“For another foundation cannot be laid alongside the one being laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11).
Pragmatism, which comes from the Greek pragma, meaning a thing done, is the doctrine, if you can call it that, of the utility of truth; it denies absolutes and rejects the concept of transcendence, with everything being negotiable and changeable; there is no absolute truth or absolute goodness; all is relative.
An example is that of the Uniting Church’s Act of Union, adopted in 1977, in which the foundation principle is that “the Bible contains the word of God”. It is not the Word of God, but contains the word of God. So whatever you think in the Bible is the word of God is the Word of God and whatever you think in the Bible is not the word of God, is not! It’s up to you; you are the judge of God, rather than God of you.
Pragmatic Christianity uses the yardstick of success as the only measure of what is true and good; if a church prospers in membership and material benefit then, clearly, it must be true and good. The spectacular drama of successful activities and growing numbers leaves the beholder breathless; these are things you can see; who cares about moral strength or the presence of the Holy One? We only look for God in the extraordinary and spectacular, but if we can’t see Him in the ordinary and everyday, then He isn’t part of what is happening.
The overriding issue today is whether or not it works; if it works it is good and true, if it doesn’t it is not. Sadly, this focus on present success, which contaminates our churches, is tragically shortsighted and ignores the long view, which is that of God.
Many false foundations have been laid in recent years made up of wood, hay and stubble; these eventually will be burned up, along with their builders!
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