I want to juxtapose two quotes to you: one you will not be familiar with; one you will be very familiar with. Here is the first quote, given by historian Christopher Dawson, over thirty years ago:
We have entered a new phase of culture we may call it the Age of the Cinema in which the most amazing perfection of scientific technique is being devoted to purely ephemeral objects, without any consideration of their ultimate justification. It seems as though a new society [is] arising, which will acknowledge no hierarchy of values, no intellectual authority, and no social or religious tradition, but which will live for the moment in a chaos of pure sensation.[1]
Now compare that quote with this very familiar quote: "Those who cannot remember the past, are condemned to repeat it."[2] I want us to go back to the past, and then we will come back to the future. I want us to go back 3,000 years to a super power, the Nation of Israel.
If you lived in that day as a citizen of that nation, and moved in that society, you would have seen several things.
You would have seen moral confusion. Verse 25 speaks volumes and gives us an ocean full of truth about life in those days. "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." Right and wrong was up for grabs; truth had been thrown out the window; morality and immorality had become amorally. Every person had become his own yardstick, and every yardstick was a different length.
Imagine a man who gets tired of a yardstick being 36 inches long, and decides to create a new yardstick 15 inches long. He breaks it at the 15 inch mark, and then boasts to all of his neighbors that a yard is no longer what it used to be; and says as far as he is concerned, it is now 15 inches. You will have some idea of the type of society in which these words were written.
You would have also seen political chaos. Someone has said that a lot people believe in law and order, as long as they can lay down the law and give all the orders.
That was the situation 3,000 years ago. The police had become afraid of the criminals. There was no respect for the law. The political process had completely broken down. Guilty criminals were being acquitted because there was no single standard of justice to which everyone adhered.
Thirdly, you would have seen social confrontation. Neighborhoods had become war zones. When one person's right becomes another person's wrong, conflict becomes inevitable. God had been totally taken out of the equation. When God goes, anything goes, and when anything goes, everything goes.
If you had come along in that day and asked the question, "Who's in charge here?" the answer would have been no one. Because when everyone is in charge, no one is in charge.
It reminds me of the story of a state patrol officer who came up on a terrible accident; a car had run into a tree. There were four people in the car, unconscious and badly injured; a man and woman in the front seat, and two men in the back. There was a monkey hiding behind the tree. The police officer walked up to the monkey and said, "Do you know what happened here?" The monkey nodded his head.
The officer pointed to the man in the front seat, and said, "What was he doing?" The monkey held up his hand to his mouth as if he were drinking. The man pointed to the woman and said, "What was she doing?" The monkey began to flap his fingers together to show that she was talking.
He looked at the two men in the back seat and said, "What were they doing?" The monkey began to move his fists together to show they were fighting. The police officer looked at the monkey and said, "And what were you doing?" The monkey grabbed an imaginary steering wheel to show he was doing the driving.
Now when you have monkeys behind the steering wheel, a crash is inevitable. How did their society get to this point?
Well, first of all, they rejected biblical revelation. They rejected the word of God, and they rejected the God of the word. That was the root of the entire problem. The great Russian philosopher, Dostoevski, once wrote, "If God did not exist, everything would be permitted."[3]
One of the charges that God brought against the nation of Israel, through the prophet Hosea, is this: "I have written for him the great things of My law, but they were considered a strange thing." (Hosea 8:12) A stranger was not at home in Israel. He had no permanent dwelling place there. He was allowed to live there, but he had no voice in the land.
Being a stranger, he had no "say so" in the affairs of Israel. He possessed no vote. Whatever opinion he might have about important decisions was totally ignored. God said, "You have treated my word as a stranger." It has no voice in daily affairs; it cast no vote; when important decisions are made the Word of God is ignored.[4] That was the problem then and it is the problem now.
They rejected moral regulation. Sin that would slink down the back alley, now strutted up the main street. Everything was relative. Right and wrong was a private matter. Character and conviction were posse. The only "right" was a person's rights.
They rejected political rejuvenation. Because everybody was in charge, nobody was in charge. Because nobody was in charge, leadership, the one ingredient necessary to a great nation, was missing.
They rejected spiritual revitalization. Because family values and traditional morals were disappearing, the culture was dissipating, the home was dissolving, society was disintegrating.
The root problem, in short, was a rejection of authority. Now at this point let me give you a working definition of authority that we will revise at the end of this message. Authority is the God-given right for one person to make choices for another person.
Now when it comes to authority, you only have two choices: submission or rebellion. We are living in an age of open rebellion to all authority.
We see rebellion in the media. Movies now desecrate deity, elevate adultery, perpetrate immorality, venerate perversity.
We see rebellion in music. "Gangsta rap" glorifies rape, dignifies police killing, magnifies the use and abuse of women; it mocks parents, home, and family; planting in the hearts of our teenagers the seeds of destructive rebellion.
We see rebellion in morals. Fornication has become "co-habitation." Sodomy has become "a gay lifestyle." Perversity and obscenity is now defended in the name of "artistic freedom."
The bottom line of the society in which we live, is this: "Nobody is going to tell me what to do, and if it feels good I am going to do it." Social responsibilities have been replaced by personal rights. So I want to approach this subject of authority from three viewpoints:
I. The Reality of Authority
God has given us spheres of authority in three areas:
a. Politically
Paul said in I Tim. 2:1-2, "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence." Not every authority is always God-guided, but every authority is always God-given.
The government better be careful in over-emphasizing the separation of "church and state" so it gets to the point of separating "God from government." Government may not understand it, but God is government's best friend. Paul said in Romans 13:1ff:
"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor." (Romans 13:1-7)
b. Domestically
God has set up a standard of authority in the home, both for husband and wife, and parent and child. Eph. 5:22-23 says:
"Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body."
Men are to take the leadership role in the home. Anything with two heads is dead, anything with no head is a freak, and the husband is to be the head of the home, and the wife is to submit to her husband's loving leadership.
Likewise, for parent and child Paul plainly says:
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." (Eph. 6:1)
c. Spiritually
In the church God has also set up a standard of authority. It flows from heaven down to the pew. Number one: the church is to be under the authority of the Son of God. When it comes to authority, Jesus is the source and strength of all authority. He said in Mt. 28:18, "Then Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." Col. 1:18 also says, "And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence."
The church is to submit to the authority of the Word of God:
"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." (II Tim. 3:16-17)
Now when we talk about the authority of the pastor, do not misunderstand this to in anyway conflict with the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. We are all priests, but there is only one pastor. The staff is simply an extension of the pastor's ministry. Paul said, you are to follow my example, even as I follow the example of Christ.
Now here is a principle concerning authority in any area that you need to remember. If you cannot properly relate to the authority that God has placed over you, you cannot properly relate to the God that has placed that authority over you. If you reject one, you reject the other. "He who hears you hears Me, he who rejects you rejects Me, and he who rejects Me rejects Him who sent Me." (Lk. 10:16)
II. The Resistance to Authority
The root of all of our problems we see today goes back to the rebellion against God's authority in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had only one word of authority; that word was from God, and that word said this: "Do not eat of the forbidden fruit of the tree of life."
But they rebelled against that authority. They rejected the word of God, and they rejected the God of the word, and we have been paying for it ever since.
What you see from Genesis chapter 3 on, is the result of authority that is rejected. You see the same results in our society today.
a. Politically, There Will Be Anarchy
When authority breaks down, and the consequences of breaking authority cease to exist, mark it down, you are on your way to chaos. We used to say, "crime doesn't pay." But the truth of the matter is, in the culture in which we live today those who abuse and despise authority, are paid very well indeed.
Senator Phil Gramm recently wrote for the New York Times an article where he cited a study from Texas A&M that calculated the amount of time that a person committing a crime in 1990 could reasonably expect to spend in prison. The conclusions were shocking. On average:
- A person committing murder can expect to spend 1.8 years in prison;
- The expected punishment for rape is 60 days;
- Robbery will bring an average prison time of 23 days;
- A person convicted of arson can expect 6.7 days;
- Aggravated assault averages 6.4 days;
- A person stealing a car can reasonably expect to spend a day and a half in jail.[5]
Steve Farrar, having seen these statistics, makes this conclusion:
"With the breakdown of authority that began in our homes and spread to our schools and courts, it becomes clear that crime does pay, and it pays very well. America is quickly becoming a country that is sending a message to scores of young people, and the message is this:
Authority is not important;
You can willfully break authority (although we would prefer that you don't;
If you choose to break authority, and punishment cannot be avoided, we will make it as easy on you as we possibly can.[6]
That's the anarchy that we experience.
b. Domestically There Will Be Anxiety
God intended for the home to be the training ground to live in society at large. When authority breaks down in the home, it will inevitably break down in society. If a child is not taught to respect his father in the living room, he will then learn not to respect the police officer on the street, the principal in the classroom, or the judge in the courtroom.
I want you to listen to this quote by Charles Swindoll. He is speaking about deliberate disobedience from young people; willful defiance. He says:
"Teachers see it in today's classrooms, merchants face it in their shops, cops encounter it on a daily basis, youth workers in churches across America are forever forced to deal with it. Why? Because parents won't. The permissiveness found in homes today is downright disgusting. It is not uncommon to find child-centered homes where children intimidate their parents; afraid to be strong, hesitant to stand firm against the determined will of their youngster; parents create a domestic setting that becomes unbearable.[7]
That confusion, conflict, and chaos spills out into society, the school, the church, and the courtroom.
c. Spiritually, There Will Be Apostasy
Churches that reject authority will eventually reject, first of all, the Son of God. We have churches today who deny the deity of Jesus, the miracles of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus, the uniqueness of Jesus.
They then reject the word of God. So today we have churches that ordain homosexuals as pastors, priests, and deacons. Recently, there was a Baptist church in Austin, Texas that was dis-fellowshipped from an association because they ordained a homosexual as a deacon, knowing he was living in a long-term relationship with another man.
They then reject the man of God. Pastors today are under constant attack. They preach too long, they preach too hard, they preach too straight, they are too aggressive, they are too evangelistic, they are growing the church too quickly. So many pastors today are under siege. Such are the fruits are the resistance to authority.
III. The Reception of Authority
When we get under God-ordained authority, the results will be nothing short of magnificent.
a. There Will Be Harmony Politically
Proverbs 29:2 says, "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan."
b. There Will Be Happiness Domestically
Dr. Stanley Coopersmith, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of California, studied 1,738 normal middle-class boys and their families beginning in the pre-adolescent period, and following them through to young manhood.
After identifying those boys having the highest self esteem, he compared their homes and childhood influences with those having a lower sense of self-worth. He found three important characteristics which distinguish them: the high esteem children were clearly more loved and appreciated at home than were the low esteem boys. The parental love was deep and genuine; not just an empty display of words. The boys knew they were the object of pride and interest, increasing their own sense of self-worth.
The high esteem group came from homes where parents had been significantly more strict in their approach to discipline. By contrast, the parents of the low esteem group had created insecurity and dependence by their permissiveness. Their children are more likely to feel that the rules were not enforced without discipline, because no one cared enough to get involved (if you are left without discipline, then you are illegitimate children and not sons).
Furthermore, the most successful and independent young men, during the later period of the study, were found to have come from homes that demanded the strictest accountability and responsibility. And as could have been predicted, the family ties remained the strongest not in the wishy-washy homes but in the homes where discipline and self-control had been a way of life.
The homes of the high esteem group were also characterized by democracy and openness. Once the boundaries for behavior were established, there was freedom for individual personalities to go undeveloped. The boys could express themselves without fear of ridicule, and the overall atmosphere was marked by acceptance and emotional safety.[8]
c. There Will Holiness Spiritually
Formerly the pastor is the leader of the church, but functionally three things must be in place if the pastor is to lead. There must be the standard of the word of the God, the steering of the Spirit of God, and the support of the people of God. If any, or all, of those things are missing, a pastor may lead, but nobody will follow.
Having said all of this, let me now give you my final definition of authority. Authority is God's right to lovingly guard and guide our lives by means of established authorities he has placed over our lives.
What is God's purpose of authority? Let me give you three as I close. First of all, submission to authority spiritually grows you. When the Lord Jesus got under the authority of his mother and his father, we read in Luke 2:52 that he "increased in wisdom and statute and in favor with God and men.
Submission to authority also spiritually guards you. The essence of submission is not "getting under the domination of authority, but rather getting under the protection of authority." Authority, as Bill Gothard puts it, is like an "umbrella of protection." When you get out from under it, you expose yourselves to unnecessary temptations. That's why the Bible compares rebellion to witchcraft. "Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft." (I Sam. 15:23) When you get out from under the umbrella of God's authority, you subject yourselves to the power of the devil.
Submission to authority also spiritually guides you. God has placed those in authority over us to guide us and to keep us from making mistakes and experiencing heartache we do not need to experience. So I hope and pray you can look at your life, and when the question is asked, "Who's in charge here?" you can answer "God, and whomever or whatever He has placed in authority over me."
[1] Vincent Ryan Ruggiero, Warning: Nonsense is Destroying America, p. 205.
[2]Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, Sixteenth Edition, p. 588.
[3] Irwin lutzer, Exploding the Myths that Could Destroy America, p. 20.
[4] Ronald Dunn, Praying for Others, p. 104.
[5] Phil Gramm, "Don't Let Judges Set Crooks Free," New York Times, 8 July, 1993, A13.
[6] Steve Farrar, Standing Tall, p. 24.
[7] Charles Swindoll, Growing Wise in Family Life, p. 116.
[8] Chuck Swindoll, Growing Wise in Family Life, p. 82.