What is right today?
Share
The redefinition of right and wrong in New Zealand
At the end of the Bible book of Judges there are three chapters on the state of Israel which is summed up in chapter 17 :6 “when Israel had no king, everyone did as they saw fit in their own eyes”
It gives you a preview into how crazy things were in ancient Israel
If there ever is a time a verse like that can apply to our own days, it is right now
Some people say the Bible is an ancient book, a lot of ancient stories how is that relevant to my life today, I think you haven’t really read it.
Because when you read it and you read a verse like that you start to understand some of the craziness that’s happening in the world today.
When God is not the standard.
When God is not the moral standard for what is right and what is wrong
The standard for what is true and what is false
The standard for what is good and what is evil
If you lose God as that standard and everyone starts doing what is right in his or her own eyes you’ve have chaos.
You have anarchy on the street
You have a redefinition of things that used to be universally understood as something that was right suddenly are wrong
The things that wee universally understood that were wrong suddenly are tright
Why does that happen?
It happens when people no longer do whats right in Gods eyes and they do whats right in their own eyes
New Zealanders have been doing what is right in their own eyes for many years now.
Interestingly opposition to God as sovereign in the nation has been going on for many years but at the turn of the 21st century we statistics show a huge shift in the population move their allegiance from a belief.
What was it about the turn of the century and subsequent years which brought about the change?
Was it the lead into the year 2000 when everyone started in all earnestly believing the world was going to end on New Years Eve brought about by the Y2k bug?
Could it have been the increase in terror we saw with the attack on the World Trade Centre, or might it have been the buoyant financial times we were living in.
Certainly, all these things happening would’ve made people sit up and think about what’s happening.
The attitude seemed to change to their own mortality, if we were only going to be here for a short time then let’s live to the fullest, Live for today for tomorrow we die.
You may recall the positive motivation Live like you have never lived before, sing like no one can hear you dance like no one is watching.
Inwardly the people moved from a position of responsibility towards others and themselves to doing and living what and how they saw fit in their own eyes.
Issues which had been bubbling under the surface came to full fruition like a voracious hunger
Spilling out from the closets came the gay community,
Their sexualisation of everything ignited a lust for everything physical.
We saw the sexualisation of the entertainment industry, we lost sight of things natural and attempted to turn them on their heads.
Expoding theories of past wrongs had to be addressed and the equilibrium of life was changed peacefully, other times not, as history started to be written from a base of emotion rather than fact
And who could forget the shift in entertainment where people and friendships didn’t matter and where the winner takes all.
There was a lot happening, but people had come out of some tough financial times and life was good.
But here’s the thing.
While all this was happening the love for God was falling, just as the apostle Paul predicted.
No one cared about sovereignty and poo pooed the idea of God, about his church and his authority.
You see they had no king in their eyes and have subsequently even tried to rewrite history today.
Israel had no physical king for about 400 years from the time of the last Judge of Israel before captivity descended upon them.
They did everything and decided what was right in their eyes. Just like the people of New Zealand are doing.
So how should we as Christians respond?
First up, we must be, and seen doing what is right in Gods eye
Philippian’s: 2:15 read it with me where Jesus can empower us to… “Be blameless and innocent children of God, without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among you who shine as lights in the world.”
We may stand alone in a sea of disbelief, but like the prophets of old, let us remain faithful and bring the light of the words of the Bible to our fellow New Zealanders.
Like Israel, we are a blessed nation.
Like Israel we have become complacent.
Like Israel stands in judgement.
Like Israel, we are a nation who has forgotten God.
The nation needs to hear what a “just” God is saying.
In this day of testing, we are not called to be discouraged, throw in the towel, and go into hiding.
Instead, we are called to be salt.
We are called to be light.
We are called to carry forth the truth because Jesus said it “is the truth that will make you free.”
This nation needs to be born again.
We as New Zealanders need to put Christ back on the throne.
How do we do that
We put Christ back on the throne of our hearts and our conscience.
We put Christ back on the throne of our families as much depends on us.
We get back in our right biblical place.
We put Christ on the throne of law and order and political order, as much depends on us.
As much as we can, we must push back against the darkness.
We Put God back on the throne.
Testify to your king’s goodness.
Testify to your king’s grace.
Testify to your king’s glory.
Testify to your king’s gospel.
Be willing to have the conversation.
And we need to be taking that truth to world who is in bondage to darkness.