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How To Read The Old Testament

When You Obey, God Blesses

SYNOPSIS: What the Bible describes does not mean it excuses. Sometimes scripture is simply painting a sad picture for us of what happens when God is marginalized in our thoughts, feelings and actions. Bad behavior is never justified; rather, it is pictured for us as a warning sign of what life will be like when we put our needs, wants and interests ahead of God’s purposes and plans.

The Journey// Focus: Judges 21:4-5, 25

Early the next morning the people built an altar and presented their burnt offerings and peace offerings on it. Then they said, “Who among the tribes of Israel did not join us at Mizpah when we held our assembly in the presence of the Lord?” At that time they had taken a solemn oath in the Lord’s presence, vowing that anyone who refused to come would be put to death….In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.

Let me get this straight: Israel has just basically wiped out one of their own tribes (Judges 20); they then vow to never allow their daughters to marry any of the remnant of that tribe, Benjamin (Judges 21:1); they feel really bad about it (Judges 21:2-3,6); they call a sacred assembly to offer sacrifices before the Lord (Judges 4); and then they make another vow to kill anyone who doesn’t show up to this worship service (Judges 21:5). Now there’s a great way to increase church attendance!

What a mess! Then they discover that the people from Jabesh-gilead had not attended church that day, so they ordered their execution: “So the assembly sent 12,000 of their best warriors to Jabesh-gilead with orders to kill everyone there, including women and children.” (Judges 21:10) But wait, someone then comes up with the idea that if they spare the unmarried woman of that city, they can then force them to become the wives of the left-over Benjamite men, making it possible for that tribe to repopulate so Isreal won’t lose one of its tribes after all, and technically, they will not have violated their vow not to let their daughters marry anyone from Benjamin. Wait, what? .

Problem was, there were only 400 of these girls from Jabesh-gilead, and there were gobs of guys from Benjamin needing wives. So someone comes up with the idea that sanctions kidnapping brides from Bethel for the rest of the Benjamite men who didn’t get a bride from Jabesh-gilead as the Bethel girls are leaving one of their annual festivals. (Judges 21:19-22) Wait, what?

Then everyone went home and lived happily ever after—not! Why not? Because as the last verse of Judges observes, “In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” (Judges 21:25) They had no controlling moral authority to keep them between the lines of civility with their neighbor and righteousness before God, so they kept on coming up with social solutions—assuming they were being guided by God—that only made their national mess bigger and bigger.

Now as you read this chapter, and plenty of other chapters like it in the Old Testament, you, too, can assume that since it was recorded, and you find no condemnation of what is recorded, that God must have approved of what they are doing. But notice in Israel’s crazy plan to get brides for Benjamin that there is no use of the phrase, “the Lord commanded.”

God didn’t tell the nation to annihilate their fellow tribe. God didn’t order them to make a rash vow. God didn’t instruct them to kill off the city of Jabesh-gilead for not showing up to church. God didn’t show them how to devise a dumb plan to kidnap child-brides for the Benjamites. God wasn’t talking in this chapter. They had pushed God to the margins, then blamed him for whatever they did next.

So what does this have to do with how you read the Old Testament? Simply this, what the Bible describes does not mean it excuses. The writer is simply painting a sad picture for us of what happens when God is marginalized. Moreover, rather than justifying unrighteous behavior, these kinds of stories are to stand as warning signs to us when we put our needs, wants and interests ahead of God’s purposes and plans.

Without God at the center and circumference of our thoughts, feelings and actions, life will ultimately stink! With him at the core of everything we do, we have his eternal promise to bless us with success, prosperity and his smile. (Joshua 1:8)

Never forget: when you obey God blesses! When you don’t—well, just re-read Judges.

Going Deeper: Justification of thoughts, feelings and actions without consideration for God is a dangerous thing. Is there an area where you might be guilty of that? If so, repent—ASAP!

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Selective Outrage – And What It Says About Us

Live By God's Unchanging Truth

Moral outrage that is not based in any kind of higher, propositional and immutable moral truth might be real, but it is wrong. It is selective, inconsistent and hypocritical—and ultimately dangerous. That is why God calls us to live by his unchanging truth.

The Journey// Focus: Judges 20:5-7

The Levite, the husband of the woman who had been murdered, said, “My concubine and I came to spend the night in Gibeah, a town that belongs to the people of Benjamin. That night some of the leading citizens of Gibeah surrounded the house, planning to kill me, and they raped my concubine until she was dead. So I cut her body into twelve pieces and sent the pieces throughout the territory assigned to Israel, for these men have committed a terrible and shameful crime. Now then, all of you—the entire community of Israel—must decide here and now what should be done about this!”

If you have been following this story from Judges 19, you have to question the outrage of this Levite. It seems a bit manufactured. After all, he is the one who pushed his wife out the door and into the waiting arms of the sexual perverts of Gibeah, who brutalized her throughout the night until she died. He cowardly offered her up to save his own skin, showing no concern for her safety, much less her dignity as a precious human being. Then the next morning when he walked out the door and saw her lying there, he callously told her to get up and get moving. If you dare, read the story in Judges 19:25-29—but be warned, it will turn your stomach.

But wait, there’s more. The Levite then takes the dead body of his wife, a concubine, and cuts her into twelve pieces, sending a part to each of the twelve tribes of Israel in order to manufacture national outrage over what has been done to him. At this point, it is no surprise to us that he had considered her nothing more than property—if that. To him, she was nothing more than trash.

Why the selective outrage? Isn’t this the height of hypocrisy? Of course it is. And it is the predictable result of people following a philosophy of moral relativism. When people have no controlling moral authority to keep them between the rails of decency and civility, they will do what seems right in their own eyes—which will habitually be so wrong. Ultimately they will be anything but decent and civil. In one moment, they will do things and allow things that are beyond the pail without batting an eye. Then in the next moment, they will blow a gasket in anger at what someone has done to them. Even though they feign tolerance of what somebody else thinks is right, they become insanely intolerant when that person’s thinking becomes action that personally affects them.

The anger is selective; the wrath is manufactured. Make no mistake: it is real, but it is wrong. It is wrong in the sense that the moral outrage is not rooted in any kind of higher propositional and immutable moral truth. If truth is relative, then to be consistent, nothing can be consistently wrong. It might be wrong at this moment, but not in the next. At the end of the day, moral relativism is absurd. That is why this man’s outrage—and that of the nation—was hypocritically and fundamentally flawed. It was selective, inconsistent, and disengaged from God’s unchanging law. In a very real sense, it was worthless. And most likely, the guilt of the perverts of Gibeah that he was proclaiming was really the guilt he felt about his own immoral behavior.

That is what happens when a society thinks they can do better than God. Isn’t that what we see in our society today? We don’t mind aborting babies in the name of choice but will riot in the streets over genetically modified wheat. Crazy, huh. Not that GMO’s are right, but taking life in the name of freedom to choose what happens to your own body is akin to what Jesus described as “straining at a gnat but swallowing a camel.” (Matthew 23:24)

Ok, enough of using our relativistic culture as a punching bag—although it deserves it. What about us? Do we do the same? Do we cluck our tongues in disgust at sex trafficking but consume porn in private? Do we gripe about the breakdown of society but tolerate divorce in the church? Do we decry world hunger yet ignore the needs of the poor in our own community?

I could go on and on, but the simple answer to all of the above examples is, “yes we do!” The point I want to make is this: whenever you begin to get upset at something, check yourself for personal consistency. Is your outrage selective? Is your disgust hypocritical?

Probably! That doesn’t make you an irredeemable human being. It just reveals that you are a sinner in desperate need of God’s grace. And it means that God is calling you by the power of the Holy Spirit to walk in a manner worthy of your calling as a redeemed child of God—consistently submitted to him.

The world is now famous for manufactured outrage. Don’t be of that tribe!

Going Deeper: Wherever you are feeling anger, take a look at what God is revealing in your own life. He is calling you to repent and to consistently surrender to himself.

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Self-Control — Get A Grip

Just Say No

SYNOPSIS: In response to the salvation we received through the cross and will receive when Christ returns, God’s grace teaches us to live self-controlled lives in the present moment. What is self-control? It’s mastering our moods, impulses, and behaviors. It’s not just delayed gratification, like waiting two minutes in the fast-food drive-thru instead of one, it may mean giving something up completely to instead direct my physical desires for God’s glory and not my own gratification. It’s taking care of my body in a God-honoring way. It’s biting my tongue instead of making that sarcastic remark. It’s saying no to what I want but isn’t good for me. It’s making God’s long-range purposes for me more important than what looks and feels good right now. It’s taking dominion over my desires. And the grand prize for developing self-control now will be heaven’s reward and God’s recognition in the life to come.

Project 52—Memorize:
Titus 2:11-13

“For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope—the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.”

In response to the salvation we received through the cross and in light of the salvation we will receive when Christ returns, the Apostle Paul says that God’s grace teaches us to live self-controlled lives.

What does he mean by self-control? It means to master your moods, impulses, and behavior. It is not simply speaking of delayed gratification, which in our culture, means waiting two minutes in the fast-food drive-thru instead of one, or giving up Coke for Lent—and drinking Pepsi instead. Biblical self-control may mean giving something up completely. It is the ability to direct my physical desires to fulfill God’s purposes, instead of using them for my own personal gratification. It means taking care of my body in a way that honors God. It means biting my tongue instead of making that sarcastic remark. It means saying  “No” to something I want but isn’t good for me. It means making God’s long-range purposes for my life more important than what looks and feels good right now. It means to take dominion over my desires.

The root word for self-control meant to “take hold of something” or literally, to “get a grip.”  In whatever particular area of life we struggle, Paul would say, “Get a grip on this thing!”  Don’t let anything be out of your control; bring every area of your life under the supervision of the Holy Spirit. Paul talked about bringing his entire body under control.  He even said he would bring every thought captive. That is what God wants of us, too!

There is no area of life where we’re exempt from developing self-control. We need to blanket our lives with this fruit so that the devil can’t get a foothold and distract us from the life God desires us to live.

Now one piece of advice for cultivating self-control in that particularly resistant area of your life is simply this: Start small!

The old adage is true, “you can eat an elephant—one bite at a time!”  Don’t get overwhelmed with how far you may have to go. God is ready to give you just the right amount of grace and strength to gain mastery over that area right now.  He doesn’t give you a reservoir of grace and strength for a month or a year from now. But like the manna in the desert, he gives you the right amount for today. And tomorrow, he’ll give you the right amount for that day. Do what you can today. You don’t become a spiritual giant by praying an hour a day; you begin by praying five minutes a day. Or maybe three or two. You just begin spending time with God. So it is with any area of self-control. Just begin by identifying your area, ask God for help and then begin to take resolute action steps to gain mastery.

Now here is the good news: There is a prize for us who run the race and train our bodies and discipline our minds and partner with the Spirit to develop the fruit of self-control. It is the reward of heaven and recognition of God in the life to come. It is to have God’s final approval that will make every effort you put forth now to develop self-control, as painful and sacrificial as it may be, worth it in the end.

So go ahead and get a grip!

“Prudent, cautious self-control is wisdom’s root” ~Robert Burns

Reflect and Apply: Offer this prayer as you begin to exercise self-control over your area of resistance: “Father, today I would like to take some small steps to bring self-control to my life. By your strength, may the self-control that I exert over my flesh be pleasing to you and take me a step closer to a life full devotion to you.”

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Don’t Let Them Forget God

Believers Must Not Go Quietly Into The Night

SYNOPSIS: Let’s not let them forget God! As moral relativism increasingly influences our culture, people will do what seems right in their own eyes, but it will always be so wrong. Perhaps we can be the voice of reason by fiercely committing to and vocally defending the Bible, the only source of what is truely right, even as our culture wishes the Word of God would go away. It won’t, thank God!

The Journey // Focus: Judges 19:1

Now in those days Israel had no king…

I know, this is the same exact sentence that begins Judges 18. It is not a mistake. It is the third time in three chapters that the writer uses the same sentence to describe the moral condition of Israel during this time. And each time, the sentence is followed by a story that disturbs our sensibilities. In this case, what follows is arguably the most revolting story in the Bible. I won’t even retell it—you can read it for yourself—but it is brutal and disgusting. But pity poor me, trying to come up with an edifying devotional from it.

To unpack that phrase in more detail—in those days Israel had no king—and would refer you back to the devotional I presented for the previous chapter. Just to summarize, we are being given a picture of what life was like in Israel when they had abandoned any controlling moral authority that kept them between the lines of social civility and moral uprightness. Things got increasingly ugly.

The writer of Judges has prophetically summed up our twenty-first century world in this statement that he has used three times at this point. Then, in the very last line of his book, he adds to it: “There was no controlling moral authority to govern peoples’ lives, so everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” (Judges 21:25)

“What was right in their own eyes” reflected a philosophy of moral relativism, which is simply put, public and private life without the presence of a “controlling moral authority”. Unfortunately, both in the day of the Judges and in our day, without fail moral relativism produces personal, cultural, economic and global chaos. Alexander Solzhenitsyn presciently described it in his now famous Templeton Address, “Men Have Forgotten God”. He lamented, “Men have forgotten God; that’s why all this has happened.”

“The failings of human consciousness, deprived of its divine dimension, have been a determining factor in all the major crimes of this century…Yet we have grown used to this kind of world; we even feel at home in it.”

He was describing the atrocities that took place in Eastern Europe. He might as well have been describing Judges. And sadly, he is describing what will a happen in an American culture that, like the aforementioned cultures, embraced relativism as their philosophy of life. When we have no controlling moral authority—a God who decides what truth is, who determines how man should live and who holds him accountable for it—each of us will begin to do what seems right in our own eyes.

We will do what we think is right, but it will be so wrong!

All that to offer this reminder: you and I can perhaps be agents of change by simply and fiercely committing to a source of truth that is unchanging, the Word of God, and unapologetically calling our culture to God’s standard, even as it has forgotten God.

The prophetic drift of this fallen world is inexorably toward forgetting the Almighty Creator and Ruler of us all. Let’s not let the world forget God without a fight.

Going Deeper: Tell someone about your belief in God’s truth today. Even if they don’t believe, they need to know that you do.

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The Need For A King In Your Life

Make Sure It's God

SYNOPSIS: As he did with Israel, God wants to be our sole Lord and King. Yet he recognizes that we need a controlling moral authority in our lives with skin on. So he has ordained leaders to watch over us. No longer are they kings, but they are shepherds, pastors, spiritual leaders, mentors, and accountability partners. And the charge that God has given them is to watch over our souls as those who must give account to God someday for the way we live our lives. So who is the controlling human authority in your life representing God to you? If you can’t answer that, you’re in trouble. If you can, come under their loving leadership willingly, gratefully, and joyfully—that is God’s path for you to thrive.

The Journey // Focus: Judges 18:1

Now in those days Israel had no king…

I have selected only a portion of a verse for today’s devotional. The rest of this chapter is the same song, twenty-ninth verse of what we have seen over and over again in Judges. We have been treated to the depressing fare of what happens to a people when they have no controlling moral authority: they do what seems right in their own eyes. And that is never—never—pretty.

So rather than going into the particular details of the sad account of Judges 18, let’s just say the spiritual anarchy that we saw in Judges 17 had continued on into this chapter. In fact, chapter 18 literally continues what began in chapter 17. It is a strange mixture of idol worship openly disguised as worship of Yahweh. It is stunning how easily Israel actually thinks that their surrender to idols made by man’s hand is simply a legitimate representation of their worship of the Lord God.

Back to the opening line: we are told that Israel had no king. They would get one soon enough; Judges bridges the time gap between Moses and Joshua to the start of the inauguration of the Israelite monarchy, beginning with King Saul and carrying forth under the Davidic dynasty until the nation is sent into Babylonian exile. And while a king to control the nasty impulses of this nation seems to be the spiritual antidote to what ails them, an earthly king will be God’s concession to them. God himself wanted be their sole king; that is his ideal. Yet hopelessly flawed by sin, God would graciously send them a man who would hopefully be that controlling moral authority. But God warned them: some kings would be good and godly; others would not. And when they were not, Israel would rue the day they begged God for a king.

Now how about us? Like Israel, God wants to be our sole Lord and King, but he knows we need a controlling moral authority in our lives with skin on. So he has ordained leaders to watch over us. No longer are they kings, but they are shepherds, pastors, spiritual leaders, mentors and accountability partners. And the charge that God has given them is to watch over our souls as those who must give account to God someday for the way we live our lives. The writer of Hebrews made this appeal:

Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Think of all the good that has come from their lives, and follow the example of their faith…. Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this with joy and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit. (Hebrews 13:7,17)

Now we live at a time where we have been conditioned to bristle at the thought of submission to anyone. We question authority. We do not like the idea of being accountable to anyone who might call us out for our behavior. As a result, far too many of us live unexamined lives. But if nothing else, Judges show us the ugly truth about having no king, which is living without any controlling moral authority: we do what is right in our own eyes. And like we find in chapter after chapter in Judges, that is never a pretty picture.

I would make an appeal to you that it is God’s will for you to voluntarily and joyfully submit to a spiritual leader. Slowly, carefully, prayerfully re-read Hebrews 13:7 & 17. It is for your own good that God has ordained people to watch over your souls. So important is it that God will even hold them accountable for how well they do their job with you. It is a blessing to you that you submit to them—submit not as a doormat, which is a misreading of the biblical word; but rather to line up under their oversight, which is the true meaning of submission. If you will, believe me, you will thrive under the humble, godly, servant-hearted leadership of an anointed leader.

Israel had no king, and it was disastrous. What about you? Who is the controlling human authority in your life representing God to you? If you can’t answer that, you may be in trouble. If you can, come under their loving leadership willingly, gratefully, and joyfully.

Going Deeper: Pray for your spiritual leader today! He or she is a gift from God to you.

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Be Gentle

Let Your Gentleness Be Evident

SYNOPSIS: Two of the greatest heroes of the Bible—the greatest hero in the Old Testament, and the greatest hero in the New Testament—were noted for their gentleness. These two great men, Moses and Jesus, are the only two the Bible describes as being gentle. Yet they were anything but weak and wimpy, which is how our culture defines gentleness. They were incredibly powerful men. They changed their worlds. Jesus was no weakling; Moses was not a wimpy guy. They were strong, charismatic, winsome individuals, but their lives were guided by love, kindness, compassion, understanding, and patience—in a word, gentleness. Make sure yours is, too!

Project 52—Memorize:
Philippians 4:5

“Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.”

When was the last time you prayed, “God, make me a more gentle person”?

Just what I thought!

Back in the 1830’s, George Bethune, a Dutch Reformed pastor and hymn writer, said,“Perhaps no grace is less prayed for, or less cultivated than gentleness.  Indeed it is considered rather as belonging to natural disposition or external manners, than as a Christian Virtue; and seldom do we reflect that not to be gentle is a sin.”

Did you catch that? “Seldom do we reflect that not to be gentle is a sin.”

If that’s true, and I believe it is, then we ought to pay greater attention and give greater effort to making God’s call for gentleness the prominent character feature of our lives? Now that may not be so easy to do, since we live in a culture that venerates power and promotes aggressiveness and elevates domination as much higher virtues than gentleness—by far.  Chances are, none of your heroes, and certainly none of mine, would be noted for their gentle natures.

But let me remind you that two of the greatest heroes of the Bible—the greatest hero in the Old Testament, and the greatest hero in the New Testament—were noted for their gentleness. These two great men, Moses and Jesus, are the only two men the Bible describes as being gentle. But these two were anything but weak and wimpy, which is how our culture defines gentleness. They were incredibly powerful men. They changed their worlds. Jesus was no weakling; Moses was not a wimpy guy. They were strong, charismatic, winsome individuals, but their lives were guided by love, kindness, compassion, understanding and patience—in a word, gentleness.

Biblical gentleness has nothing to do with being weak or inferior. A. W. Tozer says,

“The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather, he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God’s estimate of his own life. He knows he is as weak and helpless as God has declared him to be, but paradoxically, he knows at the same time that he is, in the sight of God, more important than angels…He knows well that the world will never see him as God sees him and he has stopped caring.”

The secular Greeks used the word for gentleness to describe people or things that had a soothing quality about them. It was used of words that calmed a person who was agitated, bitter, angry or resentful. It also referred to an ointment that soothed the pain of a wound. It even meant to tranquilize. And it referred to a powerful leader, such as a king, who had the power and authority to harm or punish, but could be gentle and forgiving of human errors. Gentleness was power under control: It is being strong enough to be gentle.

It is gentleness, in all of these senses, that Paul says is to be evident in us for all to see. So let me suggest that your gentleness ought to be evident to the following people in your life:

  • Number one, with the people who serve you. Take time to be tender with those who meet your needs.
  • Number two, with the people who disappoint you. Be compassionate and gracious, refuse to be judgmental and harsh.
  • Number three, with the people who disagree with you. Be tender without surrender.
  • Number four, with the people who correct you. Be teachable and submissive, not stubborn and inflexible.
  • Number five, with the people who hurt you. Refuse to react. Respond with acts of love.
  • Number six, with people who don’t share your beliefs. Refuse to be critical.
  • Number seven, with the people that live under your roof and in your own home. Be the embodiment of Biblical gentleness with your own flesh and blood.

The God to whom you belong is by nature gentle. He has given you his Holy Spirit to produce the fruit or character of gentleness within you. Now the only question that remains is, will you clothe yourself with his gentleness?

“Mildness in dealing with others…it is to display a sensitive regard for others and is careful never to be unfeeling for the rights of others.”  ~Billy Graham

Reflect and Apply: Here are a few ideas for putting on gentleness: One, reflect on the gentleness of God toward you. Two, ask God to produce gentleness in your life. And three, pray for a specific person on whom you can bestow gentleness.

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Spiritual Anarchy

Is God's Word King in Your Life?

SYNOPSIS: Our culture increasingly rejects transcendent authority. That’s why people do whatever seems right in their own eyes. Even Christians have unthinkingly drifted into life without a controlling moral authority. They are more focused on what they prefer, insisting on their rights, and seeking what is best for them rather than discerning and doing God’s will! But “doing what seems right in your own eyes” never results in a good outcome. It might sound philosophically enlightened, but in the end, it is disastrous. Whenever there is no “king in Israel”—no transcendent authority—personal piety will decline, social chaos will rise, and spiritual anarchy will result. Now we could rage against the cultural forces that reject God in America, and insist that we get back to the Bible as the governing standard for our society, but perhaps the best cure for the loss of personal piety, social chaos, and spiritual anarchy in America would be for you and me to make sure that God’s Word is king in our lives.

The Journey // Focus: Judges 17:1-3

There was a man named Micah, who lived in the hill country of Ephraim. One day he said to his mother, “I heard you place a curse on the person who stole 1,100 pieces of silver from you. Well, I have the money. I was the one who took it.” His mother replied, “The Lord bless you for admitting it,” He returned the money to her, and she said, “I now dedicate these silver coins to the Lord. In honor of my son, I will have an image carved and an idol cast.” … In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.

If we were to hold a vote on the weirdest stories in the Bible, this one would be in my top ten—maybe even in my top five. You read this story and it leaves you scratching your head. A man named Micah has admitted to his mother that he stole money from her, she praises the Lord for his “honesty” in returning the loot, then turns around and celebrates by commissioning a family idol and declaring that it is in honor of her wonderful son and of the Lord.

What…wait…what? She somehow twists stealing into honoring God by carving an image and casting an idol! What in the name of sanity is going on here? Simple explanation: this is spiritual anarchy, plain and simple. Anarchy is defined as “a state of disorder due to non-recognition of authority.” That is exactly what Judges 17: 6 describes:

In those days Israel had no king, so everyone did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.

Israel had no controlling moral authority—or at least they chose not to follow a controlling moral authority. They had the law of God, which should have been their constant guide, but over time, they moved God to the margins, ignored his word, and devolved into spiritual anarchy. As a result, a lot of really weird stuff happened in a nation that God had called to be his own holy people; stuff that the people actually justified as acceptable and pleasing to God.

Twisted, right? Yet is it all that different than what we see today among people who claim to follow God? When the rate of divorce is as high among so-called Christians as it is in the secular society, you have spiritual anarchy. When you have so-called Christians celebrating lifestyles and philosophies that are clearly opposed to what they are called to in God’s Word, you have spiritual anarchy. When you have so-called Christians whose way of living is clearly rooted in this present world and not in the kingdom to come—“believers” who are addicted to money, pleasure, and power—there you have spiritual anarchy. Where you find spiritual communities who make their worship about what they prefer, who employ entertainment techniques to attract new members, who move the Holy Spirit to the edge of their services in order to employ more relevant styles, who focus more on a cool café in the lobby rather than the call to seek God at the altar, there you find an inexorable rush toward spiritual anarchy—a state of disorder due to non-recognition of authority.

In our day, too many,  believers and unbelievers alike, have set aside any controlling moral authority, so they do whatever seems right in their own eyes. The problem with that kind of personal and societal philosophy is that it never results in a good outcome. It might sound like it’s a fair and enlightened way to do life—as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody else—but it always hurts somebody else. Whenever there is no “king in Israel”—no controlling moral authority—personal piety will decline and social chaos will rise, which is exactly what we’re witnessing in our society today.

It would be easy for me at this point to rage against any number of cultural forces that are presently at work in America, and insist that we get back to the Bible as the standard by which our society must be governed. And of course, I would be right and you would agree, but perhaps the best cure for the social chaos and loss of piety in America would be for you and me to make sure that God’s Word is king in our lives on a personal basis.

Going Deeper: As you pray today, pay close attention to the way Jesus taught us to begin our prayer: Our Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done!”