It's Time To Think . . .

Courier-Times Article for June 6th, 2009

It's time to think . . .

Earlier this year, a prominent U.S. politician said , "Our moral authority is derived from the fact that generations of our citizens have fought and bled to uphold these values, [life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness], in our nations and others. And that's why we can never sacrifice them for expedience's sake."

The statement sounds thoughtful and profound, but is it? It sounds like a truth that spans generations, but is it?

As Americans, we've gotten lazy. We don't like to think much. Just go with the flow; live and let live; my truth may not be your truth. Unfortunately, in many cases, the church has stopped thinking as well.

We used to be called people of the WORD, but now we spend much of our time debating whether that word is TRUE. Should churches ordain homosexuals or bless homosexual unions? After all, THOSE parts of the bible might not be true. Should we be more concerned about babies who were aborted or those chained by poverty? Let's pick one and ignore the other . . . That's the content of many of our discussions.

The Word of God is the Law that governed the Israelites, and the foundation that birthed the church. At some point, many in the church have become untethered from the Word of God and have now turned around and questioned its veracity. This behavior would have utterly confounded the Christ-followers in Berea.

Dr. Luke records that the believers in Berea, after listening to the preaching of Paul, examined the Scriptures every day to determine that what Paul said was true. To the Breans, scripture was the source of truth, the measuring stick to determine whether the greatest preacher of their time was speaking truth. Moral authority was found in holy scripture, not in the sacrifice of fellow citizens.

The Bible speaks very clearly about the sanctity of life; about our responsibility to the poor, the orphaned and the widow; about God's view of homosexual behavior. The church needs to rediscover the authority found in the Word of God and stand on it. However, that kind of stance could become something more than politically incorrect, it could become illegal.

The U.S. Senate is considering a Hate Crimes Bill (S.909) which could be used to prosecute ministers for declaring God's truth on homosexuality. Will the church "search the scriptures" to find the truth, or will we poll the people to find out what is acceptable?

If we fail to think through all of these issues, and instead follow "thoughtful and profound words" blindly, we will end up in places we never thought we would be. After all, if our moral authority lies in the sacrifices made by our fellow citizens, then both the Palestinians and the Israelis have moral authority. The Nazis and the Japanese had moral authority during World War II, just like the Allied Forces. If shedding blood is the only prerequisite for establishing moral authority then gangs like the Bloods, the Crips, the Mafioso, the MS-13, and the Yakuza each have the same moral authority as the fighting men and women of the U.S. military.

Moral authority can only be found in the author of morality. It's time to learn from the Christ-followers in Berea. It's time to search the Word of God for timeless and time tested truth. It's time to think. Don't ya' think?


Thanks for reading!