“You only think it’s wrong because that’s what you believe.” If you are anything like I was in high school, you are probably ready to burst if you hear those words one more time. That seemed to be everybody’s answer when I would take a stand against drinking, drugs, or sex. Some of my closest friends spent their weekends consuming the “things of this world.”

Everyone in our generation seems concerned about being politically correct and not offending someone with what they think. While this might seem like the “right” thing to do, a society where nothing is “right” actually leads to a place that is totally wrong! If everyone is afraid to declare something true, where does this leave Christians? What can we call the Bible? I call it the Truth. Christ is the Truth. According to our politically correct culture, however, we can’t ever “impose” our beliefs on others.

When I was a high school student, I knew that it wasn’t right to drink before 21, let alone get drunk. God says in the Fourth Commandment, “Honor your father and mother.” (Exodus 20:12) I learned in Confirmation class that Luther explains this to mean we are to obey all authorities, including the laws of our government. Paul explains in Galatians 5:19, 21 that, “the acts of the sinful nature are obvious…drunkenness.” I could spout this out to my friends, yet they always seemed to cleverly respond, “Well, that’s what you think is true.”

I wanted to boldly reply, “IT’S NOT ABOUT ME; IT’S WHAT GOD SAYS IS TRUE!” I didn’t, of course.

As he writes to the Colossians, Paul thanks God for “the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God’s grace in all its truth.”  (Colossians 1:5-6)

Wait a minute: Paul has the audacity to tell other people that the Gospel is the truth . . . and why shouldn’t he? It is the truth. Truth is not relative. God is greater than this world and His Word is purely right.

I’d love to step back into my high school situation and say the words that I was thinking, “It’s not about us; it’s all about God.”  We (yes, that includes me!), as sinners, often play the “relative truth” card because we want to make an excuse for our sin. If we can reject the words of God as false or conditional, then we can continue to follow our sinful nature without shame or guilt.

If we work to condone our sin by questioning the constant truth of some of God’s Word, how can we trust even the beautiful words of 1 John 4:9-10:

“This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

Thank God that His Word is not relative and that His love is unconditional. The Gospel brings the greatest message to us. “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

We sin daily. We try to excuse our sin by questioning the authority of God’s Word, but that is the very reason Christ went to the cross.  He paid our price to show unconditional love, love without question.

We have the Truth and His name is Christ. It’s not about us; it’s all about Jesus. And what makes me want to burst more than anything is CHRIST IS ALL ABOUT US-and HE WENT TO THE CROSS TO PROVE IT!
Veritas: Real teens addressing real problems through the Christian lens of truth.