Is the theory of evolution true? /Apologeticshtml/Darwins God Review.htm
Why does God Allow Evil? Click here: /Apologeticshtml/Why Does God Allow Evil 0908.htm
Is Christian teaching from ancient paganism? /Bookhtml/Paganism influence issue article Journal 013003.htm
Which is right?:
Judaism or Christianity? /Apologeticshtml/Is
Christianity a Fraud vs Conder Round 1.htm
/Apologeticshtml/Is
Christianity a Fraud vs Conder Round 2.htm
Should God’s existence be proven? /Apologeticshtml/Should
the Bible and God Be Proven Fideism vs WCG.htm
Does the Bible
teach blind faith? Click here: /doctrinalhtml/Gospel
of John Theory of Knowledge.htm
Does Islam cause
terrorism? Click here: /Apologeticshtml/Moral Equivalency Applied
Islamic History 1107.htm
Is the Bible God’s Word? Click here: /Apologeticshtml/Is
the Bible the Word of God.htm
Do We Make Our Status Before Men as More Important Than Our Status Before God?
Many years ago I
read a controversial book by the philosopher-novelist Ayn Rand called The
Fountainhead. Now the author’s errors
are well-known, for she was both an atheist and opposed to the Christian
morality of self-sacrifice. But she
still had powerful and acute observations about how human nature operates in
the world which can’t be brushed aside, for I believe she was really on to
something despite her unusually large blind spots. In the novel she portrays a very social but very manipulative
architect named Peter Keating. He
manages to stay popular with most people on the job with the same architecture
firm despite finding sneaky ways to get promoted by getting others to quit or
get fired. The central error of his
life is to prioritize what other people think is true or morally right as being
more important than what is actually is true or morally right. His counterpart, the hero of the novel and
also an architect, is Howard Roark.
He’s a man of artistic and moral integrity who would rather work in a
quarry as a laborer than design a building that violates his esthetic principles. He’s ultimately a financial and professional
success while Keating, the charming manipulator, is ultimately a failure.
As Christians we have to consider whether we’re operating
like Peter Keating in our lives spiritually:
Do we want a high status among men more than to please God? Do we live our lives mainly to impress
others, such as family, friends, coworkers, and neighbors? Or are we willing to humble ourselves
socially if necessary in order to obey God?
We need to self-examine ourselves to see if we’re seeking
the praise of men more than the praise of God when the two conflict in our
daily lives. We need to check whether
we’ll uphold truth when it’s unpopular or even dangerous to do so.
S.P.S. We should
obey God’s truth even when it causes others to look down on us.
Matt. 10:28-33
V. 28: Who’s
ultimately in charge anyway? It’s not
our bosses at work. It’s not our
parents. It’s not our neighbors. God determines our destiny.
V. 32-33: Would we,
like the Apostle Peter did, deny Jesus when under pressure? Would we deny some truth of God implicitly
when it may cost us respectability?
Feast of Tabernacles:
To get off work, would you tell the boss you’re going out of town to
“meetings” or a “convention”? Do we
devise cover stories for the real reasons we do things? Do we pretend we aren’t Christian sometimes
when in the world by not mentioning God when we really should?
Danger signs:
Fearing to go to a high school reunion.
Being obsessed with what your friends think. Is popularity with classmates or coworkers your leading emotional
priority? Example of one kid getting
worse grades in order to become more popular.
Is being liked more important to you than upholding God’s truth? In Peter Keating’s case, he opted to marry a
beautiful wife who didn’t respect him at all rather than a homely woman who he
could be himself with, that he didn’t put on airs with. The Fountainhead, p. 321.
“What will the neighbors say?” Small town life:
neighbors run other people’s lives by the power of gossip, social
criticism. Sinclair Lewis, Main
Street; Gopher’s Prairie. Peyton Place.
HWA’s conflict with wife over Sabbath initially, reluctance
to fellowship with lower class people in Church of God (Seventh-day): Autobiography, vol. 1, pp. 289, 307.
Matthew 27:11-26
V. 18 Pontius Pilate knew Jesus wasn’t guilty, but had Him
condemned anyway in order to avoid displeasing people.
V. 24 Pilate gives
in to avoid a riot. Popularity with the
mob ranked over administering justice correctly as a public official to him.
Controversial portrayal here with higher critics, yet has
precedent in his administration of Judea:
Early in his rule of this province, he sent the imperial standards into
Jerusalem. The Jews objected violently
against these idolatrous symbols of foreign rule being planted in his
capital. After first threatening to
execute a delegation sent to his seat of government in Caesarea that was sent
to petition for removing them, he backed down.
Would we fold under pressure like both Peter and Pilate
did? Peter denied Jesus really out of
the fear of those in authority although no one in actual authority put him to
the test. Pilate had power and
authority, unlike Peter, but like many politicians since his time, he opted for
the popular choice when the popular choice wasn’t moral and the moral choice
wasn’t popular.
Luke 14:7-11
V. 11 Will we accept being humbled in this life if
in turn God will give us glory and honor in the next life? Do we really believe this to be true?
Conspicuous consumption & keeping up with the
Joneses: Do we buy luxury items we
really can’t afford in order to impress neighbors? It’s better to have a used Chevy in the drive way rather than a
new Buick if allows us to avoid anxiety about the morrow when paying the bills
each month. Do we get a boat or RV
using money earned from overtime to show off to family members? Do we get a bigger house that takes two
incomes to pay for in order to impress business associates? Thorstein Veblen’s conspicuous consumption,
rich leisured people consume merely to impress others, not because they find
enjoyment in it directly.
Howard Roark’s summary of second-hand lives to Gail
Wynand: p. 607.
Conclusion: We have
to be willing to obey the truth even when it costs us the respect of
others. Christians have to uphold God’s
ways publicly, not just privately, when others ridicule or look down on us for
doing so. We should avoid being like
the fictional Peter Keating, the social manipulator who gave up his integrity
to get the good opinion of others. We
must not be like Pontius Pilate, who condemned Jesus because it was the popular
thing. We must not be like the Apostle
Peter, who denied Jesus because of the fear of what others thought. When the two values collide, we must value
the praise of God more than the respect of men. We must be willing to humble ourselves now if we wish to be
lifted up by God later.
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