FEELINGS, THE CONSTITUTION AND THE BIBLE

My wife warns me, “People don’t like it when you say that.” She is right. However, I cannot but believe my observation is correct. Here it is: “When people in the church argue against traditional, Biblical standards of righteousness, invariably they resort to the same kinds of arguments that recently were used in our society to bring about same-sex marriage, legalization of recreational marijuana, etc.” One of those arguments is “Well, times have changed.” The unspoken subtitle of such a statement is, “so, we must change our understanding of the Bible to accommodate the things time has changed.” In fact, the Bible is rarely even consulted in these arguments. The Bible is rarely brought into the discussion because with post-modern thinking, the ultimate determiner of my truth is not some absolute principle or precept or precedent from God’s Word applicable to all, but the determiner is some subjective opinion morphed from what I think, how I see it, what works for me. Although the Bible is rarely consulted or referenced, when it is, how it is treated is lock-stepped with how liberals treat and view the Constitution of the United States. There was a time that the Constitution was viewed as a uniquely profound fixed document to guide free people in self-governance. What its authors had penned must not be detoured from, altered, second guessed, manipulated, or twisted by personal interpretations. Now the Constitution is viewed as a “living document” that must be manipulated, however contortedly, to agree with contemporary liberal consensus. If it cannot be so contorted, it must be declared hopelessly antiquated, incapable of speaking to our day. In other words, wherever the Constitution disagrees with modern sentiment, the Constitution and not modern sentiment is wrong. Much of neo-Christianity treats the Bible no differently than liberals treat the Constitution. We used to take how we feel about things from the Bible. Now we take how we feel about things to the Bible. We used to form the beliefs that governed our lifestyle from study of the Bible. Now we study how to form the Bible to fit our pre-determined beliefs that justify our lifestyle. The Bible used to be the set, unchangeable Truth. Now the Bible is clay we shape by our customized interpretations to fit what it is we have already determined to do, to believe, to practice. Few are alarmed of the violation done to the Bible’s context and intent. Intent. That is the thing that is missing from the discussion of the Constitution or the Bible. What was the authors’ intent? The only intent that matters today, is my intent—what I want the Bible to say. One liners that capsulize what appeals to the flesh, the pride, the ego have replaced the contextual truths of the Bible the may run through many verses or even chapters. A preacher’s one liner holds more sway and weight than a complete quote from the Bible. One preacher gets before an audience and froths out with high-pitched volume a one liner jingle, and folks go emotionally wild. Another preacher gets up and expounds the Truth of Jesus’ teaching, and those same folks yawn and complain about the preaching being lifeless, boring, irrelevant. If the Bible is quoted, phrases that can be packaged as one liners are redacted and extracted, severed from the context that gave them meaning. Thus, we have even infidels appealing to Jesus’ authority with the one-liner, “Judge not.” In the end one’s feelings become the determiner of what one accepts as truth. “Do your own thing,” “Follow your heart,” has become the drum beat of liberality in both church and nation and the guide for interpreting Bible and Constitution. Why would one trust his fickle emotions to be the decider of Truth? Why would one not rather desire an unchanging, absolute, dead-on correct document of unchanging principles and precepts to govern his thinking, decisions, and life? The answer is because the unchanging document may go against what one wants to, feels like, doing, thinking, being, etc. If we are going to bring this down to feelings, there is another feeling that following one’s feelings can never give—the feeling of certainty, security, hopefulness. That feeling comes from recognizing what the prophet said: “Forever, O Lord, thy Word is settled in heaven.”

FEELINGS, THE CONSTITUTION AND THE BIBLE

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