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…and yet, somehow we are unaffected. We read a wise saying, think “that is so true”, nod meaningfully and click or page on to the next news story. Which brings me to the next item in apparently endless supply today: Bad News. This week has been particularly full of natural disaster (China, Burma), xenophobic violence (South Africa), general mayhem (Iraq) and hunger (Somalia, Zimbabew, Haiti etc.). But this is business as usual and even local papers are filled with stories of accidents, rapes, murders and hooliganism. No News may be Bad News but apparently so is All News. But even bad news, really bad news, fails to affect us. We page on to the adverts and look for stuff to buy…
As far as I can tell, good advice does not change the world, and neither does bad news because it fails to move the heart, the center of a persons being. What I do know is that good news has and does change people and lives because of the power of hope which it brings. The word “Gospel” is just a synonym for “Good News” and if you understand the difference betwen Good News and Good Advice you understand the difference between Christianity and all other religions.
Good advice is information about something good and beneficial you should do but have not yet done. Telling a ship’s captain to “mind the icebergs” would be good advice. Good news is information about something good and beneficial which has already happened like “the ship arrived safely”. The tragedy is that many have turned the Gospel (Good News) into a religion (Good Advice) and modern people know good advice is cheap and easily available without sitting through a sermon on Sunday and have given up seeking true good news as a dream, some sort of wish-fulfillment.
But Jesus of Nazareth proved once and for all that ultimate Goodness (Love) is also ultimate reality (God) and thus we have reason to hope. This is not some warm, fuzzy, feel-good hope but a real, evidence based, experiential hope in a person who said he was God’s Son and the solution to all our problems and whose miraculous ressurection provided the final proof of these outrageous claims.
If you think you need to make a huge leap of faith to believe that Jesus existed and is accurately reflected in the New Testament then think again. Don’t let a TV mini-series or popular pseudo-wisdom hide the real facts of the matter from you. The historical evidence is reliable and undeniable – Jesus was not just a sage but the Son of God and the future King of all who died to pay your debt and save you from destruction. He’s done it all (that’s the Good News) and all you have to do is accept the gift he offers today.
I am certain there is too much certainty in the world.
—Michael Crichton
Have you ever noticed how few western people today profess concrete beliefs about reality? Theories of our origins and purpose are discussed and we call them “interesting”, “innovative” or “dangerous” without caring too much about their truth value. “Truth” has become politically incorrect - even seen as divisive and dangerous. Uncertainty is equated with humility – “One cannot really know anyway”.
Whilst modern thinkers (products of the Enlightenment) embraced truth, reason and certainty, we now live in the backlash of this age of certainty. The post-modern mind repels all forms of certainty and prefers a safe sceptical vantage point from which to criticise travellers. We are in an age where uncertainty and confusion are the order of the day fuelled by a flood of conflicting messages, theories and information.
To survive, most people have become practical and try to live comfortably without rocking the boat (docility). Truth has become unimportant, paling in comparison to things like comfort and pleasure – sometimes rhetorically called “peace”. Although humans need and desire certainty we have concluded that it’s easier to doubt or scoff than to affirm and be criticised.
Ironically this Post-Modern mindset is paradoxical:
- It is certain that nothing is certain
- It holds as true that nothing is true
- It criticises world views as if it were not also a world view
- It holds all views as products of culture except it’s own
One could sum up this relativist thinking in the following terms:
- Confused – Self contradictory
- Hypocritical – Employing a double standard
- Unreasonable – Employing reason selectively
- Pragmatic – If it works, do it
I see the pendulum has swung again: where humanity has in the past raced after false truths and absolutes (to the right) we are now far back on the left denying all truths and absolutes. Both extremes fail the Truth Test:
- Coherence – Does it make logical sense?
- Correspondence – Does it accurately describe reality?
However, we all live as though some things are true: even the relativist looks both ways before crossing the street. To know something is illusory or untrue we must have some idea of what is true or at least acknowledge that truth does exist. Otherwise, the claim of “untrue” makes no sense – without real truth there can be no lies.
Ultimately, reality does not have to be nice to be true (just look at nature), nor do we have the right to affirm as true that which brings the most pleasure as if we could equate “truth” with “utility”. One does hope that absolute reality is good and indeed the Christian vision affirms this. The world is a corruption with glimses and hints of the ultimate glorious and good purpose. The final judgement and seperation of the good from the bad is the ultimate mercy and righteous act.
The word judgement is very unpopular and modern sensibilities tell us that it is wrong to judge or condemn others. This is Jesus’ command because we cannot know the heart but judgement, as executed by God who does know the heart is something this world desperately needs. Judgement is intimately tied to the concept of “justice” which we all agree is a good thing. Indeed many have seen that the way to the “world peace” we all crave is first “world justice”.
Plato spends an entire book analysing what is and what is not justice and comes to the conclusion that it is to “mind your own business”. I would say justice is the appropriate response and relation to the world and people. When Goodness is sought after and admired and Evil is abhorred and fought then we are acting justly.
The Good – When we approve of a good action, admire a beautiful sunset or prize clean water we are responding appropriately and rightly and thus doing the object justice. The Bad – Likewise when we condemn evil actions, avoid corruption and disorder we respond rightly. The Ugly – The problems start when we assume our judgement is objective and proceed to condemnation. Because we are fallible and cannot know all the facts and motivation we would always be mistaken to condemn a person for an action.
To think or form an opinion about someone or something is to judge (evaluate) them and this is not necessarily bad for it enables us to relate to them. Wayne Dyer says
Judgements prevent us from seeing the good that lies beyond appearances.
But we cannot help judging and we canot help doing it according to appearances because that is all we have and we cannot suspend judgement indefinitely. Reason and society compells us to analyse and make a best guess but we should be charitable and hold our judgements as tentative because of the limits of our knowledge.
Summary:
- Justice is important
- Justice requires judgement
- We all judge
- Our judgements are subjective
- Only an omniscient being can judge objectively
