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By Terry Hoskins –
Our modern day culture has progressed into a society that no longer adheres to absolute truth. Whatever sounds good to me is true for me and whatever sounds good to you is true for you. When we go out to eat at a buffet, we like to get a little bit of this and a little bit of that to make one huge plate full of everything that looks good to eat. With our “have it my way” mentality, we often times form our belief system in the same way we choose our food. No longer is it good enough to believe God’s Word for what it says, instead, we believe bits and pieces of God’s Word and we like to mix a little bit of psychology, a little bit of sociology, and throw in some new age philosophies and then you get a grand buffet belief system that is based on nothing substantial. God’s Word says, “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” (Colossians 2:8)
Our culture and modern philosophies of the day are like smog. We really don’t recognize we are breathing it in until we step out of it and look back. Our culture runs rampant with increasing influence from new age philosophies, psychics, and all sorts of religions. Something must change because we are so open to everything that we don’t stand for anything! What do you base your beliefs on? How do you know what is true? Is it more logical to base your beliefs on man’s ideas and popular philosophies, or God’s Word that has been tested and tried over the centuries? How can we get to a place where we make good decisions based on real truth? We need to start with who and what we allow to influence our thinking and behavior.
Who Are We Listening Too?
The lens that we see and live life through will determine the life you and I will live! Jesus tells us, “if you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32) Those of us who claim to believe in Christ, are we really following Him? Christ tells us that we are set free when we follow His teachings, not mentally just believe He is the Son of God. If we say we follow Christ than we must be guided by God’s Word. That means we must study God’s Word to know how God wants us to live. We can’t say I am following Christ, and not know what God’s Word says. The Bible tells us, “we know that we have come to know Him (Jesus) if we obey His commands. The man who says, I know Him (Jesus), but does not do what He com mands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys His Word, God’s love is truly made complete in him.” (1 John 1:3-5) When God’s Word guides our life than we grow in discernment and recognize the worldly teachings bombarding us. Who are we listening too, God or someone else? Are we getting our beliefs from God’s Word or worldly philosophies like Oprah, Dr. Phil, and other psychologies of our day?
Can’t We Mix Worldly Philosophies With God’s Truths?
Why would we want to add anything to God’s clear truths found in the Bible? That is like saying here is a fresh, cold glass of water, let me add some sewer sludge to it, and than it will be ready to drink. That is absurd because we traded fresh water for disease infested sewer waste. This leads to physical sickness, as mixing worldly philosophies to God’s perfect word leads to spiritual confusion and ultimately disease infested sin. That is why God’s word says, “the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” (1 Corinthians 1:25) We must recognize our knowledge is finite, fallible, and weak while God’s knowledge is perfectly accurate, powerful, and unchanging. God’s Word stands alone as the only source that changes men’s hearts, everything else merely cleans up the surface. The philosophies of the day will come and go, but God’s Word and His truths will stand forever because they are eternal. God’s Word tells us that, “all men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the Word of the Lord stands forever.” (1 Peter 1:25)
