We’ve long heard it said that when we don’t know where we’ve been, we will no longer be able to tell where we are going. If we do not know our history, we do not know ourselves. This is as true within an individual as it is within a nation.
We must understand where we are coming from if we are to know where we are meant to go. This does not mean that we cannot change and adapt. The old days are not necessarily all good and glory. For some countries, they are full of pain and error, but we must know that too unless we want to repeat it in our ignorance.
So much of what we have in the US today (and in many post-Christian nations) is because Biblical principles were at one time put in place and followed. So much of what has made us moral countries are due to the revolution that Jesus started around 33AD. I think of where my ancestors were before they were introduced to the Gospel -wild tribes in Europe. This is humanity without Jesus.
It can be so easy for us to look at parts of the world that have never integrated the ideas of Christ into their national fabric and judge them according to His standards. This is foolish. We do not have these ethics because we are somehow superior or a more peaceful people. Just look at what happens when we remove them from our society. And I’m not talking about the Old Testament commandments of an eye for an eye. I’m referring to the new, radical direction to love our enemies and pray for those who hate us. Where forgiveness is the norm and freedom is the rule.
I don’t believe we are the only chosen ones. God clearly says that He wants everyone to know His ways. If there is any good in any society, it can eventually be traced back to God. He wants all people in all places to know Him.
From 2004-2014, I lived in China. There is much good in the people and country of China. I learned much about God their in their culture and customs, but China is also a declared atheist nation. Even though thousands are coming to know the Lord there daily, their communist government has continues on with the label. There is no underlying concept that man is made in the image of God.
But if humans are not fashioned after God’s image, what determines our value? What determines the value of any person, place or thing?
Thus, humans are of infinite value because the Creator willingly gave His own Son for us. Intrinsic value is not reliant on one’s physical appearance, personality, ability, or any other finite factor. Some may think that this is not a big deal. Why does it matter if we believe people have intrinsic value or not? Well, friends, ideas have consequences:
During my first two years in China, I shared an apartment with a Malaysian lady in the central part of the country. During our second year together, she decided to foster a young girl from the local orphanage. This young girl was mostly blind in both of her eyes. Most of the local people could not understand why she chose this girl. It was beyond them. I remember one day, taking the little girl out for a stroll in the city’s square plaza. One local woman approached us and asked directly why we chose to foster this little girl when she so clearly had a disability. (Mind you, the child was not deaf, so she could hear and understand every part of our conversation.) I quickly and clearly (and strongly) explained to this woman that we wanted this child. We chose her because she is valuable. Her value is not determined by her physical body or what she can offer to us, it is determined by who she is. (This little girl is now a young woman and was adopted by an American couple. She brings life and excellence to this world.)
We in America might easily assume that we would never think this way, but if we weren’t raised with underlying Christian values, our thoughts and thus our actions would be exactly the same. Let’s not fool ourselves enough to think that we would be any different if we had not had access to the Lord’s value system. The only reason this scenario was shocking to me is because I have internalized God’s values that every person has worth.
Without God, we have no standard. Without an eternal standard, truth is relative and is decided by whatever seems relatively good to the people and the place in which we live. This is so dangerous. Travel to any place in the world and you will find what you think is right, they think is wrong. And this can often be over something as simple as what utensils you use to eat your food. If there can be this many nuances over such simple, small decisions, how can we possibly think that we as created beings could be able to determine what is right and wrong for every generation and people group in the whole world. That is madness. It’s the pot trying to tell the potter what to do.
Only the One who created every person and every generation would have the wisdom and ability to shape it into its correct form.
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