Relative Truth

I recently wrote a short critique of a periodical article for one of my classes here at Moody. The story was from a newspaper in Peoria, IL. In the report, an old woman's purse was grabbed outside WAL-MART by a thief who proceded to say "thanks" in a mocking manor. When she tried to retrieve the purse by reaching into the getaway car, she was dragged and slightly injured. The punk threatened to shoot her and called her a "bitch".

I had a lot of negative thoughts towards the actions of this young man, but the old woman's response to her own actions troubled me the most. She concluded that her attempt to retreive her purse was stupid. Her very words were, "What a stupid thing I did."

Now, this lady did not do anything that was immoral. She was justified in trying to prevent an evil act being committed against her. However, her comment also shows the lack of confidence that we have in our beliefs. She knew that getting robbed, having a gun shoved in her face, being called a "bitch", and being dragged across a parking lot was wrong. There is no doubt that if she had been asked ahead of time whether or not these things were wrong, she would have conceded. In fact, if she was asked if trying to retrieve a stolen item from someone who smugly grabbed it in the first place was wrong, she undoubtedly would have said "no".

We have truth written in our hearts (Romans 1). We know that evil exists and that attempting to prevent evil is not wrong as long as it is not done in a way that reciprocates evil. However, we are not firm enough in our beliefs to stand firmly after the fact. This lady said that her actions were stupid AFTER she was dragged across the asphalt.

We base our actions not on motivations, but on outcomes. If the outcome is deemed bad in our minds, then the motive and action must have been bad in the first place. However, this is not how truth works.

Truth is a firm belief that no matter the outcome, a pure motive and pure method of acting that truth out brings about a truly good response to any situation. If I get killed for preaching the gospel in a loving and truthful way, one cannot say based upon the result that I should not have been preaching in the first place. Truth transcends outcome.

If we are not convinced that an action is right before we do it, then we should not do it in the first place. However, if we are truly convinced of anything, then we should be able to stand for that conviction no matter what the outcome.