Each person needs to awaken her own uniqueness. That is her own personality that will bloom and give out its unique fragrance. The Bible says that when any believer is filled with the Spirit of Christ, we each are blessed with at least one spiritual gift. And when we draw nearer to Christ, our characters are positively affected. We improve in the areas of patience, joy, faith, kindness and more (Gal 5:22-23). This is the wonderful effect of walking in the light. We have Christ in our lives. The Holy Spirit guides and influences us. This greatly impacts our thinking, logic and our view of the world.
Though we are ‘in the same light,’ this doesn’t mean that we can’t think for ourselves. In fact, our natural talents and abilities will be empowered. Further, being in the light means that we are under the same divine influence of Christ’s Spirit who Peter called God (Acts 5:3-4). The Spirit is the all-knowing and all-wise God of the universe or Cosmic Intelligence. Being influenced by the same universal intelligence means that our view of the ‘true truth’ must be the same, but each of us will reflect it differently. Like the same electricity passing through various sizes and voltages of light bulbs—each reflecting a different colour and brightness as the spiritual fruit qualities of each individual is at different levels.
When people declare that everything or a variety is ok these days, we know that’s not a new idea at all. We must not be too quick to agree with popular opinions. Context is important. We read in the Old Testament around 1000 B.C where Samuel writes, “Everyone did what was right in [her] own eyes,” (Judges 17:6, NKJV). Even earlier, Moses made the same observation (Deuteronomy 12:8). There was no focus on God and God’s will—that would have assured people the same context.
But today the general view is “everything is ok.” Relativism is king. In trying to be fair and tolerant, we conclude saying “the truth-claim of every religion is the truth.” But that is plainly false. The mature-minded person, the one knowing ‘real truth,’ focuses on the context of God’s will and purpose for her life and the lives of her neighbours. In practice, even secular organizations like the United Nations, the World Health Organization act similarly in principle. Their purpose is generally humanitarian. Their aim is for the welfare, however defined, of the world and for all beings. Of course, the importance here will be in the understanding and definition of “welfare.” Nevertheless, humanity’s welfare is good and godly.
The challenge is the phrase “doing what is right in one’s own eyes.” This is not only an issue of compassion; but one of basic logic and morality. Right and wrong we understand have to do with morals. So my right and my wrong will naturally be based on my matured understanding of the ‘true truth.’ No matter how respectful I may be in not judging others and not in any way declaring or implying that their view of right and wrong is untrue, my acceptance of labeling all views as true isn’t sensible. For if the views on a common issue, in the same context, differ and all persons do not uphold the same yardstick, then at least one of the views on the issue must necessarily be right and all others wrong.
[see ‘Toward the Mind of Christ,’ in Riley, Christopher. How to Achieve True-self-enrichment, CREM Publishing House, Toronto, Canada, © 2019, pp. 30. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083PRN9DP/ ]