The “my truth” movement is merely subjectivity cloaked in a title I assume is meant to be empowering. But what “my truth” means is that nothing is objective, rather, everything is up to our own interpretations. It’s not empowering. It’s foolishness. A society living under such a mentality makes objective truth impossible. Anything is offensive if deemed offensive, anything is wrong if deemed wrong, and anything is hateful if deemed hateful. Yet, this same movement proclaims, “You can’t tell me I’m offensive, wrong, or hateful because it is my truth.”
I’ll tell you what “my truth” is, because, ironically, my argument is that its definition is objective: “My truth” is a plague, reflecting nothing other than the fleshly desire to govern oneself.
Gabriel Fluhrer, pastor and author, outlined the issue with “my truth” as it relates to autonomy, which comes from two Greek words that translate to “self-law.” In his book, “The Beauty of Divine Grace,” he wrote, “Our age is one that prizes unfettered autonomy” more than any other, and Jean-Paul Sartre “gave expression to autonomy’s basic creed in a 1948 speech when he cried, ‘Shape your own destiny!’”
In other words, autonomy preaches from the pulpit of the flesh, and we are vulnerable to idolizing it. As Fluhrer wrote, we were created “to be in covenant with” God, and “once we sever ourselves from Christ’s unlimited demands on our lives and pursue our own definition of happiness, things fall apart.”
As Fluhrer put it, “autonomy is the funeral of Truth with a capital T.” He deemed it the “death of truth,” because walking away from God and His word inevitably leads to relativism that states “Truth is up for grabs.” I believe it goes without saying that actual truth is only so because it does not change. It is not based on our emotions, feelings, or preferences. Real truth is objectively stagnant. But relativism throws that out the window, making us the “supreme authority” of our own lives. Fluhrer stated that “anarchy is the only logical conclusion of such thinking.”
Progressivism is the perfect example of what it looks like to stray from objectivity found in God’s Truth and cling to the subjectivity found in “my truth.”
Here are some (paraphrased) things I’ve heard the “my truth” movement claim:
There are infinite genders, and you get to choose whichever one you want to identify with.
A baby is not a baby if it is still in the womb. But even when it’s out, it’s up to you to decide if it has value.
You shouldn’t believe in an all-powerful God since that’s oppressive, but you are welcome to worship Satan, rocks, and stars.
So long as we live in this fallen world, the list will never end. But do you see the pattern? What autonomy or “my truth” proclaims is rooted in self-glorification which directly contradicts sacred Scripture. And things really do fall apart.
Blurring the reality of gender has corrupted self-image. It’s no longer that we have insecurities because we are human, but because “we are born in the wrong body.” So permanently mutilating it in the face of “gender-affirming care” is the path the world advocates. Never mind the fact it has proven to lead to further depression and anxiety, increased suicide rates, an inability to get pregnant later in life, or constant rashes, infections, and pain.
The LGBT movement destroys the purpose of marriage and parenthood. “Love is love” is an explicit mockery of God, Who is love. “You do you” is a mantra that leads to a life devoid of eternal purpose and wasted time — time perhaps filled with sex, drugs, or alcohol. Flippant premarital sex leads to broken homes and aborted children. Death and destruction are the result of straying from God’s perfect order, but society worships that death and destruction in the name of autonomy.
“It’s my life! My truth! My, my, my,” they cry.
As Fluhrer wrote, “The war is between God and self.” James asked, “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?” (James 4:4). And Jesus said in Matthew 6:24, “No man can serve two masters.” If you read Scripture, it’s blatant God’s commands oppose all desires of the flesh — it’s one of the multiple distinctions Christianity has from all other world religions.
Here are some examples of concrete Truth:
Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”
Jeremiah 1:5: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.”
Exodus 20:3: “You shall have no other gods before me.”
“All of us must make our choice,” Fluhrer wrote. “We will either bow the knee to Christ or continue in the delusion of autonomy, which ultimately leads to judgment.” But he added that, thankfully, “this is the triune God’s world, and autonomy can never succeed against the Creator, no matter how many times it is tried by individuals or societies.”
In fact, for Fluhrer, the further culture strays from the true gospel, the more opportunity Christians have to “show how true biblical faith stands apart from the various spiritualities offered today.” He continued, “At the center of biblical faith is the life that Christ offers us, both now and after we die. Life in Christ is immeasurably rich, intoxicatingly meaningful, and infectiously contagious.”
Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, (John 14:6) and the darker the world becomes, the brighter He shines. It’s quite beautiful, should we seize the opportunity to share our faith to a world that desperately needs it. To a world that needs to surrender “my truth” for Him, who is Truth.
Fluhrer’s summary is this: “Christ alone provides the only true understanding of reality.” The plague of subjectivity can only bring death to any sense of truth or reality. Christ is the only way to a life that makes sense because, unlike the world, He is not subjective or a product of relativism. Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” The search for truth apart from Christ will forever fail, and any “truth” that stands today will quickly fall. That is what yesterday has repeatedly taught us.
“Where can we find refuge from the stormy seas of relativism?” Fluhrer asked. “Jesus offers us a port.”
Sarah Holliday is a reporter at The Washington Stand.
