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“What will you replace it with when it’s gone?” This question has haunted me throughout the tumultuous spring on American college campuses. Yes, we have seen unrest in our country before. Protest is nothing new. But the very idea of protest, the ability to speak, is premised upon Constitutional protections. So, I return to the question. If the ideas upon which this country was established are extinguished, what then? What is the replacement for the principles formed in the democratic republic of the United States, or any nation that prizes its freedoms? But a more foundational question takes precedence. Upon what authority structure will you erect a better human government?
Here I must turn to one of the most important statements about human government in the Bible’s book of Proverbs, chapter 29 verse 18, which says in Hebrew, “Where there is no revelation, the people are unrestrained.” The word “revelation,” often translated to “vision,” is God’s disclosure of law to humans. The second part of the verse reverses the negative, making a positive statement, “Happy are people who keep God’s law.” As I have stated many times in our weekly Truth in Two series over six years, the Transcendent Authority of God is the best foundation for any culture. Why? As Proverbs indicates, without God’s objective Truth, people become unrestrained. The Hebrew word means to be “let loose,” literally to “let one’s hair down” in the sense of living a wild, undisciplined life.
So, to those who would throw off both the freedom and restraint God’s Word gives, I return to the question, “What will you replace it with when it’s gone?” And the applications for the word “it” are varied and important: what will you replace your country, your marriage, your friendship, your job, your church, your freedom with when it’s gone?”
For the Comenius Institute, this is Dr. Mark Eckel, Executive Director of the Center for Biblical Integration at Liberty University, personally seeking truth wherever it’s found. [First published at MarkEckel.com]
Discussion (7)
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Thanks for another great post!
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If one can believe the studies, Gobekli Tepe is around 11,000 years old. From wikipedia:
Those societies existed long before the U. S., long before Moses downloaded data from the Cloud using a tablet. I have no idea what governed those societies, but is there a reason humanity won't rediscover those rules?
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You don't seem to realize that inside each of us is total wonderfulness. The problem is that external stuff emanating from country, morality, religion etc imprisons the real self and is thus the source of evil. Once all that is removed and gone then the rainbow of sheer wonderfulness can emerge and we will be happy forever.
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It seems to be quite the problem for so many movements on what we tend to call "the left." They focus all their energy on tearing down that which came before them (often using the tools handed to them by what came before them), but have no idea how to build anything new or even replacement.
On those occasions when I do challenge them with something like, "And {after you destroy the existing systems] then what? What happens next?" I get "that's someone else's job" (with no concern for who that "someone else" might be), or, "well something will come up" (regardless of the lack of incentives or motivations).
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As fine a distillation of Rousseau as can be penned. Tres bien!
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