"Eveyone did what was right in his own eyes"

In my Old Testament class we just finished reading through Judges.

One phrase that stood out to me, and that was used four times in the text, is the title for this post.

If you know anything about Judges you will know what I mean when say the Israelites had issues. It seems that their faith was completely reliant on the authority figure over them. It also speaks of the fallibility and vanity of moral subjectivity--a huge issue nowadays (post-modernism anyone?). Our truth and moral discernment should come from the Word of God.

Take for example 4:1: "When Ehud was dead, the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD.".

What does that speak of their faith, I ask? My conclusion is that their faith was not too solid; not penetrating their heart and soul like the Word says it should: "For the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."Hebrews 4:12.

What they seemed to have is what we call here at Biola a "heart problem"--their faith was not authentic. They needed someone to keep in check, otherwise they just did what they felt like.

I liken their faith to the child who grows up in a Christian home, meticulously going to church with little thought or commitment. They leave for college, hear some professor trash God and all of the sudden this "Christian" has completely disowned his/her faith. Or did he/she? Maybe they never had it at all. Who knows? God is judge of the soul.

But still, I think you can see what is wrong when we lean on someone else for their faith. Whether it be parents, a great pastor, a Christian role-model, they're all people--and as such, fallible. If we rely on them to support our faith as soon as that person falls we will be utterly discouraged and be a mess of questioning and rebellion against our creator.

Now there is something to be said of godly leadership. God rose up great leaders in Biblical history that obviously were to the benefit of those under them--Moses, David, Paul are all great examples. Exhortations such as found in Philippians 3:15-17 demonstrate the importance of not only having a role-model, but actually modeling your behavior after them.

However, Moses, David, and Paul all had imperfect lives--we must be discerning and think for ourselves. Our faith is in God, not in men!
"Now I say this, that each of you says, 'I am of Paul,' or 'I am of Apollos,' or 'I am of Christ.' Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?" 1 Corinthians 1:12-3

With all this in mind we must be vigilant in examining our own heart. Are we mindlessly eating what we're fed each day at the pulpit? Are we like Paul says: "children tossed to and fro and carried about by every wind of doctrine."

Own it.

I heard a speaker say this once about owning your faith:

"There are no grandchildren in the Kingdom of God--only sons."

No one's getting by on their parents'/pastor's/role-model's faith.