Authority on Trial

As I look back over the past five decades, I have tragically witnessed the gradual death of authority.  I believe this sad phenomenon continues to tear away the fabric of our culture, leading to the shredding of absolutes – those principles that God regards as non-negotiable if we are to live happy, healthy and whole lives.  Like ancient Israel, America has largely embraced relativism, which reduces right and wrong to the whims of the individual, and in the end brings internal rot and destruction.  The Bible describes this plight in Judges 21:25:  “In those days, everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”

The so-called “free love” movement and the corresponding sexual revolution of the 1960’s have reaped a whirlwind of moral decay.  Rampant pornography, abortion on demand, increased deviant sexual behavior, the breakdown of marriage and the family and a host of other moral dilemmas have led to a nation rejecting its Biblical foundation.  “Free love” it seems has turned out to be quite costly.

Obviously, this venue does not allow me to comprehensively discuss national events over the past 50 years; however, I’d like to recount seven events that impacted and shaped my worldview.  All of them illustrate a nation’s continued disdain toward authority.

Whether I realized it at the time or not, forces were at work to undermine my future and the future of my children and my children’s children.  These particular events smacked of a national anti-authority sentiment. 

It was September 1962, the start of a new school year.  I was in first grade.  My teacher, who regularly began each school day reciting the “Lord’s Prayer” and/or the Pledge of Allegiance, announced that the Supreme Court had banned prayer in public schools.  I wondered, “What is the Supreme Court?”  And what happened to the “Ten Commandments” plaque that used to hang on the classroom wall? 

In November 1963, our principal’s voice came over the loud speaker just as school was dismissing.  “President John F. Kennedy has been assassinated in Dallas, Texas.”  For five days a nation in mourning sat glued to televisions viewing the funeral saga of its fallen leader.  Where were you when the news came?

Five years later on April 4, 1968, Civil Rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was murdered while standing on a motel balcony in Memphis, Tennessee.  Two months later we collectively mourned again as presidential hopeful Robert Kennedy was slain while on the campaign trail in California. 

The nation got a two-year reprieve until May 1970.  Four Kent State University students were shot by National Guardsmen.  This nationally televised riot, with few exceptions, halted a decade of campus unrest. 

Gerald Ford, who completed Richard Nixon’s term in office, escaped two assassination attempts during September 1975.  In 1981 recently elected President Ronald Reagan, was shot by a would-be assassin.  What happened to our values and respect for authority?

Since then we have watched in terror as our schools, nightclubs, theaters and cinemas and even our churches have become targets for mass shootings.  The “once gradual death of authority” has accelerated!  These solemn historical reminders continue to illustrate man’s disdain toward authority in general.  Again, these are only those events that for whatever reason seized my attention.  There have been countless other national incidences that illustrate our growing anti-authority mindsets.

The Scriptures provide other examples of anti-authority sentiments.   One such example is recorded in Genesis 9.  This chapter recounts a domestic incident that resulted in curses upon a rebellious son, a son who despised his father’s authority.  Ham’s public ridicule and exposure of Noah’s drunkenness demonstrates that the flood did not wash away man’s pride and rebellion toward authority.  Only the blood of the future perfect sacrifice – Jesus – would heal the curse of sin.

In this often-misunderstood account, the Bible does not condone drunkenness but rather condemns Ham’s rebellious attitude toward his father.  Yes, Noah was wrong for getting drunk; however, a higher principle comes into play here.

The other sons, Shem and Japheth, despite their father’s indiscretion, still revered his position as their father and honored his authority.  With blanket in hand, they walked backwards into the tent to cover their father’s nakedness and shame.  What’s the point?  If you can’t honor the personality, honor the position.  Curses result when we come against God’s delegated authority.  We open the door to God’s sowing and reaping principle when we come again those in authority over us.  Ask Ham!  “Cursed be Ham, the lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers” (verse 25). 

I remember raising my voice to my father when heading into my adolescent years.  Dad immediately took action and brought tough correction.  Afterwards, he asked if I had anything else to say.  I declined comment!  Thank God for a father who taught me to love and respect authority.  His teaching has spared me a lot of trouble in my life!

      

The $23 Miracle

Raising seven children in the 1960’s I’m sure was no easy task.  My parents were hard workers and wonderful providers.  Not only did they both work full-time jobs, after they got home they either worked in the garden or dad took on outside carpentry jobs. 

Dad planted unusually large gardens, and in September mom canned vegetables in our large kitchen.  Their labors provided us with vegetables during cold weather and course helped reduce groceries bills. 

On many occasions mom canned well into the early morning hours.  I remember drifting off to sleep listening to the sounds of lids popping!  My siblings and I would later line our basement shelves with green beans, corn, tomatoes, okra, beets, potatoes, and other yummy winter delights. 

In late summer dad would load his pick-up truck with garden produce and head for the Farmer’s Market in Youngstown.  Proceeds from these trips went toward buying school clothes and supplies.  Dad also raised a hog or two or a cow to slaughter in the fall.  By the end of October we were ready for winter in the “snow belt.”  I realize I sound like Laura Ingalls Wilder’s 21^st century counterpart, but it’s true!     

You can imagine that money was tight in our home, and I tried not to place additional financial burdens on my parents, except for one day in July 1970.  My pastor’s wife had approached me with the idea of going to youth camp in Big Prairie, Ohio.  She sensed that God was working in my heart and encouraged me to do everything I could to attend. 

Because I had no way of earning money, this meant asking my dad for the necessary registration and camp fee.  Timidity almost overwhelmed me, but something (Someone!) strongly stirred me to approach dad for the money.  It’s not that I was afraid of him, but I knew that money for “extras” was in short supply.  Besides, I had to consider my brothers and sisters.  Understand, $23.00 represented quite a sacrifice in a family of nine. 

In retrospect, I realize the Holy Spirit honored my hungry, searching heart and gave me the fortitude to ask my dad for the necessary amount.  Mom and dad were sitting at the kitchen table, relaxing after a hard day’s work.  I approached them with my voice quivering and said, “Dad, I’d love to go to camp in a few weeks. Could I have $23.00?”  I believe the Holy Spirit touched his heart at that precise moment and without hesitation dad said, “Yeah, I don’t see why not.”  Subsequently, he placed his hand on my head as if to say, “It’s alright!”  That quick touch said, “We love you.”  Mom immediately wrote the check.

Since that day I have referred to this incident as my “Twenty-three dollar miracle.”  First, I knew my parents sacrificed greatly to send me to camp.  Second, on August 4, 1970 I responded to an invitation to accept Jesus Christ as my personal Savior and simultaneously was called to preach!  Dad’s $23.00 investment yielded a minister of the Gospel!

To this day, as finances allow, I love helping young people go to camp.  I wish to payback what God so miraculously made possible in my life. 

God's Wonderful Track Record

I admit it.  I tend to worry, especially when it comes to money, and more specifically, retirement.  The other day I heard something about Social Security that further threatened my peace.  I heard a colleague say, “There will be no Social Security left when we need it” (Not sure where she got her facts).  Immediately, fear grabbed my heart, as I allowed the enemy to weave his lies into the fabric of my future.  Then something wonderful and supernatural happened.  I heard the Lord say, “I’ve been faithful to you over the years and I will continue to be faithful.  Trust Me!” Peace from above calmed my heart. 

My mind raced back to my senior year at Jefferson Area High School.  Graduation was coming and I had no idea how I was going to finance my college education.  By faith I applied to attend Evangel University in Springfield, Missouri and was accepted.

In April 1974, I learned that a foundation in Conneaut, Ohio was offering scholarships to qualified applicants.  Upon inquiry I discovered that I met the necessary preliminary requirements, so I applied to the George J. Record School Foundation for assistance.  And guess what?  Their mission statement lined up with my need!

It said, “In accordance with its mission, the foundation makes grants to very good students from Ashtabula County, Ohio, attending private, non-state supported, accredited colleges or universities affiliated with a religion of a Protestant denomination.  Grants are confined to residents of Ashtabula County, Ohio.”

God matched my need to their requirements!  Four years later I graduated from EU with only a $3,000 student loan balance!  God proved Himself faithful.

Over the years God has continued to prove Himself faithful in our finances.  We raised four children and when I look back I ask myself, “How did we do it?”  The answer:  God’s continued faithfulness.  I can recount story after story when the Lord helped us with financial issues.  I remember what the late radio evangelist C.M. Ward said about God’s faithfulness: “God will always meet our needs, but sometimes He’ll scare us!”  Been there, experienced that!

Now at 62, I find that television and radio advertisements about retirement income tend to place fearful thoughts in the minds of baby boomers.  I refuse to allow Wall Street, my 401k or the Social Security Administration to dictate my faith.  I choose to put my faith in Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord Who provides.  If these advertisements are correct, most Americans do not have enough money for their retirement years.  And if we choose to dwell on current savings ratios, we end up fearing the future. 

Yes, save your money.  Yes, do what you can in your youth and wage earning years to prepare for your financial future.  But when it comes down to it, life is uncertain and unpredictable.  We need the Lord to be our financial advisor!  He is our Provider. 

God used the George J. Record Foundation in my youth to unexpectedly meet my need for college tuition.  And this same God of my upcoming retirement years will continue to meet my needs “according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).  He has a wonderful track record.  His faithfulness is unsurpassed!

Who's Right?

We in church circles have probably heard the following story and self-righteously snickered:  “A man went to heaven and Saint Peter was giving him the initial tour.  ‘Over there we have the Baptists and there the Methodists.  Across the way we have the Lutherans.  But now you must be quiet because coming up on the right are the ______ (you may fill in the blank) because they think they’re the only ones here!’”

This joke is both funny and sad because there are people in various Christian circles who really believe they’re the only ones going to heaven.  Perhaps you know some!

Let me ask you something.  Can you believe something that’s not entirely accurate and still go to heaven?  As a young Christ follower I would have said, “Absolutely not!”  Now, after following Jesus for almost 50 years, I realize that I have spent those years exchanging perceived truth for God’s truth.  I have in fact embraced partial truth for God’s truth.  And that’s what we call “growing in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.” 

As a hospice chaplain I meet all kinds of people and I encounter all kinds of belief systems.  Some of what I hear greatly repels me and I adamantly try to line up perceived truth to God’s Word.  If the two conflict, I throw the falsehood away!  However, I’ve come to understand that none of us have all the answers and we all “see through a glass darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:12).

Therefore, many (including me) will one day go to heaven perhaps believing some things that aren’t completely true or that do not entirely line up with God’s Word.  For example, many will go to heaven with a statue of Mary in their front yard.  Some will go to heaven with cigarette breath.  Some will go to heaven believing they had to speak in tongues to get there.  Others will arrive having exchanged Trinity teaching for “Oneness Theology.”  Still, others believe you have to be baptized in water to make heaven your eventual home. There remains no shortage of aberrant teaching and/or wrong thinking.

HOWEVER, no one will get there without Jesus Christ!  This understanding is non-negotiable.  I talk with many wonderful people who believe doctrines I disdain, but who underneath it all have fallen in love with Jesus, recognized Him to be the only begotten Son of God, who have placed their faith and trust in Him for the forgiveness of their sin and who trust Him for their salvation.

I know that many will disagree, but I think we all agree that Jesus is God’s spotless Lamb, whose shed blood enables us to experience personal salvation. According to Ephesians 1:7 we have “forgiveness through the blood.”  All of us, I suppose, believe things that probably aren’t “God’s truth,” but if we leave earth with Christ in our heart and His love in our soul, we will make heaven our home.

As a minister of the gospel, I have to leave the “non-essential stuff” up to the Lord.  Dogmatic and harsh approaches toward people who don’t believe like we do only tend to drive wedges and spawn judgmental attitudes. 

So, who’s right?  This remains a loaded question.  But let me tell you one thing:  Christ followers who lack wisdom, who glory in making their position known at the expense of church division and who exhibit little or no love – only mean-spirited approaches – and who become self-righteous in their approach to others ONLY HINDER THE FURTHERANCE OF THE GOSPEL.  Always be part of the solution, and let God handle the many idiosyncrasies we discover in day to day living.