Authority is the ultimate issue in life. Who makes the rules? When Adam and Eve sinned they ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. In other words, they decided to make their own rules.
Ever since, we have been eating from the same Tree. We have been making our own rules, especially about sexual morality. In the words of Dr. Peter Jones, “We really are now in the presence of a massive rejection of authority in general. There is no authority…Seventy-some percent of Americans no longer believe that there is any absolute truth. Even amongst evangelicals, forty percent no longer believe that there is any kind of ultimate truth. We really are in the presence of a massive change in the way people view authority.”[1]
This rejection radically impacts every aspect of modern life. Who speaks with authority? Who sets the rules? That is the ultimate question, for whoever makes the rules is really our functional god. Are men and women the same or are we different? Do men and women have different roles in marriage? Should parents spank their children? Is homosexuality right or wrong? Is the life of the unborn child sacred? Is mercy killing for the terminally ill acceptable? Is man autonomous, or is he utterly dependent? Are we predestined to salvation? Does God really react to sin with wrath? Is there only one way to God the Father? Was Jesus death a substitution or merely a good example?
The questions are endless. How we answer them are ultimately a matter of authority. Who sets the rules…self, the pressures of our culture, or the living God revealed in the pages of scripture? Everything depends upon how we settle the issue of authority.
What do you think?
[1] From a talk by Dr. Peter Jones May 1998, Grace Valley Christian Center www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~gvcc/sermon_trans/ Special_Speakers/Pagan_Revival_in_Christian_America.html
Saw Dr. Jones speak last week. Sharp guy.I think that the problem of sin goes deeper than what we do – it really goes to what we believe. We reject the gift of God's reality and instead perceive what we choose to perceive. Once we have this 'talent' mastered, we can justify whatever we choose to justify. Moral relativism isn't a new idea, but it is really the core of what sin is.Thankfully God's reality is real, and our facade is not, and periodically we will always be reminded of that. Lies lead to destruction. We hit rock bottom weather we want believe it to be there or not.