“Whachu talking ‘bout Willis?”—TV show Different Strokes

In any discussion, at least those that are profitable, one must define terms. Yes, it is boring, and maybe picky, but even as you all communicate, you demand clarity, otherwise there is confusion. One striking example is of Johnny, a 16-year-old, who is told by his father that under no circumstances is he to go to any party. Now he may take his father very literally, and never go to a party. But Johnny’s girlfriend, also sixteen, invites him to a rave (which is another name for a party) and he consents to go. Why? Dad said I can’t go to a party, but he didn’t say “Don’t go to a rave.” Hopefully the point is made. We are certainly made in the image of God, yet at the same time woefully sinful. While many are charitable and grant that rave falls under the category of party, nonetheless, defining terms helps clear up confusion and sinful tendencies of the human heart and motive to suppress the truth (Romans 1:18ff). Picky? Yes! Helpful? Yes, and YES!

We have asked the first question in developing a worldview, Who am I? If you remember, Postmodern Materialistic Relativism (PMR), which is our cultures worldview, says we are nothing more than evolved goo, the product of blind chance and processes. On the other hand, when you ask the God of Christianity, Yahweh, the Covenant God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, you are answered quite differently. To everyone born on earth, since the beginning, he says something like the following: Who are you?