It’s all about authority

 Does God really care how we accomplish what He wants us to do? Do the ends justify the means in spiritual matters? Many people today toss Biblical authority aside because they feel that certain Biblical truths do not matter or are less important than others. They are not unique – the Bible is full of people who thought this way too. Let us look at these examples to see what we can learn.

Logically, we can only know God’s opinion on anything from on His word. For example, God does not care whether we eat meat or only vegetables. Both are acceptable to Him (I Cor. 8). A person cannot know this without seeing it in His word. “Feeling” that God will accept something is not the same because it cannot be proven.

Some brethren in the first century thought that it did not matter how widows were taken care of, so long as they were looked after. How did they know this conclusion was acceptable though? In I Timothy 5:16, brethren were told that using money from the church treasury to take care of widows was wrong if that widow still had family members who could care for her. There was obviously a proper way to care for these women. The ends did not justify the means.

Consider the subject of church discipline. A church could choose to ignore the sinful behavior of a member and hope that behavior would stop. What if that erring brother does stop sinning and repents? Was the church right to remain silent? Not according to I Corinthians 5. There are many ways to do things for the Lord. However, the scriptures are clear that we are wrong if we lack His authority!

Too many religious groups today justify their actions based on results. A common strategy, for example, is to use free food to draw people to church events. Some people have certainly become members of these groups because of that first invitation. Did these religious groups stop to consider what our Lord says about this strategy though? Jesus Himself gives an answer in John 6:26.

It can be difficult to say that something was not done properly when good things result from it. We need to remember, though, that we care how things are done because the Lord cares how things are done. The point is to avoid sin! Consider Philippians 1:15-18. Paul said some preachers were sinful yet had some success in converting people. The apostle rejoiced for the converts but still did not approve of the sinful preachers. Regardless of how many converts they made, these sinful preachers were still not approved in God’s eyes.

Paul’s example clearly demonstrates that the ends do not justify the means even when there is some success. People need to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, but I will not do things that are scripturally inappropriate – going to a bar, for example – to try and teach them. We need to remember how powerful our example can be (I Tim. 4:12). Doing things for God in our own way might work in the short term, but we are compromising our teaching by not consistently following only God’s word. We also need to remember that we are potentially hurting our example to all the other people observing the situation.

How things are done plainly matters to God. It also matters to Christians who want to respect God’s authority. When we think with our emotions and not with our heads, we run the risk of establishing our own righteousness rather than seeking righteousness through Christ (Rom. 10:1-3).  Make sure you consider what God says about something rather than just assuming it is okay. Paul made it clear: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” (Col. 3:17).  It is all about God and His authority.

Chuck