the difference between thinking relatively as compared with relativism. To think relatively is good and necessary. If you don't understand how to think relatively, you will jump all over people before you understand what they are saying. The example he gave is that if he says John MacArthur is tall, that is true if the standard is other men. The statement is not true if the standard is a giraffe.
This is not relativism because both parties in a conversation can have the same objective standard in mind. If you make the standard clear, then you can agree or disagree. This is a good way to think -- relatively. In conversations, always try to clarify the standard so you can accurately judge what someone is saying.
But in relativism, there is no objective truth. Or there is objective truth, but you can't know it. Relativists say that YOUR standard of measurement can't be put on them, that there is NO one standard of measurement for good or bad or right or wrong. So Truth becomes whether your ideas conform to YOUR OWN standards of measure. Truth is based on preferences or, perhaps shared community values.
Piper said that most relativists are defacto relativists or functional relativists. They live as relativists, but haven't thought it all out. He used Matthew 21:23-27 to show where the seed of relativism begins.
"And when He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to Him as He was teaching, and said, 'By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?' Jesus answered them, 'I also will ask you one question, and if you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?' And they discussed it among themselves saying, 'If we say, "From heaven," he will say to us, "Why then did you not believe him?" But if we say, "From man," we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.' So they answered Jesus, 'We do not know' And he said to them, 'Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.' " (Matthew 21:23-27)
The chief priests think this out and know that if they say "heaven" they will be shamed. If they say "man" they will be harmed. So they must think of a new truth and assert that one: "We don't know." This is the way the depraved mind works. The adulterous mind wants to marry what it delights in . It does not want the Truth. The adulterous mind is governed by its own wants, those wants govern what we say to be true. This is universal until we have a regenerated mind.
The mind is prostituted, in bed with our passions. They did not use their minds to formulate truth. What is at stake for these guys? Not Truth. The mind becomes the nimble slave to passions. The language does the dirty work of covering the truth. Language is a covering for duplicity.
They don't want shame or harm, so they create a truth that gets them out of this: We don't know. To which Jesus says: I don't carry on serious conversations with the likes of you.
The claim that there is no standard for measuring good or evil is rooted in these fellows' way of thinking. They want to enjoy the exaltation of self, to preserve comfort. So they create a philosophy that will protect what they want.
This is bad and we must avoid it, recognize it, bring up our children so they don't believe it.
The best way to fight it is to articulate as well as you can its evil, destructive effects. Show them where it leads so that they might awaken to their folly.
Piper listed seven destructive effects of relativism:
1. Relativism commits treason against God. A revolution against the objective standard is a revolution against God. He is the ultimate, external, objective standard, valid for all. When relativism says there is no external, objective standard, he speaks like an atheist and commits treason. Relativism does not come out and say, "I will not submit to your law," he says, "There is no law." If you do not try to overcome relativism, you are complicit in treason.
2. Relativism cultivates duplicity. Believing relativism to be true is contradictory. Nobody tries to live relativism consistently. It cultivates duplicity because it won't stand up philosophically or practically. They say they believe it but they don't live it, so it breeds hypocrisy and is morally corrupting. The very processes of thinking commit the relativist to principles that are self-contradictory. The philosophy is shot through with self-contradictions. It is immoral. People do not live as relativists. A professor will teach it in a classroom, but when he gets home he will be upset if his wife does not understand that his words mean just what he intends to communicate to her; they have one objective meaning. You believe that what you write has an objective meaning. Nobody is a relativist in a court room where objective innocence hangs on objective evidence.
3. Relativism conceals doctrinal defection. The effect on language is devastating. If you believe there is absolute Truth, words are so very important. In a culture, where truth is scorned, where there is no objective external Truth, then language becomes power broking. When objective Truth vanishes, then language is no longer the humble servant. It creates its own reality. Language no longer defines truth. It defines preferences. It is not the presentation of reality, but the creation of reality. Language has a devious capacity for concealing the truth.
When it comes to the creeds, J. Gresham Machen said in 1925 that someone can affirm the creeds of the church but be totally separate from the reformed faith: All is denied because all is affirmed merely as useful. Language is no longer a strong affirmation, it is saying, "I find this confession useful." The utilitarian view of language is a direct result of relativism: Vague, indirect speech lets others think you are still orthodox when you're not.
Relativism corrupts the high calling of language, makes it a criminal covering doctrinal defection of those afraid to say, "I've left the faith."
4. Relativism cloaks greed with flattery. Flattery is using language to make people feel good so that you can get something from them. Language must be submissive to reality. Language should not be a pretext for greed by becoming flattery.
5. Relativism cloaks pride in the guise of humility. Relativism looks humble but it isn't. When Truth goes, so does humility. If there's Truth, universally valid for all men, then we must submit to it -- "understand" it, or stand under it -- not stand over it as a ruler. You're a servant of the Truth. What happens to you soul when you decide it's not there? You become so humble you can't discern the Truth, therefore, you don't put yourself under it.
Relativism protects arrogance. It is the essence of original sin -- pride. It poses as humility. It puts on humble clothes and walks around the streets speaking of humility, but it chooses every step it takes on that path. It says, "I WILL choose." We need many humble childlike simple people willing to say, "The king has no humble clothes on" That there would be more children to point that out.
6. Relativism enslaves people. The Bible says the Truth will set you free. Relativism teaches a view of Truth that makes it undefinable. Fog does not free people from sin. They stay in chains.
Relativism leads people away from a love of the truth and so enslaves them and destroys them.
7. Relativism leads to brutal totalitarianism. When relativism reigns, everyone begins to do what is right in his own eyes; no one puts themselves under the Truth. Society begins to break down. Relativism leads to chaos, and at a certain point any ruler will be welcomed who can restore order. You end up with a dictator. Relativism, while professing unfettered freedom, ultimately destroys freedom.
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