Thursday, January 14, 2016

When Confusion Reigns

         According to Merriam-Webster the definition of confusion is: a situation in which people are uncertain about what to do or are unable to understand something clearly  : the feeling that you have when you do not understand what is happening, what is expected, etc.  : a state or situation in which many things are happening in a way that is not controlled or orderly     
       I am of the belief that most of us walk around in a state of confusion pretty much everyday; although we may not be aware of it. For instance when you wake up and you’re in a hurry to get dressed for work because you have an important corporate meeting, and you decide to wear your favorite black suit. Now come the socks. Here’s where the confusion can rear it’s ugly head. Before you lies a drawer full of unmatched socks. You need black, but as you hold them up to the light you’re uncertain, perhaps they are really dark blue. First thought that comes to mind —  “I really need to organize my sock drawer next week”. Second thought — “Who cares. Know one is going to notice my ankles”, so you hastily grab two, pull them on,  and run out the door. But later in the morning as you sit down across from the CEO of Marketing for an upscale clothing store you realize how wrong you were in your assumption as Mr. CEO gives you the once over.  Or how about this scenario. If your the chief cook in the family it’s all about what am I going to make for dinner tonight. The kids are fighting, the dogs are barking, and you can’t remember if you took the chicken out of the freezer to thaw, because the doorbell just rang, and as you pass the calendar hanging on the wall you see circled in red a parent teacher conference you have scheduled which you need to be at in an hour. Good grief. 
       Life is all about choices. We make them everyday.  If we end up ordering pizza because the chicken wasn’t thawed, or you have to hide your legs under the chair because your socks don’t match, does not in anyway effect where you’ll be for eternity. That’s the good news, because we all make decisions on a daily basis, some are good and some aren’t. Some things are very subjective. Maybe wearing socks of  different colors will be the next big fashion statement, (What!)  and perhaps pizza is the perfect meal.
       There is one concept—idea—truth, however, that is not meant to be subjective and that is Christianity. Once you fall into the quagmire of vague uncertainty where Christianity becomes only about subjective things like feelings — matters of the heart — then you lose all objectivity as to what is eternally true for all. If you begin falling into the dictum of “what’s true for you may not be true for me” then you begin sliding down the slippery slope of postmodernism. 

        Postmodernism is a late-20th-century movement in the arts,    
                              architecture, and criticism that was a departure from modernism.[1]    
                                    [2Postmodernism articulates that the world is in a state of perpetual      
                              incompleteness and permanent unresolved. Postmodernism    
                              promotes the notion of radical pluralism; that there are many 
                              ways of knowing, and many truths to a fact. From a postmodern 
                              perspective knowledge is articulated from perspectives, with all its     
                              uncertainties, complexity and paradox.   
                                                               (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/)

       Christianity is  objectively, eternally, true for all. There is only one God who created everything. He gave us His one and only son, Jesus Christ, who was fully God and fully human. He was raised from the dead to pay the penalty for our sins. If you believe these things then you shall be saved. We were given the Bible, where every word is the inerrant truth to help guide us through life, so we needn’t be confused.
       Hmmm, I hear doubt or hesitation in your voice. You question this authority. I understand. It’s not quite like deciding which is the perfect meal — chicken or pizza?  Experience, science, tangible evidence, nowadays, seems to be more highly valued. Truth, becomes relative. If the Bible, however, is not our source for absolute truth, then what is? Is it the guy standing on the street corner with a sign saying, “Repent of coffee. It is the devils food”? Is that an absolute truth? To him it may be. If everyone has their own “absolute truth” to live by, though, or that truth changes with the tides then where will it take you? What wave will carry you away to another belief system or idea? When a philosophical paradigm shift begins to unravel or disqualify biblical truths, then where are we left?  Not a pretty place, I would proffer. 
       The good news is it doesn’t have to be that way. Christianity does offer experiences and scientific tangible evidence that there is one God who created the heavens and the earth. The evidence is so awe-inspiring that those who cannot see, and do not hear have simply closed off their heart and brain to the truth. They find it all too confusing and unimaginable that they sweep it under the carpet to be thought of at a later time. It’s so much easier to worry about what socks  you’ll wear that day or where you’ll have dinner on Friday night than to contemplate eternity.  
       Eternity is time without end. There is no Confusion  there. I know where I’ll be spending it. Do you?

For your edification check out these websites for further “scientific” evidence and study. 






       

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