SEPARATION
OF FAITH AND LAW By Andy Diestelkamp (continued from THINK
page 1)
that a group of men and women attempting to come to a consensus
on a matter of morality turned to the Bible for guidance. Oh
that God's word could have that position of influence in more
courtrooms and jury deliberations! Oh that the Bible could have
that position of influence in the halls of government, the boardrooms
of our companies and schools, and in our families! Perhaps, then,
more churches would begin using it again.
"The fear of the Lord
is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction"
(Prov. 1:7). It is foolishness to impress jurors with the importance
and gravity of doing their utmost to make a moral decision and
then deprive them of a standard of morality which they wish to
consult.
I suppose the next step in
the attempt to divorce faith from law will be to instruct jurors
to disregard their consciences if they have been educated in
the Scriptures. Expert after expert on matters of law, psychology,
biology, physics, and ethics can be paraded before jurors in
an effort to influence them, but the influence of Scripture is
somehow deemed unconstitutional.
On June 28th, 1787, in the
midst of the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin (a
representative of no church) recalled that during the war in
that very hall they had often prayed to God for His assistance.
James Madison quoted Franklin as saying:
"And have we forgotten
that powerful friend? or do we imagine that we no longer need
his assistance? I have lived, Sir, a long time, [Franklin was
81] and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of
this truth--that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a
sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice [Mt. 10:29]
is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have
been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings, that 'except the Lord
build the House they labour in vain that build it' [Ps. 127:1].
I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without his concurring
aid we shall succeed in this political building, no better than
the builders of Babel" [Gen. 11:1-9] (Notes on Debates in
the Federal Convention of 1787, Ohio University Press, 1985,
p. 209).
If referencing the Bible as
a guide is unconstitutional behavior in matters of law and government
and therefore invalidates any conclusions reached under its influence,
then it would appear that the United States Constitution itself
is unconstitutional. Of course, this is nonsense. What is unconstitutional
is denying men and women the freedom to use the Bible as a legitimate
moral voice and influence. Yet that is happening.
As citizens of this country,
we may have some legitimate concerns with respect to our eroding
freedom to preach the word of God. Nevertheless, our first century
brethren never had such a luxury. Let us respond as they did.
"We ought to obey God rather than men" (Ac. 5:29) and
go everywhere preaching the word (Ac. 8:4). God help us to be
counted worthy to suffer shame for the name of Jesus, and let
us not cease teaching and preaching Him as the Christ (Ac. 5:41,42).
ANDY DIESTELKAMP
323 E. Indiana Ave., Pontiac, Illinois 61764
Email: adiestel@verizon.net
Return to THINK page 1.
DAUGHTERS:
FROM WHENCE COME THEIR GODLY HUSBANDS By Keith Clayton (continued from THINK
page 1)
Our daughters need men who stand up and lead, without fear of
reprisal from the worldly. Wives need men who do not shirk their
headship stations to avoid disdain which the unregenerate of
this world may throw their way. Wives need the kind of spiritual,
familial and social leadership from their husbands which does
not offer compromise with the world and the worldly (in or out
of the church).
Godly leaders for wives and
children are sadly lacking in today's age! There are multiple
reasons for this sorrowful condition. A big cause has been that
compromises have been made by many. Some of us have given in
to the philosophy of, "we want to be different from the
world, but not that different." We don't want to be so much
unlike the worldly around us that they persecute us and speak
evil of us. Yet, this is precisely what happened in the first
century to the saints of God.
Those folks were converted
from the world to Christ and were not about to go back into the
world, nor allow the world to take them prisoner to sin again.
They would not lean over to please the world for they rightly
feared that they might bend too far and fall right in!! They
made no peace and no compromise with the world. They were holy
because their Father, God Almighty, is holy. They were bought
at a price--the blood of the Lamb of God. They didn't mind standing
out as "lights" in stark contrast with the "darkness"
they had just left.
Yet, today, tragically, successive
generations of Christians seem to not have that line of demarcation
fixed in their minds. And, some who do, wish it weren't so! They
inwardly long for living without bounds, and by such, to be rid
of any pressure from worldly and ungodly folks around them. Few
that be are the number of Christians who recognize the difference
between holy and worldlyand who are glad of it.
Here are some of the discussion
points being defended from time to time in various churches of
Christ: 1) girls on a high school coed wrestling team; 2) attending
the prom; 3) modern dancing; 4) revealing attire on girls and
women--short skirts, tight blouses, cleavage showing, leg less
than half covered, swim suits in public; 5) marrying a non-Christian;
6) the guilty party in a divorce can re-marry. I wonder what
our Father thinks of some of the "arguments" in favor
of these manifestations of worldliness among His people?
But, to the point of this matter
of husbands for our daughters--how will holy and godly men arise
out of such thinking? It is painfully clear that they cannot.
Elders, preachers and godly saints in churches of Christ must
make a stand if the situation is to be made better. If people's
feelings are hurt by such clear and holy teaching, then so be
it. No one seeks to hurt the feelings of another, but, sometimes
it is not avoidable. How will folks learn holiness if truth is
timid, or compromised for the sake of numbers? It would be better
that the feelings of the worldly are hurt, and repentance manifested,
than for families to be wrecked, lives put into ruin and souls
lost in Hell for eternity because of the unopposed reign of worldliness.
Again--daughters are special,
and are the cause for more concern, for in training a young girl
to grow up into a godly woman and wife, she will be taught that
she will be under authority. When she is young, growing through
adolescence, she is under the authority of her dad. Once given
away, she will be under the authority of her husband, who will
become her head (Eph. 5:22-33). What kind of head can she find
who will lead her in truth, and be the kind of head that Jesus
is to the church--holy and uncompromising with the thinking of
this age?
We teach our daughters to honor,
love and reverence her manto follow him. Where will he lead if
he is infected with worldly philosophies about life? And, I'm
referring to young men who are Christians. A non- Christian isn't
even on the radar, for such would be a clear violation of multiple
Bible principles, not the least of which is unequal yoking (2
Cor. 6:14ff).
It is not with great comfort
that my godly brother with four daughters contemplates "who
will it be?" for his daughters. There is a dearth of available
ones, currently, who are thinking right. There are few who are
unafraid to be holy in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation
(1 Pet. 1:14-16; Phil. 2:14-16). Worst of all, when they do want
to make peace with God, be holy and at war with the world, then
some even in the church of the Lord will openly discourage them
from doing so. Godly parents need to begin to undermine the humanist
thinking infused daily and massively into children attending
public schools, and which has infected the thinking of some Christians.
From whence come the godly
men for our daughters? Not from the institutions of the world.
They will come from your home, dear parentif you do your job,
with reinforcement from a church that is really "called
out" of this world and its decadence. They will come from
sound and faithful churches of Christ, filled with families striving
to be godly and faithful in all manner of living. There is no
other place from which such real men will originate.
KEITH CLAYTON
P.O. Box 1164, Cheshire,
Connecticut 06410
Email: kclc2869@yahoo.com
Return to THINK page 1.
DENYING
GOD SECRETLY By Rick Liggin (continued
from THINK page 1)
Job knew, as we do, that the moon and sun are only parts of God's
creation; they are not deities to be worshiped. Only God is God;
and only He is worthy of our worship. And that means that even
the slightest move by man in the direction of paganism would
be an iniquity deserving of judgment.
Now, when I think about what
Job says in this text, I cannot help but think of at least two
lessons we need to learn from it:
1) A person does not have to
overtly and openly deny God to be guilty of denying Him. One
can deny the Lord secretly in his heart without ever doing anything
openly to suggest that he has denied God. When we longingly look
at temporal things and begin to secretly think in our hearts
that maybe these things can make us happy and give our lives
real purpose, we are taking steps in the direction of denying
God.
2) Even the slightest move
in the direction of putting trust in something else or someone
else other than God constitutes paganism and a denial of the
true God. Now this may not mean a whole lot to us in a society
that traditionally does not literally bow down to images and
idols. But when we understand that Job, not only speaks of kissing
the sun or moon, but also of putting confidence in wealth and
in our ability to secure so much for ourselves (31:24-25), we
begin to see the point.
We live in an extremely earthly
(worldly) society. Oh, we may not literally bow to idols, but
we most certainly devote ourselves to the pursuit of material
things and material pleasures. And that makes us just as pagan
as the man who throws a kiss to the moon or bows before an idolatrous
sun god. And what we need to be acutely aware of is that even
though we may consider ourselves to be Christians, and even though
we may faithfully worship the true God on a regular basis, when
we put (even some of) our confidence in physical pleasure or
our material things or our ability to secure wealth, we have
in essence denied God. And in denying God in this way, we are
just as guilty of "an iniquity calling for judgment"
(31:28).
I tell you, folks, Job's words
here are soberingbut he knew his own heart! He knew that he'd
never been guilty of any of these iniquities. Can you honestly
say the same for yourself? Before you answer, you'd better examine
yourselfyour own heart. And you'd better recognize that God knows
everything you doeven the things you do secretly in your heart.
RICK LIGGIN
315 E. Almond Dive,
Washington, IL 61571
Email: rcliggin@gmail.com
Return to THINK page 1.
