Hot Take: Truth Does Not Evolve When It’s Convenient For You
10:18AM: “Sorry this is random but I have a theology question for you based on a class I’m in right now and I just wanted to check on some things lol...”
This kind of text is one that I absolutely LOVE receiving, no matter what time of day. Working in pastoral ministry at the local church, I am so humbled and honored every time someone sends me a question about faith or the Bible. (I am also filled with adrenaline to be honest because there is an excitement that comes with wondering what the question might be… paired with the fear that I might not know the answer). It’s been great accountability for me in my own pursuit of knowledge and literacy of God’s Word.
The question this college student posed to me was about a particular pastor she was learning about in a religious studies class who posits a “progressive approach to Christianity” and has been recognized by Rolling Stone Magazine as a pastor who is “spreading the good word of a modern gospel.”
For those curious: The hot topic on the table was his argument that Jesus would be affirming of open marriages and other types of polyamorous relationships (but that’s another article entirely; let’s not go there right now!).
What struck a chord in me as I was reading excerpts of his writing and listening to his interviews was how easily he was taking bits and pieces of the Bible to affirm his own perspective; or “his own truth” — yet, omitting other parts all together.
One article that drew me in is titled: “Why Traditional Christianity Must Die” (not linking to it because the point isn’t to expose just one person; as none of this is new or shocking… but Google it if you want). In this piece, he writes about his own traditional worldview “shifting towards a new way of seeing and being that could only scarcely be called Christian…” because as time goes on and society evolves, “Christianity may not survive in any way that is helpful or significant in the future of human evolution” so therefore it must evolve. Essentially: the truth must evolve.
Something about all that doesn’t sound right. As Christians should we cherrypick and define truth on our own terms when Jesus is crystal clear on being the Truth (John 14:6)? As pastors are we responsible to water down or revise God’s Word to make sure that it is evolving with the times? Should college students like the sweet girl who texted me as a lay-member in the church be taught that abandoning sacred, orthodox doctrine for modern, hip interpretations of God’s Word that has evolved with the times what’s necessary?
Pastor and author Nijay Gupta says: “We are taught a plurality of things in school, at work, and on social media. How can I decide what’s right or wrong when everyone has an opinion? How do you know what’s right or wrong? What ends up happening is each person lives out their own feelings.”
I wonder if we’ve let our opinions make truth nothing more than what’s currently convenient and congruent with our own beliefs and values. It’s as if we believe truth is absolute for the things we agree with, otherwise it’s relative.
There is so much that can be said about truth. And I cannot do justice to covering that subject in its entirety in one article. However, my purpose in writing this specific piece is because I feel a responsibility as a pastor to shepherd well and wisely. To constantly point people back to the absolute truth that is Jesus Christ. There is danger when that truth is subtly sliced down even by a hair — especially by someone in power and authority. That’s when the most damage and deconstruction can be done to someone’s faith.
So how do we begin to think critically with discerning eyes? I believe a wonderful starting point is looking to God’s Word and to His character. In this case, the rabbit hole I went down brought me back to one thing — the attribute of God’s eternality.
In A.W. Tozer’s phenomenal short read, “The Knowledge of the Holy” he writes:
“The idea of endlessness is to the kingdom of God what carbon is to the kingdom of nature. As carbon is present almost everywhere, as it is an essential element in all living matter and supplies all life with energy, so the concept of everlastingness is necessary to give meaning to any Christian doctrine. Indeed I know of no tenet of the Christian creed that could retain its significance if the idea of eternity were extracted from it.” (A.W. Tozer)
For God, everything that will happen has already happened. He exists outside of our understanding and experience of the dimension of time. God isn’t worried that His Word will become obsolete or outdated; it’s eternal and unchanging. We aren’t called to give it a facelift or a feature update like software on an iPhone simply because we feel woke.
Some Scripture from the Bible that directly addresses God’s eternal nature:
- “But the word of the Lord remains forever. And this word is the good news that was preached to you.” (1 Peter 1:25)
- “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35)
- “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” (Isaiah 40:8)
- “Your word, LORD, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens; Your laws endure to this day, for all things serve you.” (Psalm 119: 89–91)
- “Remember the former things of old; for I am God and there is no other like me.. declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying ‘My counsel shall stand and I will accomplish all my purposes.’” (Isaiah 46:9–10)
Our hearts and minds need to expand in order to fit the complexity of the Spirit of God; not the other way around. We aren’t called to chop up, dissect, and formulate a Frankenstein version of God or the Bible simply to “keep up with the times.”
So if God is both eternal and immutable (unchanging), why would we need to do things like take a “modern” approach to Christianity or “evolve” with each passing season to affirm the current cultural moment? Friends, I worry as Christ followers if we don’t stand firm in the truth of Jesus, or “mature to the full measure of the stature of Christ” as Paul warns us, then we will be tossed around by the waves of every wind of false teaching by clever cunning men in their deceitful scheming (Ephesians 4:13–14). We are blessed with a steadfast security in the Good News of Jesus from the moment He was born in a dirty manger to a teenage refugee and then was resurrected from the grave for you and I. That has never and will never change. It’s a fixed point in history that doesn’t need to evolve.
There is probably an entire series I hope to write about ways to identify troubling teaching, but for the sake of this first piece I implore any Christian reading this to start here:
1. First, have shrewd discernment over what you ingest. Especially if it’s short-form content on social media. It’s so easy for an entire foundation of faith to be toppled over with just one tiny hair of doubt that then snowballs (especially when that’s capsulated in a bite-sized Tik Tok with cute effects).
2. Secondly, to summarize what I mentioned above.. look to God’s Word and specifically God’s character. If what you’re ingesting presents an inaccurate view of our Lord, Jesus Christ, then that’s your red flag.
To be frank, there is always an initial hopeless spiral I fall into when I come across false teaching. Especially with those who have such giant platforms and are influencing (and hurting) countless lives. I’ve spoken to so many people who have experienced trauma and pain from the hands of people in power who have twisted and manipulated the truth… and the fruit of which includes fear, doubt, and discouragement. And yet, immediately after the anger and sadness, what’s left is this sense of peace that washes over me because I know deep down that the eternal God, incarnate in Jesus Christ, has seen all of this coming and has warned us about it from the beginning of time. If anything, we get to partner with Him to bring the truth to light.
I leave you with the prayer I’ve been praying over myself and over the many pastors, leaders, and Christians across the country (taken from Paul’s words in my favorite letter of the Bible, 2 Corinthians) —
Lord Jesus: Thank You for never changing. You are the most consistent person we can depend on. Thank You that based on this truth, our experience of the doctrine we hold to doesn’t need to change — because Your Word is eternal. May we be a people who speak and seek the truth, setting it forth plainly for the world to see. May we be aware of the ways the god of this age has blinded the eyes of so many. May Your light shine through us and out of the darkness. Thank you that Your light gives us knowledge of Your glory, displayed through Jesus. May we seek Your way.. Your ancient, sacred path that guides us into all righteousness.
And finally, may we seek not to preach ourselves out of selfish ambition or gluttony for power… but to preach solely you, Jesus Christ, as our Lord — the one and only source of absolute truth and life. Amen.
