The Postmodern Weather Forecast

The Postmodern Weather Man

Postmodernism is a term that might be unfamiliar to you. However, no matter who you are you’ve been exposed to one form or another of postmodernism. Postmodernism is a school of thought that says that all truth is relative. Although postmodernism rears it’s head in a number of situations in life, no situation is more prevalent than when it comes to discussing religion and theology.

A preacher stands in the public square on his soapbox and declares that one day every human will stand before God to answer for his or her sins. He declares that God will hold every human accountable for every thought, word and deed. A passerby listens politely to the preacher. This passerby is shocked to hear the preacher use words like sin, hell, repentance and judgment.

After the sermon the preacher approaches this passerby to personally challenge him to repent of his sins and trust in Christ as his only hope for salvation. It is here that the preacher’s arguments and exhortations are not met with outright rejection. Rather they are met with something much more difficult to refute. Postmodernism.

Postmodernism says that no one is wrong. We just have a “different truth.” What’s true for one person isn’t necessarily true for another. It all sounds very polite. I can reject what you are saying without having to call you wrong! Convenient, huh? The postmodern person says to the Christian, “If that understanding of spirituality works for you then it’s true for you. However, it’s not my truth. My God doesn’t work like that.” This makes the postmodern person feel like they are taking the high ground. They can kindly reject the preacher’s words without calling anyone wrong. After all, we’re all just on a quest for the truth that works for us.

Here’s the problem with postmodernism. The postmodernists won’t (and can’t) embrace their ideology across the board. They must abandon it. Eventually they have to admit that all truth is not relative. There is a truth that will one day affect us all. God’s righteous judgment is that truth.

Let’s compare the street preacher’s challenge to repent with something that seems completely different. Weather forecasts.

Much of our lives are spend indoors. In my line of work, I ply my trade indoors. In my air conditioned home and car I’m able to set the thermostat to the temperature of my own liking. As such, I seldom pay much attention to the weather forecast. Whether it (the weather) is hot or cold, I’m typically only affected by it during my walk from a building to a car. I’ve never farmed. I don’t camp, hike or jog. So, my indoor world is designed around my comfort and desires. When I want it warmer or cooler, I just turn the dial to my exact liking.

There are however a few times each year when my attention is focused on weather forecasts. When extreme weather such as tornadoes, floods, ice storms, or hurricanes are looming my attention is invariably pulled to the weather. In those instances I’m compelled to care by the chance that what’s happening outdoors might interrupt my comfortable indoor life. In fact, I must respond to the forecaster’s warning. The stakes are too high for me to ignore. If the weatherman is right and I ignore his warning I will perish. We’ve all seen the fate of those who didn’t heed the warnings to flee from the path of the approaching storms.


What if those in the storm’s path give the weatherman a postmodern response? What if they say, “That’s not my truth. What’s true for you isn’t necessarily true for me.” Will that sincerely held belief keep them from drowning? Freezing to death? Will that belief keep them from being blown away by gale force winds?

Postmodernists, when pressed, can get pretty indignant. Warn a postmodern that failure to repent of his sins will result in his damnation and he’ll likely get angry. He’ll probably counter with this response. “You can believe whatever you want. But, to try and use fear and intimidation to frighten people into your religious view is reprehensible. You should be ashamed of yourself!”

Isn’t that what a good weatherman does? A good weatherman uses fear to get us to act. We’d never accuse the weatherman of using strong-arm tactics to instill fear in us. We know that’s his job. Should he be ashamed of himself?

Much of our lives are spent in a world of our spiritual design. We believe that we can determine our spiritual destiny’s reality by adjusting our mind to a spiritual world of our own comfort. If we want a soft and cuddly God who is all accepting, that’s cool. If we want a wrath filled God, that’s cool too. We believe that we can set our thoughts on that God for ourselves. We can just define our own “truth.”

However, just as extreme weather forces us to turn our attention on weather and meteorology. Extreme life situations force us to turn our attention on religion and theology. Just as the fear that extreme weather could impact my man made indoor world (like blowing it away or flooding it)- extreme life situations often push us to examine the chance that our self-made view of God could get impacted by the real God.

Extreme weather shakes us and says, “You aren’t in control. Pay attention. Are you sure that you’ll survive? Take cover! Respond or perish.”

Extreme life situations shake us spiritually as well. They remind us, “There is a day coming when you’ll die. Are you prepared? You aren’t in control. Will you make it?”

A parent dies.

The doctor tells you that you’ve got cancer.

A car accident claims the life of your teenage son or daughter.

Both the street preacher and the weatherman are making a forecast of what will happen. We’d never give the weatherman a postmodern response. We’d never claim that the weatherman’s forecast is “his truth” and doesn’t apply to us. When we think about doing that we immediately see the folly of postmodernism.

Truth is truth. Truth is universal. It applies to all.

A man once said to a famous Christian apologist, “There is no absolute truth.”

The apologist replied, “Is that true?”

“Yes, it is” the man replied.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely!” the man replied.

Postmodernism is a foolish school of thought that easily crumbles under the simplest of questions.