What Really Runs the World?

[HKHaugan]

“So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world (Gal.4:3).”

That verse captures the basic problem of living apart from God and His Word. We live by the world’s principles. But just what is ‘the world’ and what are its ‘principles?’ When the Bible uses those words ‘world’ usually means secular society and ‘principles’ means the invisible conclusions people use to function within it. When Jesus uses ‘world’ in John 3:16, He is referring to people, people in their social and relational environment.

The principles of the world then are subjective concepts made apart from God that people use to function in everyday life. They arise from intuition-led deduction as the way to deal with what a person or a group observes about living in a society and the world in general. The premise upon which intuition is based --- ‘It’s all about me.’ That’s right; it’s about what I think, what I believe, what I desire and what I conclude. The first world principle is ‘All of life is a ‘trial and error’ process of self-placement so that I feel no pain physically and emotionally.’

Here are just a few small but real principles much used by many:

You may observe that families with internal relational problems can scream and holler at each other but you don’t get involved if you are an outsider. The principle is ‘blood is thicker than water.’

When you are in a casual party setting and the question of who you will vote for comes up, you change the subject. The principle? You don’t discuss politics and religion in that kind of setting.

Then if you make a mistake use the excuse route to take the heat off you. That’s called ‘self-justification.’ If you can shift the heat to someone else, the principle is called ‘find someone or something to blame.’

Or take something crudely simple like robbery. “If someone is stupid enough to leave their keys in the car or their house door unlocked they deserve to be robbed.” Principle? Redefine stupidity and take advantage. Redefine life to suit you. That is the essence of stupidity by the way.

Then of course there is always that need to encourage someone as they undertake some competition or a situation with an unknown consequence. So you casually say, ‘good luck’, as a way of telling someone you care. There is no such thing as luck but the principle is ‘leave a good feeling or impression.’

While these are small and local they point to something that mankind apart from God has done over the centuries and that is to institutionalize non-God conclusions. Take our mention of ‘luck.’ ‘Luck’ opens the door to all the other pretentious attempts to be human without God--- superstition, religion, philosophy, government, psychology, astrology, fate, karma and a host of invisible methodologies to handle the unseen dimension known as ‘the world.’

Note again that all of them have personal intuition and deduction as their foundation. We observe something. Then we dig down in the mind for an explanation. We deduce what we believe is the best way to react when that observation repeats itself.

The problem with intuition and deduction is that they imply personal perfection in perception. (Anyone out there claiming perfection, please call me immediately.) Then of course, our ‘out’ to explain away our errors is to say they were ‘an exception to the rule.’ Therefore we stand in contrast to Sherlock Holmes whose deductions he declared were ‘elementary my dear Watson.’

There is a deeper platform of reality we must stand upon, spiritual reality which includes everything you can’t see like love, hate, good, evil and the whole thinking and decision making process. It’s thinking opposite to the way the world thinks. We have to see things in a spiritual context. From birth there are three things common to all people, self-conscious aloneness, its accompanying fear and the need to make sense out of just being here. These are spiritual realities. No one is free from these major human factors.

One more thing, there is a flaw in human makeup. There is no perfect mind, perfect perception, consequently, no perfect conclusion. The flaw is demonstrated in in the very fact that we have to search, learn, grow and look beyond ourselves. Our insecurity from birth points directly to that flaw. The final proof that the flaw exists is death, everyone dies, we breakdown physically and the heart and brain cease to function.

The flaw has a spiritual name---sin. Sin is the spiritual condition that has separated us from our source, our Creator, of whom we are images and strangers to one another. This is made obvious in in our aloneness by five self-conscious needs: everyone needs identity, everyone needs relationship, everyone needs direction, everyone needs to learn, and everyone needs a community to work it all out.

So how do we deal with the flaw and the needs proceeding from it?

Since there is no internal perfection in anyone the only alternative is some external revelation. In reaching out we know fear moderates what and how we choose that external source since, in the arena of ‘others’, there is the ongoing struggle to ‘fit in.’ If I am flawed and ‘they’ are flawed then what and who do I trust in this invisible world of learning survival, place and space? Unless I am willing to step outside of myself and look for answers I stay lost in myself with conclusions that have no personal, relational or spiritual satisfaction because of the basic flaw---sin.

Finding and fulfilling one’s self is impossible alone and there are all kinds of religions, systems, self-help literature and charismatic figures ready to exploit this condition of sin, the basic flaw in humanity. This is why we point to the perfect revelation from outside, the spiritual person and reality of Jesus Christ whose mind, perception, heart and spirit are perfect. He is the only one in human history who overcame the sum of all imperfection, death, rose from its clutches and offered Himself to all of us from that point on.

Opening the mind, baring the heart and sensing we are basically spiritual beings is the way to see Jesus as the One who alone can meet those deep personal needs. He can give us an identity, relate to us personally and give us new relationships, direct us, teach us and give us a community in which we can find and develop what we were meant to be. The bottom line for all philosophy and religion is their self-centering methods. It is a relationship with Jesus that carries us out of ourselves and looks for ways to help others, to build hospitals, schools, better neighborhoods, minister to the sick in body and heart and develop resources that bring people support for both their physical and emotional being. This is not just for this world. It’s forever.

[Bootsie Willman]

Whitey,

I'm going to have to sit down one day and have a Kingdom Key's day!  I need to catch up on the posts that I've missed!  Every one I've ever read has been full of God's Truth and a great blessing to me!  Thank you!  Keep em coming! : )  Please give Mary my love!  Love and Blessings to you!