Drawing a "line in the sand" usually means that we are setting boundaries in our faith and life. At first glance, that sounds commendable. It's great to have defined boundaries. The problem is that with the ever-shifting winds in our world, the line gets obscured, and we draw another line that is more comfortable for us. The line keeps moving as history progresses, and we are confronted with new challenges and we find ourselves stepping over the line. The Christian faith cannot exist in a world of constantly-shifting sands-without absolutes.
Maybe you remember in the Bugs Bunny cartoon where Bugs is up against Yosemite Sam and his shotgun. Bugs draws a line in the sand and dares Yosemite Sam to step over it-which he promptly does. Bugs swallows deeply and draws another line. "I bet you can't step over this one!" Sam steps over again, and the line is redrawn again and again to no avail. And how often do we draw lines that are violated time and time again, and we just draw new ones. Faith and morals that keep shifting with pressures are neither faithful nor moral.
It is almost regarded as fanatical to say that we believe in "absolutes" (i.e. something that is always valid and changeless). For example, be believe God is absolutely sovereign. This means He has the might and the right to do all His holy will. An absolute God gives us absolute truth. For many today, this goes too far. The fact is, absolutes can be denied by unbelievers, but they cannot be changed. That is hard for man to accept, unless by true faith.
The ultimate absolute is the eternal Triune God Himself, revealed in the Bible alone. Everything flows from Him. If you don't begin all knowledge with an absolute God, you will end up with nothing but man drawing up his own lines in the sand. The result is that there are no morals, there is no knowledge, and nothing has meaning.
This steady drip of the Post-Modern dialectic has gradually eroded the belief in biblical absolutes in today's modernistic church. At best you can only have opinions or synthetic theories. The humanist philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche, concluded, "There are no eternal facts, as there are no absolute truths." The Swiss philosopher, Paul Feyerabend, once stated, "The only principle that does not inhibit progress is: anything goes." He is credited for the famous, self-contradictory statement: "The only absolute truth is that there are no absolute truths." Of course that means that what he has just said is also not absolutely true. We are often told to think that being relative is a sign of true brilliance that exhibits tolerance, while holding to an absolute is to be stubborn and intolerant.
It is not unusual for relativists to be caught in their own intellectual net. When they say, ‘It's wrong for you to impose your morals on me,' they are then imposing their morals on you by telling you that you are wrong. When they say, ‘There is no right or wrong,' is that statement right or is it wrong? Relativism is at the root of liberalism and creeps even into evangelical circles. Isaiah 45:22 says, "Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other." For some, that is too narrow. Why do liberals debate or bristle at a statement like the one found in John 14:6, "Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." It is too constricting to some, because it allows no wriggle-room.
Many in the Church have fallen prey to moving the line in the name of cultural relativism (morals change as we keep up with the times). Sometimes the Church itself has altered its doctrine or practice under the pretense that the church must always be ‘reforming.' Surely we do change as our world around us does. We have modern technologies that are a tremendous help to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. Scholars are finding better ways to define our faith (there's no shortage of books). But, God's Word does not change. We may never redraw the lines of God's Word so it fits into our changing world.
Are there absolute boundaries in our lives? I hope we all know that in faith and life there are definite lines that we may not cross without falling into sin. But, who draws the line?
There is a line, not in shifting sand, but etched in the rock. But, man has not drawn it. You have not drawn it. The church has not drawn it. God has. We might think that we have drawn these lines in terms of our doctrine or moral values. As soon as we say that, we have just fallen into the error of relativism. Sinful man is incapable of drawing that line without error or constant movement depending on his circumstances. We have seen too much of this attempt in the church today. When we define who to worship or how we are to worship, we are drawing our own line. When we define morals in terms of what is acceptable in the church or our society, we are drawing our own lines. I'm always impressed with Joseph, who when tempted to commit adultery under heavy pressure from Potiphar's wife, said, "How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" (Gen. 39:9) It was God who drew that line for Joseph. Neither the eternal God, nor His Word changes over time. "For I am the Lord, I do not change; therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob." (Mal. 3:6; cf. 2 Tim. 3:16, 17)
God's Word does not come with a weather vane-to change direction depending on which way the wind is blowing on a given day (cf. Eph. 4:14). Jesus stated, non-categorically, in praying to His Father, "Your word is truth." (Jn. 17:17)
Having God's line in the rock throughout our lives tells us that we are not to step over it. To do so is to sin, or to transgress God's absolute will. We have all done it many times-just today. The solution to the problem is not to redraw the lines to fit our lifestyle. The only solution is to confess our sin and seek forgiveness in the only One who paid for them and never stepped over that line-Jesus Christ.
As I said, we do not draw the lines or set the boundaries in our lives, no matter how noble that sounds. Our task is to live within the lines God has drawn. The church does not draw these lines either. It is the task of the Churches' officers to ensure that these lines are not blurred, redrawn, or violated so God's people trespass on sinful territory. It is the task of the Church to direct all trespassers-all people-to Christ alone and Christ always.
The constant pressure for worldly change and accommodation will always be there, like the steady drip of water trying to erode the rock on which we stand. The Absolute will absolutely not be dissolved. The only absolute truth is that there is absolute truth. We have God's Word on that.
Because God draws the lines for us, and because we are sinful human beings, who are always inclined to ‘go with the flow,' it is incumbent upon us to seek the grace and strength of the Holy Spirit to follow God's will. We need to grow within the Word, not in spite of the Word or outside of the Word.
When our various Classes and the Synod meets, there must be a self-conscious effort to yield to the doctrines and directives that God Himself has given us. We don't need to call on God to draw the lines. He already has. It is our calling to see them and obey them. We do need to pray for His help that we will be content to live joyfully and fruitfully within the scope of His will.
