Relativism and the great commission
Article author: Jay Zeke Malakai
Article editor: Jay Zeke Malakai
Introduction
Recently, on Facebook, Jay Malakai re-posted an image. The original image was posted in support of gay "marriage", and claimed that its goal was "to show that more people are for equal rights than against it". Along with the image, Jay posted an explaination of why one does not have to support, or even agree with gay "marriage" in order to believe in equal rights, and also demonstrated how gay "marriage" has removed the rights of many people, including teachers, churches, B&B owners and even a Christian couple who only wanted to give an orphaned child a loving home. While Jay stated in the original post that he knew he would get a vicious response from some hateful people, even he was not prepared for the gigantic amount of hatred he recieved from numerous teenagers. This, however, is beside the point of this article. One of the main objections Jay recieved was that "We respect your beliefs, so you must respect ours". In this article, Jay explains how those who oppose his right to post his views on his own, personal Facebook page, or even in real life, are being inconsistent.
These are the last words Jesus said to his disciples before he left the Earth:
"All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20). Over the past few days, many people have said to me "I respect your beliefs, so why can't you respect mine?" These demands went on longer than they had to, and even now there are still people who refuse to let sleeping dragons lie. The words I have just displayed are the centre of my belief system as a Christian. If there is no great commission, there is no Christianity, full stop. In other words, before you can even pretend to respect my beliefs, or the beliefs of any consistent Christian, you must accept that they will follow the great commission at any expense to themselves. This means they will preach that Jesus is the ultimate authority. They will try to "convert" you, they will try to live Holy lives (and trust in God when they will, inevitably, fail). They will try to teach you the difference between right and wrong, and they will try to share the Gospel with you. They will try and do good and try to convince you to do the same. That is what you can expect from anyone who takes Christianity seriously. This isn't disrespectful. In fact, in 1 Peter 3:15-16, we are taught to do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience. Ultimately, those who claim to respect our views on one hand, but on the other hand they demand we "keep it to ourselves", are contradicting themselves. On the other hand, a Christian who preaches without fear or apology, but with love, gentleness and respect, is being perfectly consistent with their beliefs.