Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6)
for they will be filled. (Matthew 5:6)
Yesterday, someone
posted an interesting challenge to make a controversial statement, which those
who read afterward were to state only “agree” or “disagree.” The controversial
position I posted (and about which I’ve heard neither agreement nor
disagreement) was, “I’m right.” It doesn’t seem to matter what controversial
statement is, the thing people seem most ready to blast me for is my thinking
that I’m right. Of course, they only have problems with my being right if I
make a statement that requires that they be wrong.
The problem is that none of us are likely to seriously hold an opinion or make a claim that we think is wrong which means that we are all guilty of this, if guilt is the right term. It’s not just arrogance. There is a human need for rightness, or righteousness. The problem is that we aren’t good at applying it. X may be the right thing for you to do, but there’s some reason why I should be exempted from that rule. Y may be wrong, but there are extenuating circumstances. We can’t all live by the same rules, no matter how many of those rules come back to relating properly with the universe and with each other.
Right now, the philosophical push in society is confused. We’re told, “What’s right for you isn’t necessarily what’s right for the next person” (relativism.) We’re told “I was born this way. I can’t help how I feel” (victimism.) At the same time, people like Mr. Weinstein, Mr. Hoffman, Mr. Lauer, Mr. Clinton, Mr. Trump, and others are being attacked because they’re supposed to help how they feel, and what what’s right and wrong is written in stone with regard to their crimes. You can do what you want, when you want, where you want, how you want, with whom you want as long as you don’t hurt anyone, but “anyone” can change the rules on what “hurt” means from one second to the next, and if the rules about that change thirty years down the line, you will still be destroyed because the rules are retroactive. In fact, you don’t even have to be hurt. You simply have to project that some other person was hurt. That’s all that’s needed to free you to seek the downfall of the “monster.”
This is why those who hunger and thirst for righteousness need to have a source outside of themselves, a standard of right to which they adhere not because it is theirs, but because it is objective and not changing. This is why the Bible is such a vital resource for us, and why Christians must study Scripture, so that they understand God’s perspective on what is right and wrong, and then, they must hunger and thirst for that, even if it’s not popular – and it’s not popular. What is popular makes man god. What is righteous comes from God and is unpopular because it rejects man as god.
The problem is that none of us are likely to seriously hold an opinion or make a claim that we think is wrong which means that we are all guilty of this, if guilt is the right term. It’s not just arrogance. There is a human need for rightness, or righteousness. The problem is that we aren’t good at applying it. X may be the right thing for you to do, but there’s some reason why I should be exempted from that rule. Y may be wrong, but there are extenuating circumstances. We can’t all live by the same rules, no matter how many of those rules come back to relating properly with the universe and with each other.
Right now, the philosophical push in society is confused. We’re told, “What’s right for you isn’t necessarily what’s right for the next person” (relativism.) We’re told “I was born this way. I can’t help how I feel” (victimism.) At the same time, people like Mr. Weinstein, Mr. Hoffman, Mr. Lauer, Mr. Clinton, Mr. Trump, and others are being attacked because they’re supposed to help how they feel, and what what’s right and wrong is written in stone with regard to their crimes. You can do what you want, when you want, where you want, how you want, with whom you want as long as you don’t hurt anyone, but “anyone” can change the rules on what “hurt” means from one second to the next, and if the rules about that change thirty years down the line, you will still be destroyed because the rules are retroactive. In fact, you don’t even have to be hurt. You simply have to project that some other person was hurt. That’s all that’s needed to free you to seek the downfall of the “monster.”
This is why those who hunger and thirst for righteousness need to have a source outside of themselves, a standard of right to which they adhere not because it is theirs, but because it is objective and not changing. This is why the Bible is such a vital resource for us, and why Christians must study Scripture, so that they understand God’s perspective on what is right and wrong, and then, they must hunger and thirst for that, even if it’s not popular – and it’s not popular. What is popular makes man god. What is righteous comes from God and is unpopular because it rejects man as god.
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