Why Creation Matters: Day 2

… choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.

    Joshua 24: 15

What I am about to share with you may be the best thing you get this week. Hopefully it will help you understand your own beliefs as well as get a handle on understanding where other people are coming from regarding matters of faith.

People look at spiritual things primarily from one of three positions:

1.Tradition: the past and present teachings, traditions and creeds of a church. Various churches look to the verdicts of councils of men or the writings of the church fathers as the final word on doctrine and practice.

2. Reason: what seems reasonable to one’s mind. In the past 200 years, the liberal worldview has placed science and human reason in the supreme position of authority over what is and isn’t true or trustworthy in Scripture.

3. Scripture itself: trusting the authority that the Bible claims as God’s Word. The Bible doesn’t back off from this fight. From beginning to end, Scripture states that it is God’s inspired Word, the only source of both inerrant and transcendent truth and its own best interpreter.

Most everybody would look to a combination of the three. The question is when a difficult question comes up, which do you consider to be the final word.

So Joshua’s words ring just as powerfully today as they did when he spoke them to Israel over 3000 years ago. How will you view the words, promises and challenges found in the Bible? Are they the words of life or one option among many? Remember, everybody chooses “whom they will serve,” and not to choose is also a form of choice.

The next time one of “those” discussions comes up. Take a moment to find out where your friend ultimately places their trust and why: Do they place the weight of their faith on a church tradition, what makes “sense” to their mind or what Scripture has revealed on the topic. You might be surprised—they might be, too!

Nancy Shirah