A Different Order?   (Revised 11/10/05 by TC)

   Suppose with me for just a moment that things were far different in our country…that there was no longer just one constitution under which Americans might choose to live.  In this different “American Order” citizens could choose for themselves what set of laws they would be governed by.  For each different order of Americans there would be a separate and distinct system with their own President and political officers.  Without having to go much further, I think you can begin to see how terrible such a system would be…it would not work very well and chaos would reign.  We are Americans who live under one constitution…one set of laws.  Under this system we enjoy freedom, but while there is freedom as American citizens we are still expected to observe and obey the law.  So it is under Christ.

   Suppose with me for just a moment that things were far different in the religious world of our day.  Suppose there was one set of laws that were given to govern the lives of all who would be Christians for every culture, for every nation for all time as long as the world stands.  What a refreshing “Christian Order” that would be…where there would be unanimity of spirit and teaching…no division, no chaos and confusion, but all believers “speaking the same thing” (1 Corinthians 1:10).  We don’t have to imagine it.  God has given it.

   In some ways, men haven’t changed all that much through the centuries for the Bible says, “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25).  Do some think we have been given religious freedom so we can do whatever we please in the name of religion?  It is as if we think: “If I am pleased with it and it is right and o.k. with me (in my opinion), then surely God must be alright with it, too.”  How can we be so sure as he has revealed the fact that his thoughts are not our thoughts and his ways are not our ways? (Isaiah 55:8-9)   “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23).

   Too many of us call Jesus “Lord” without understanding the implications and true meaning of the term.  If Jesus is truly our Lord and Master, then we will humbly submit to his will rather than seeking our own.  Hear Jesus’ teaching: “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).   For the Christian, the New Testament is to be our exclusive guide and standard. 

We all need to bear in mind that we will be judged according to its teachings – not the doctrines of a humanly devised religious system or the opinions of men.  Jesus says, “... the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day” (John 12:48).  Be only what God has called you to be.           

- Tim Childs

Hillcrest church of Christ

Baldwyn, MS