Building Bridges

Once a person, or culture, accepts a belief in relativism, any idea of absolute truth or morality that transcends culture becomes nonexistent or irrelevant. George Orwell once said, “The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.” I believe it is fair to assert that Western culture has drifted towards the doctrine of relativism.This idea is also referred to as postmodernism. Relativism is the belief that there is no absolute truth, only the truths that a particular individual or culture happen to believe. Once a person, or culture, accepts a belief in relativism, any idea of absolute truth or morality that transcends culture becomes nonexistent or irrelevant. Carried to a logical conclusion, every individual at some point determines what is true or moral. The biblical passage that captures this idea says, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6). The problem with such self-centered...

What does it mean to be a follower of Christ? Dying to self daily . . . to be raised into what Christ has created us to be. What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? That’s a pretty significant question to ponder. In fact, before you move to the next sentence give this question some thought. I must admit that one of the first places I go when I contemplate this question is to statements of faith about doctrinal beliefs. Doctrinal and theological beliefs are extremely important. After all, if Jesus is not the Divine Son of God, crucified, buried and raised from the dead, there is no basis for Christianity (I Cor. 15:11-17). But is there more to being a follower of Jesus than the statements about what we believe? Does being a follower of Jesus bring deeper meaning than going to church, making doctrinal statements about the authority of scripture, or having an intellectual understanding about the nature of the Christ? While statements of faith are important, it seems like a...

How can we live faithfully under the authority of scripture to relate to our surrounding culture? The federal National Bridge Inventory notes that there are more than 607,380 bridges in the United States. Some bridges are iconic, such as the Brooklyn Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge, or the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel. People will visit these magnificent structures to witness their awesome design and experience their greatness. But every day, most of us will cross a bridge that will take us safely across a river or stream, over a set of railroad tracks, or over a busy street or highway. We seldom think of how bridges make our lives easier as we travel from one place to another. One of the most beautiful bridges I know is the foot bridge that spans the pond on the north campus of Mid-Atlantic Christian University (pictured above). It allows a person to walk across a small pond – bridging two plots of land. Many students take pictures using the bridge as a backdrop. Weddings are held...