Camera Shopping, Postmodernism, and Barbecue

                My dad has been helping me hunt for a new camera lately. We’ve spent hours scouring the web, reading reviews and customer ratings, and searching for the best deals. Sunday afternoon after church, we even went to real stores—Best Buy and not one, but TWO Wal-Marts. A few times I’ve become discouraged because there are so many choices out there.

                And then the reason for my camera-hunting frustration hit me. I’m not looking for just A camera, but THE camera—the tiny machine that will snap perfect pictures every time without totally draining my small supply of cash.

                But no matter how hard I look, I’ll never find the perfect camera. Instead, I need to focus on what’s most important to me when I’m taking pictures.

When I keep this in mind, the camera world comes into focus a little more. Do I want good close-up pictures? I need to look at cameras with good macro and telephoto features. Do I want to film family times or special events? I need a camera with a decent video feature. Does picture taking confuse me? I need a camera that’s easy to operate with minimal bells and whistles.

Because each photographer’s needs are different, it makes sense that each camera model is different, with varying features that make it stand out.

Some people say that truth acts like differing models of cameras; we can decide what we want to believe. We can’t criticize other people because of what they believe, because for them, their beliefs are true, and for us, they are not true. This is called relativism.

In reality, relativism is a warped version of postmodern philosophy. Postmodernism, like relativism, would agree that different cameras might be “right” for different people, but it would point out that this is because different people have different needs.

Using another example, relativism would claim that a person can choose his or her own god. A Christian thinking in line with postmodernism could argue that, because each person has a unique background, he or she is entitled to a unique perspective. In fact, our differing opinions are unavoidable. However, when it comes to religion, gods are worshipped to fill a specific need in a person’s life. And according to Scripture, only the God of the Bible can supply the need for wholeness and restoration that is common to every person on the planet.

Not every truth is relative. But I think many Christians change this sentence to say, “Every truth is not relative.”

This is just—plain—not—true. While the Bible IS the truth and is trustworthy in every area in life that it covers, it leaves some areas “grey”.

For example, while many Christians use Philippians 4:8 as a guideline for entertainment, it’s not an entertainment-specific verse. Should we dance? Should we not dance? What style of music should we listen to? Is it ok to watch TV? Is card-playing a sin? Paul doesn’t say. And I think he does this on purpose.

You see, in 1 Corinthians, Paul addresses a controversy in the church over whether or not Christians should eat meat sacrificed to idols. Both eating the meat and not eating the meat is ok, he says.

How can this be? Well, let’s go back to the camera illustration. Just like different people have different camera needs, different people have different backgrounds. Some people in the church just thought of meat as finger-lickin’ barbeque, while other converts associated the meat with their former lives of idolatry.

So for some people, eating meat was sin, but for others, it wasn’t. Sounds like relativism, doesn’t it? But keep in mind that we’re still talking about “grey areas” here.

Over the past year I’ve met a lot of great Christian people at college, and while I agree with them on a lot of things, I also disagree with them on a lot of things. And that’s ok.

For instance, some people I know can worship God through jumping up and down, clapping, and yelling loudly to praise music. On the other hand, I sing quietly while praying the words of the music to God. Both are good. And both—if done with the right heart attitude—glorify the Lord.

“Tolerance” has become a bad word in the church today, but when we’re not dealing with clear-cut matters, it’s a very important—and Biblical—character quality to have. So let’s stop tearing down our fellow Christians and start loving them and working to glorify God together.

Wow, what a long blog post!! I promise to write something shorter and sweeter next time!

But for now, please excuse me while I do some camera hunting… J