The Oxford Languages dictionary says that relativism is, “the doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and are not absolute.”

Sadly, Christians may need to update that definition. We would have to put it like this: “the doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to whatever God has told me, and are not absolute.” In the name of God, many Christian leaders are disputing established facts. And as a consequence, we are subjected to ridicule.

For instance, writing in The Atlantic, journalist Tim Alberta discusses the state of American evangelicalism by reporting on his divergent experiences at two churches in Michigan. One of them is called FloodGate; at the church, he interviews Tony DeFelice, who’s started to regularly attend it. Here’s his reporting:

With the country on the brink of defeat at the hands of secularists and liberals, Tony no longer distinguishes between the political and the spiritual. An attack on Donald Trump is an attack on Christians. He believes the 2020 election was stolen as part of a “demonic” plot against Christian America. And he’s confident that righteousness will prevail: States are going to begin decertifying the results of the last election, he says, and Trump will be returned to office.

“The truth is coming out,” Tony told me.

When I pressed him on these beliefs—offering evidence that Joe Biden won legitimately, and probing for the source of his conviction—Tony did not budge. He is just as convinced that Trump won the 2020 election, he said, as he is that Jesus rose from the dead 2,000 years ago.

When Christians — of whatever political party — assert that false things are true with the same conviction as their belief in the resurrection of Jesus, we’ve lost the plot. And our credibility. When we get our facts wrong in the name of Jesus, it escalates the issue. Now it’s not just your personal credibility that’s on the line. You’re bringing God’s name into the conversation.

And obviously, saying “the Holy Spirit told me so” doesn’t make it true. Actually, it might just mean we’re Christian relativists. We’ve given ourselves license to stop caring about the facts because “God” has shown us something completely different.

To be clear, my critique is not limited to Trump supporters. In a 2019 interview, Hillary Clinton was asked about the 2016 election. She said, “No, it doesn’t kill me because he [Trump] knows he’s an illegitimate president.” Former President Jimmy Carter had the same opinion: “Carter said that in his view Trump lost the 2016 election and was put in office by the Russians. Asked if he considered Trump to be illegitimate, Carter said, “Based on what I just said, which I can’t retract.” Clinton and Carter have no excuse; as a former Senator and a former President, respectively, they should maintain a higher standard.

Still, this isn’t an isolated event, but a larger trend. Last year, Julie Duin wrote a long-form article for Politico that surveyed many ‘prophets’ who claimed to know that Donald Trump would win the 2020 election. She notes,

In a 2020 book, James Beverley, a research professor at Tyndale University in Toronto, tracked more than 500 prophecies about Trump by more than 100 prophets over a 15-year period, and found a low batting average for accuracy. “My research,” Beverley told me, “shows that the prophecies are usually vague, sometimes totally wrong, and, with rare exception, have failed to be properly critical of Trump.”

This is Holy Spirit relativism. Claiming God’s name and God’s authority to say what just isn’t true.

For instance, let’s say your name is Tom (I’m not sure how to personalize this). If I go around on social media saying, “Tom told me that crypto is the best investment of 2022, he says you should buy now!” wouldn’t you be a bit upset? Especially if you and I had never talked about bitcoin? At some point, you might send me a cease-and-desist letter.

If it’s wrong to falsely credit another human being for saying something they never said, how much more so when we are claiming to speak for God?

I know it’s a contentious topic. In advance, I appreciate you giving me a hearing.