The Question of Authority

Commentary by Steve Myers

Over the past few weeks, I’ve been thinking about the question of authority, which seems to lie at the root of so many of the problems we face in America and the West.

As we’re in political campaign season here in America, a great deal of hot air is to be expected and may safely be ignored.  Yet, beyond that, some fundamental

questions need to be asked.  The United States was founded on the basis of respect for the authority of the Holy Scriptures and then, when it was ratified in 1787, the Constitution.  Today, how many of us still have absolute respect for the authority of the Bible and the Constitution? Do our politicians have respect for the Bible and the Constitution? Some say they do, yet their actions and decisions should be carefully juxtaposed with both the Bible and the Constitution.  Many people have rightly given up expecting either biblical or constitutional behavior from many of the judiciary, whose oaths, sworn on the Bible to uphold the Constitution, appear to be a mockery of both. Needless to say, the media, entertainment industry and public education system are virtually lost causes.  How many times have you heard the Bible or the Constitution discussed favorably in any of those arenas?  And how many graduating public high school students can quote a single sentence from the Constitution?   It is to be hoped that home-schooled and privately schooled students know the Constitution by heart and have a good Bible knowledge as well.  It’s scarcely a wonder that so many people seem so lost without these fundamentals guiding their lives into integrity and purpose.  You may recall Bill Clinton’s threat to home-schoolers to force them into public schools if their learning

Steve Myers

standards weren’t high enough!   It was one of his many reversals of the truth.  Would that public school students could remotely match the extremely high standards of home-schoolers!

It is surely time to call for a wholesale return to the authority of the Bible and the Constitution.  For almost 200 years, America prospered by adhering to both.  In the past 30 years or so, as respect for both has slipped away, and has been then totally jettisoned by most, this great nation has rebelled against God, and its people have been wandering, lost. We may echo the question of Job: “From where then does wisdom come?  And where is the place of understanding?” (Job 28:20)

It is a question which Job himself answers soon afterwards: “Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding.”

King Solomon was a little more explicit: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” (Proverbs 1:7)  If politicians, judges and those who influence opinion have discarded the authority of the Scriptures and the Constitution, are we then not governed by a nation of foolish leaders?

Many tell me one ought to have respect for the governing authorities.  They quote Romans 13:1 “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.”  But suppose the authorities are not appointed by God, but by a corrupt system?  Are we still subject to them, even though they are not submissive to God themselves?  That’s a matter for real prayer and contemplation.

Meanwhile, I urge you to consider the subject of authority.  What place do the Bible and the Constitution have in your life and in your daily dealings with others?  I would suggest that they should occupy the highest places in your thinking and conduct, so that we may each be a strong pillar to support the nation, and thus that the foundations on which it was built may be restored, and honorable conduct is again the norm in society.

Steve Myers is the President of the American Renewal Foundation a non-profit foundation which encourages renewal through America’s founding Biblical principles of faith in God, liberty and compassionate entrepreneurship. He is also the Editor of Exegesis and Page One News at http://www.page1news.com. This article is from his Exegesis Compass for Moral Excellence Commentaries. To learn more about Steve Myers and his ministries go to www.radiosteve.org.