The year 2020 has been marked by the emergence of a virus known as Covid-19. It has impacted the entire world, and many people have died from it, or from complications resulting from it, coupled with health issues already present. 2020 will forever be remembered as “the year of the pandemic.” It has impacted our health, our economy, our schools, our recreation, our families, and even our presidential election. Regardless of one’s view on other factors that surround COVID-19, it is hard to deny that the impact has been widespread and significant.
a spiritual pandemic
Yet, in my opinion, this is far from the worst pandemic we are experiencing currently in our world. There is another pandemic that is running rampant in our society, and it is far more impactful to our lives. It is not a physical pandemic, but a spiritual one, and the danger is not temporal, but eternal.
The pandemic I am alluding to is relativism, which seems to be the prevailing philosophy driving the mainstream thought process and decision making in today’s world. Relativism is defined as, “Any theory holding that criteria of judgement are relative, varying with individuals and their environments.” Simply put, it is the rejection of absolute truth, and the belief that truth is determined by the individual, based on the circumstances of their situation, as they choose to individually determine. From a practical standpoint, it means that truth is what we decide it to be and we can determine truth for ourselves.
There are many issues with this philosophy. If you get to create your truth, and I get to determine my truth, then by definition, we have denied the existent of truth altogether. At the very least, we have redefined truth so as to make it something completely different. Without universal truth, there is no basis for law. The only end is anarchy or totalitarianism, where “truth” is determined by those who have the most power.
Truth decay
This is frightening, but it's not the worst problem about by relativism. At its core, relativism says that “I alone am God.” At the very least, it asserts that each individual is their own god, able to determine what is true for themselves. This is not a new concept. The origin of relativism is found in Genesis chapter three, when the serpent introduced doubt concerning what was true. In the garden, there was introduced a competing idea of what was true, and with it, the invitation to determine for oneself what is actually true.
“Did God really say to not eat the fruit? You won’t die, you will become like God. It is good for food, it looks really good, it will be a good thing for you.” The invitation brought by these statements was to ignore what God has said to be true, and to decide for yourself what is true for you, in your situation. It was a temptation to live by the philosophy of relativism.
Relativism is rampant in our society, and is a far more dangerous pandemic than COVID-19, because it causes the world to say “NO” to God. This has both temporal and eternal consequences. More people will eventually die from our decision to choose for ourselves what we deem or want to be true, than will die from COVID-19. Worse still, some of those who die from the virus, or complications from it, will spend eternity in heaven, but all who die saying no to the one true God, will spend eternity in hell. As bad as any physical pandemic is, it is nothing compared to a spiritual pandemic that robs us of eternal life. Ultimately, relativism denies God, denies truth, and destroys societies. It is based on a lie, and keeps people from the Truth. The delusional nature of relativism will be exposed, but sadly, for many, it will be too late.
Psalm 100 says “Know ye that the Lord, He is God. It is He that has made us, and not we ourselves.” This is the truth that the world should know.
As Lent commences on Ash Wednesday, we are entering a time of introspection and prayer leading to Easter. Let us reflect on the significance of death preceding resurrection, urging readers to embrace a daily practice of surrendering self in preparation for our spiritual transformation.