I’m actually very surprised to hear that most Christians subscribe to some form of moral subjectivism; I’ve never heard that before. It’s even more surprising since it has always seemed to me that objective morality is inherent to Christianity and that most would accept that.
In the early days of Christianity, pre Constantine, many ascribed to objective morality... but as Christianity became powerful, rather than a persecuted minority, this changed.
For example, God tells us not to lie, I think this is pretty commonly understood by most Christians as an example of objective morality. Paul tells us in Romans 3 that we are not to do evil so a little good may come. Thus, it stands to reason, that even if we have the best of intentions, we should not lie, that is if we are to operate under objective morality.
Which then brings my back to Campus Crusade in a few areas. I focus on this, because you may see some parallels in your campus ministry experiences. Hopefully this is not the case, but this sort of stuff does happen pretty frequently. Folks are very well meaning, and enthusiastic to share the Gospel. This is a wonderful thing... but without someone around to throw a wrench in the works, it can and often does go off track. There are many other examples of where subjective vs objective morality plays out, some vary glaring, but the post would become a bigger TLDR than it already is Lol
First, they had a witnessing program which started out as God having a wonderful plan for your life... which when the rubber hits the road, and you are martyred for your faith, or when you find out that following Jesus means you will experience trouble, a whole ton more trouble than had you not followed him, it doesn't ring very true. And yet at the same time, walking with Jesus is a wonderful thing... but what would happen, is folks would buy into Christianity with the wonderful plan thing, and then when they'd hit adversity, they'd get hung out to dry, and many would walk away. I argued it was best to be truthful in all areas... they did not like this at all as it would negatively impact their numbers, it would take a much longer period of time, and without numbers they wouldn't get their funding.
Secondly, many felt that getting folks to say the sinners prayer was the most important thing in the world, and it didn't matter what you to get someone there. Lieing was fine, and even advocated, as long as someone would pray. Manipulation was also fine, some were even trying to train others as to how to manipulate the down trodden into praying the sinners prayer. The problem of course, is that once folks see that they were lied to, or manipulated, they get very angry, and often will view Christianity as a con game... which then makes further witnessing, much less discipling exceedingly difficult if its even possible.
Thirdly, they were trying to discourage premarital sex, and sold a bill of goods, that if you did everything right and waited, your marriage would be perfect. That's a huge bill of goods, and while it does work for some, it doesn't for many... which brought about tons of sexual sin in marriage and divorce, and a general view that Christianity is a con game when said teaching crashed and burned. One can easily preach abstinence without having to lie, after all the scriptures themselves can be used... but when you want to drive something home quickly and with great gusto, a few white lies are ok, and then more, and then why not sell an entire bill of goods.
And while one could dismiss some of the above as a consequence of overly enthusiastic young folks without a lot of experience, similar issues play out across all age ranges. I've worked for a lot of ministries over the years, and have gotten caught up in the this sort of thing myself. it starts out small so you don't even notice, and then it builds, and builds, and builds, and sooner or later, you realize how far away from the words of Jesus you've gotten. Hopefully before everything comes crashing down with folks getting hurt, you can make a course change, but this is not always possible.
I was unfamiliar with consequentialism when I read your reply. I did a little research, and it seems to be somewhat of a karmic idea, does it not?
Karmic ideas are part of it, but the most common scenario is the ends justifying the means... thus if we want to get folks saved, we do whatever we can, lie, cheat, steal, etc to make it happen. And while Paul rejoiced at folks preaching the Gospel for ill means, as the Gospel still got preached, it doesn't mean that we have license to do so... that is if we ascribe to objective vs subjective morality.
Also, should I keep having these sorts of conversations with this friend of mine (naturally, as they come up, that is)? Or will this likely not be effective in their conversion?
It really depends upon the person...
I think I've met 2 people over the decades who have come to Jesus in such a fashion, and no, I was not involved, I met them after they had both become Christian. Knowing them after the fact, and talking about this, philosophy was likely one of the only ways they came to Jesus.
Otoh, I've met thousands who have come to Christ, as someone showed them Jesus by how they lived, by being willing to share their faith with them in both action, and in the scriptures, over a long period of time. For many of these folks, philosophy would have been more of a distraction than a help.
