Relativism Revisited

       This excerpt is from a summation of a message John Piper gave at the Ligonier conference in March 2007.  My husband and I attended, and I took notes, which is the only way I can keep my mind disciplined.  Piper listed seven destructive effects of relativism and warned us to teach our kids where this leads.
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: Language is no longer a strong affirmation, it is saying, "I find this confession useful." 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 your 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."
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.