A DANGEROUS PHILOSOPHY: SUCCESS IS EVERYTHING

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness” (ROMANS 1:18)

The philosophy of pragmatism—basically, the doctrine of the utility of truth, is having a powerful influence upon Christianity in the latter half of the twentieth century.

 

For the pragmatist there are no absolutes, nothing is absolutely good or absolutely true. Truth and morality float on a sea of human experience.

 

For the pragmatist, truth is to use. Whatever is useful is true for the user, though for someone else it may not be useful, so not true. The truth of any idea is its ability to produce desirable results. If it can show no such results, it is false. This is pragmatism stripped of its jargon!

 

We live in a day when no one wants to argue with success. It is useless to plead for the human soul, to insist that what a man can do is less important than what he is!

 

The spectacular drama of successful deeds leaves the beholder breathless deeds you can see. So who cares about ideals and character and morals? These things are for poets, nice old ladies and philosophers — “let’s get on with the job!”

 

The weakness of all this in the church is its tragic shortsightedness. It never takes the long view of religious activity but goes cheerfully on believing that “because it works it is both good and true.” It is satisfied with present success and shakes off any suggestion that its works may go up in smoke in the day of Christ!

W. Tozer