Bumpersticker Philosophies

You can learn a lot about a person from bumperstickers. When someone places a bumpersticker on their vehicle, its usually to relay something about how they view the world. From politics to overall worldview, bumperstickers give others a window into the guiding principles that the driver holds in high esteem. And when it comes to governing principles, there is a reason why our country was founded upon Christian principles. Christianity gives us a standard to live by. God’s standard. Christianity defines truth for us. Truth in regards to God, man, and the world at large. Christianity gives us freedom as well as guardrails to keep us from destroying ourselves.

In the late18th century, a movement called romanticism arose in arts and literature that highlighted human inspiration, subjectivity, and the primacy of the individual. Romanticism rejected conventional norms and promoted individualism as the great goal of humanity. Romanticism eventually gave birth to postmodernism in the 21st century. Like romanticism, postmodernism carries the idea that truth is subjective, and feelings override objectivity.

Postmodernism along with romanticism have chipped away at the Christian foundation that our society was built upon. And when the pillar of truth that is Christianity is removed from a society, all chaos ensues. These two ideologies have given rise to these bumpersticker philosophies that encapsulate this secular worldview. Slogans like;

“Follow Your Heart.”

“Live Your Truth.”

“I Only Believe What I can See.”

In Genesis chapter 3, the serpent deceived Adam and Eve with the fruit that God had forbidden them to eat. At first glance, the forbidden fruit was appealing to look at. But once they believed the lie and partook of the fruit, it brought sin and death into the world. And although these catch phrases may sound appealing to some, the results of following and living these words out ends in chaos and heartache. Let’s serious consider the implications of what living by these worldview slogans looks like.

“Follow Your Heart”

This slogan has been inserted into more big screen Hollywood love stories than any other. It sounds romantic. It sounds bigger than life. The problem is that the heart is never defined. In a secular worldview, the phrase, ‘Follow Your Heart’ really means, ‘Follow Your Feelings.’ To the postmodernist, the heart is directly correlated with human feelings. Feelings are temporary. They are unstable at best. And feelings can change like the wind.

If every marriage is based on each individual spouse following their feelings, then no union is safe. The moment a husband or wife doesn’t feel loving or forgiving towards their spouse, the marriage ends. Why? Because they believed the cultural lie that they should follow their heart/ feelings.

Furthermore, the individual who is living in a sinful homosexual lifestyle would claim that they are merely following their heart/ feelings when it comes to sexual partners. And that opens the door for the child molester to justify their transgressions as crimes of following the heart.  Following your heart/ feelings is not romantic, it’s dangerous.

God warned us of the dangers of following the heart. Whereas the world romanticizes following the heart, the Bible says that such foolishness will end in destruction. Love is not a feeling. It’s a willful choice. Jesus did not sacrifice Himself for the sins of many because He felt like it. Christ set His affections upon a particular people before the foundation of the world and chose to redeem them, regardless of their rebellion and the cost. Jesus love for His bride was not led by temporal feelings, but rather it was an act of the will. That is true love. To settle for following your heart/ feelings is not love. It’s a cheap imitation of the real thing.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” Jeremiah 17:9.

The fruit in the garden of Eden was deceitful. It’s beauty was misleading. In the same way, the slogan ‘Follow Your Heart’ is deceitful. It’s romantic appeal is misleading. And it leads to wickedness and death.

“Live Your Truth”

This is the war cry of the 21st century postmodern society that we live in. It implies that truth is relative. Truth can vary from person to person. And no one can ever be told that they are wrong about what they believe. Because for them, no matter how far fetched their belief is, it is true for them. And therefore, society must affirm each individual’s truth.

But in order for truth to exist, there must be things that are not true. Otherwise, truth has no meaning. Furthermore, for someone to claim that all truth is subjective, one would have to ask, “Is that statement subjective?” They would have just made a truth claim. To which if the person wanted to be consistent, they would have to answer in the affirmative. And to that end, their whole worldview collapses upon itself.

Under this umbrella of ‘Live Your Truth’, biological gender has no meaning. A man can claim to be a women and vice versa. And no one is allowed to tell them they are wrong, because again, it’s their truth. Because of this worldview, we have seen things that would have been considered insane twenty years ago accepted as a social norm today. Let’s carry a live your truth mindset to it’s end.

What if someone’s truth is that they are Superman. Last year, a young man actually climbed up to the roof of Grace Community Church in California and proclaimed that the could fly. That was his truth. He jumped off of the building and was killed instantly upon impact.

Politically, the postmodern worldview made a push a few years back to actually defund the police in many states. Some people actually tried to flip truth on it’s head and began to propose that the police were the bad guys and criminals were the oppressed. In place of police that were governed by the guardrails of the constitution, it was proposed by some states that the people act as law enforcement. When wicked people are given the power to decide what is right in their own eyes, the culture crumbles into anarchy.

If there is no truth, then even civil laws can be viewed as subjective and open to each individuals interpretation. You cannot pick and choose. You cannot say that truth is relative in regards to gender, but objective when it comes to governing laws. Either there is absolute truth that applies to gender, laws, God, and reality, or there is not. And if the slogan, ‘Live Your Truth’ is followed to it’s logical end, it results in a Godless, lawless, wild wild west society.

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.

This is a truth statement. It is not subjective. And if this is true, then the words are Christ (the scriptures) override our feelings and desires. There are not many genders, because Jesus tells us that God created man and woman. And there are not multiple God’s but one, and He is Christ the Lord. His word gives us truth on issues of law, morality, the sexes, and reality as a whole. The world was created through Christ and for Christ (Colossians 1:15). Therefore there is no truth outside of Christ.

“I Only Believe What I can See.”

Empiricism is the view that all concepts, beliefs, or propositions are based on or justified by experience. It relies on our five senses, sight, touch, taste, hearing, and smell. Primarily, empiricism says if we cannot see or touch something, then it cannot be real. But empiricism, drawn out to it’s end, falls flat.

For example, we cannot see math, but we know it’s a reality. We cannot see laws of science, but we know that they exist. We cannot see gravity, but we see it’s effects. In the same way, when it comes to God, we see the proof of God all around us in creation.

“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” Romans 1:20.

Furthermore, we know that there is a God because humans have a conscience. If we are the result of a cosmic accident, and have evolved from space dust, then there is no right or wrong. As Darwin said, the strong will survive. There can be no moral absolutes. As one pastor put it, what’s wrong with star dust bumping into star dust?

But humans know right from wrong. Even the atheist knows that murder is wrong. Why is that? It’s because man is made in the image of God, and because they are made in His image, they know right from wrong innately. And God has written His word, His image, on the heart of every man no matter if he professes belief or not.

“They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.” Romans 2:15.

Creation and even the human heart itself attests that there is a God. Just as we know that gravity exists due to it’s effect, we know that God exists, because the proof is all around us as well as in us.

 “Follow Your Heart.”

“Live Your Truth.”

“I Only Believe What I can See.”

These three slogans have been popularized by our world, but they were seeded in philosophical antiquity. Romanticism gave way to what we know as postmodernism. These secular ideologies promise freedom, but lead to shackles. They promise a happy life, but lead to heartache and slavery to sin. And they promote a life apart from God in exchange for following our own ways. Just like the fruit in the garden, their appeal is only surface deep. Don’t live your life by cheap bumpersticker philosophies. Live in light of the Lord Jesus.

Follow Christ, not your heart.

Live for Him, for He is the Truth.

Believe, because He has made Himself undeniably known.