The Spring ’26 Witness magazine has dropped!
I can’t remember the first time I heard the phrase, “you do you,” but I know that when I did, it didn’t strike me as dangerous. It felt light and fun. But it wasn’t long before I realized that this little pithy phrase was highlighting a core belief prevalent in today’s culture: relativism—the belief that truth is not absolute but determined by individual preference, cultural norms or personal experience. Suddenly, truth is no longer something to collectively fight for. You have your truth and I’ll have mine.
In saying “you do you,” we may be subtly signaling, “I am disengaging from your morals,” and perhaps even, “I’m disengaging from you relationally.” You stay on your side and I’ll stay on mine. Without shared, absolute truth to bind us together, or even the hope of finding it, community becomes fragile. Many of us drift toward apathy and, eventually, loneliness. Recent research indicates that apathy and disconnection are on the rise, and this way of talking may only reinforce it. An AP News article reported that Americans are socially disconnected at historic levels, and “about one in six adults feels lonely all or most of the time.”1
We are more disconnected, more isolated and less invested in one another’s lives than previous generations. And in that social vacuum, we fill our time with information fed to us by algorithms instead of embodied souls.
Thankfully, mercifully, as Christians we know the Author of truth. We confess that there is one ultimate truth, and that God has revealed it through his written Word. In this issue, John Tate’s article, “Formed by What We Follow,” calls us to flood our minds with God’s Word so that it shapes how we think and relate. Likewise, Jack Mumford’s piece helps us identify where relativism may have crept into our thinking so that we can actively resist it.
As Christians, we are not called to flippancy or apathy. When someone close to us embraces unorthodox views or walks in sin, we are called to notice and to care enough to pray and gently pursue them. When you’re tempted to see “you do you” as loving, remember that the most loving thing you can offer is your time and attention and then, hopefully, the gospel.
