When I was 2-3 years old, my parents had a rule about me pulling out only one toy at a time to play with. If I was going to play with a different toy than the one that I had out, then I was instructed to put up the first toy before going to the second. In my totally depraved nature, I thought this rule was there to simply trample my fun, in spite of my parents explaining that cleaning my room would be much easier, in fact, almost unnecessary, if I would follow their rule. Yet, I would not, my room would become a wreck, and it would take me hours on end to take on the task of dreadfully cleaning my room.
Again, as a totally depraved toddler, I came up with a scheme that my unsuspecting parents did not uncover until my aunt came in for a long term visit. When asked to go clean my room, the terrible task would overwhelm me, and I began to complain about my leg hurting, being sore. My innocent, unsuspecting mother, trusting and loving her child, never suspected that such a cute, chubby, young child of hers had the capability of lying to get out of work. Alas, it is sad but true. That is, until my mom’s sister, my aunt Kathy came into town, at the time, not married, without children, and called me out. On telling me to clean my room, within minutes I came back complaining about my sore legs. My mom expressed to my aunt how concerned she was with this reoccurring problem, and my aunt responded by laughing. She said, “Haven’t you noticed that he only complains when you tell him to go clean his room?” Busted…she had not noticed, but now she did, and the game was over.
The problem wasn’t so much that I didn’t want to clean as it was I wasn’t sure where to begin. To a three-or-so-year-old, I did not know where to begin. Because I broke the rules of my parents, the room got so bad that I got overwhelmed and claiming to have sore legs would usually get the aid of my mom, and the room would slowly become clean.
I think postmodernists today are much the same. They do not value truth, they value questions. But that’s there game – if there are never answers, and only questions, there never has to be definitive ways that one must die to self, and let Jesus reign. They’ll die to self and let Jesus reign according to their own tastes and definitions, because, after all, God made them that way (the way of their preferences) and who can really know what’s right or truth, so they might as well go with their gut, which is usually quite shaped and mirror-imaged to culture and the “hip” of the day.
Postmodernists claim that for anyone to claim truth or to know the answers is only possible if that person is a Pharisaical, arrogant, legalist. They commend themselves for they have more awe for God than one who believes the concreteness of the promises of the Words of God for they say, “He is too vast, too transcending, too wonderful to be comprehended, therefore, what can we know?” And then they sit back, and treasure question over truth. Granted, God is too vast, too transcending, too wonderful to simply describe and define (Romans 11:33-34), yet, to say you trust as truth the ways He has revealed Himself is not to say that you have put Him in a box. He’s put Himself in a Book, 66 of them, for the one.
Can you imagine if the whole world operated as postmodernists and as me as a toddler, and looking at the full scope of things, became overwhelmed, and therefore never moved forward, but complained about sore legs? What if I were to go to the Grand Canyon, put my hand over my mouth and say, “He’s too magnificent, this silly Bible doesn’t tell the half,” and throw it over the railing and forsake its ways. What if after 9/11, the NYC workers surveyed the wreckage and said, “Where on earth do we start? It’s too daunting!” And so they just sat around talking, having question time about what the best methods would be to clean up, yet never starting the actual process in fear of seeming arrogant to all the other workers. I understand the desire, looking at the overwhelming mess of my room, I became weighed down, and made up stories to keep from the tiring task.
Maybe God, like my parents, gave us His Word not only for His glory, but for our good. Perhaps there are a few concrete truths and answers in there that it would be arrogant for us to not claim for certain because it would show lack of faith in Him to do so. Perhaps all the questions from postmodernists are not truly because they want deeper, better answers, but because their lazy, and they claim their legs are sore, when truly they just don’t want to hear what it clear, to clean up their rooms – they just don’t trust it’s for their own good, they think culture instead has their best interest in mind.
Finally, there are those who like to say, “When Jesus was asked a question, He asked a question in return, therefore, Jesus was all about questions, not answers.” Ahhh, gotta love the postmodern hermeneutic. Perhaps, it should be clear, and this could be an arrogant claim because I am saying it is right and true, but perhaps if you reassess His questions, you will see that Jesus is asking a question that gets to the root of the problem. The Pharisee or whoever would ask the initial question was always playing around, not really caring about the question they were asking but trying to ensnare Jesus, and Jesus always knowing the motive of their heart, didn’t like playing the inquisition game and cut to the chase by asking a question that addressed the real issue. So, I am going to say that Jesus’ questions were to get at the heart of truth, and to reveal answers in light of His Truth.
Quit claiming your legs hurt when it is clear Who He is and what we are to do. And clean your room, its become quite messy.
There is only One Answer, and prayer is the greatest weapon to wield and gives us the priveleged opportunity to be a part of Kingdom building in a place where Christ is not named. Come Holy Spirit, to this proud, yet broken people, glorify Your Son among them. Use us as You will in the means of this process.
