Authentic

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants:

Home

Series Code: AU

Program Code: AU000089S


00:01 - On today's episode of "Authentic,"
00:03 we're going to explore this question,
00:05 Did God actually set up the human race
00:08 for failure at the very beginning?
00:11 I really don't think you're gonna wanna miss this.
00:14 [gentle music]
00:23 [gentle music continues]
00:34 You know, it's pretty rare that we do a long,
00:36 multipart series here on the show.
00:38 I think the last time I did it was a five-parter
00:40 on where the gospels come from.
00:43 But today I'm actually onto part six of a series
00:46 where I'm attempting to answer a bunch of critical questions
00:48 about the Christian faith
00:50 that I accidentally stumbled across on social media.
00:53 Now, normally, I don't waste much time with online debates
00:57 because, let's be honest, there's no end to them.
00:59 I mean, when's the last time you ever saw someone on Twitter
01:03 or some other platform say,
01:04 "Ooh, you know, what, you were right, I guess I'm wrong"?
01:08 That doesn't happen.
01:09 And so I almost never get involved,
01:11 because social media platforms
01:13 are often just a shouting match
01:15 between people trying to play gotcha with clever comebacks.
01:19 So I almost passed on this one.
01:22 But then I reconsidered because the questions,
01:25 well, I've heard these questions a thousand times over
01:27 from all kinds of people
01:29 and I thought that some of them deserved a response.
01:32 Because while they were a little accusatory,
01:34 a little angry, and obviously biased,
01:37 they were intelligent questions.
01:40 So here's the question we're gonna tackle today,
01:42 and remember, these are questions a lady said
01:45 she would ask God if she ever got the chance.
01:48 And she said, "Why would you purposely tempt Adam and Eve?
01:51 Did you want them to fail?
01:53 I mean, when I had children, I babyproofed my house.
01:55 I didn't light a fire in the middle of my living room
01:58 and tell them not to get close to it."
02:00 Now, if you make the rounds of the religious world,
02:03 you'll find all kinds of people
02:04 who insist that this idea is true.
02:07 They'll say, "God set things up
02:09 so that Adam and Eve were guaranteed to fail,
02:13 and that somehow that was gonna be a better situation
02:16 than keeping the innocence and purity
02:18 we were originally created with."
02:21 But that's certainly not a mainstream opinion
02:24 among biblical Christians.
02:26 The "Bible" teaches that while God
02:28 absolutely created the original universe
02:30 and everything in it,
02:32 He's not responsible for the appearance
02:35 of sin and suffering.
02:37 In fact, in some instances,
02:38 the "Bible" attaches the word mystery
02:41 to the concept of sin,
02:42 like it does in 2 Thessalonians 2:7,
02:46 where Paul refers to "the mystery of lawlessness."
02:50 And I know that declaring the emergence of sin
02:52 to be a mystery seems like a little bit of a cop out.
02:56 But there really are things surrounding the concept of evil
03:00 that I'm not sure we're ever going to be able to comprehend,
03:03 at least not fully.
03:05 But there is enough data in the "Bible"
03:07 to help me talk about this
03:08 with a reasonable deal of confidence.
03:11 And I think by the time we're done
03:13 that you'll at least see the beginnings of a solid answer
03:17 to this question.
03:18 You might remember, from other shows,
03:20 a quote from a 19th century author
03:22 I've brought up a few times in the past
03:24 because it makes such incredibly good sense.
03:28 And that quote goes like this,
03:30 "it is impossible to explain the origin of sin
03:33 so as to give a reason for its existence.
03:36 Yet enough may be understood
03:37 concerning both the original and final disposition of sin
03:41 to make fully manifest the justice
03:43 and benevolence of God in all His dealings with evil.
03:46 Nothing is more plainly taught in Scripture
03:49 than that God was in no wise responsible
03:52 for the entrance of sin,
03:53 that there was no arbitrary withdrawal of divine grace,
03:56 no deficiency in the divine government,
03:59 that gave occasion for the uprising of rebellion.
04:02 Sin is an intruder,
04:04 for whose presence no reason can be given.
04:07 It is mysterious, unaccountable.
04:09 To excuse it is to defend it.
04:12 Could excuse for it be found
04:14 or cause be shown for its existence,
04:16 it would cease to be sin."
04:19 So, in other words, there is no good reason
04:23 for the emergence of sin.
04:25 You can search, and search, and search
04:27 until the cows come home,
04:28 but you're not going to find a good reason
04:31 to rebel against God.
04:33 Oh, to be sure, the human brain is really good
04:36 at justifying the things we do.
04:39 But most of us realize
04:41 that if we were asked to present our justifications
04:43 in front of God Himself,
04:46 they would melt like a snowflake on a warm sidewalk.
04:50 So now let's tackle the question itself.
04:52 Why would God make it possible to do the wrong thing?
04:56 My internet skeptic compared it to bad parenting.
04:59 She said, "Look, when my kids were little,
05:01 I babyproofed the house.
05:03 I didn't build a fire in the living room
05:05 and tell them to stay away."
05:07 Now that seems like a really good point
05:11 until you think it through.
05:13 Her argument really falls apart
05:14 when you come to the word baby,
05:17 because what the "Bible" describes in Eden
05:20 was not a couple of helpless infants.
05:22 It describes fully-developed, self-aware human beings
05:26 with the cognitive ability
05:27 to assess the world they lived in.
05:30 The reason we babyproof our houses
05:32 is because we're dealing with babies,
05:34 and that's not what we're dealing with in Genesis 3.
05:39 So it's really not a fair comparison.
05:41 And what I'd ask this skeptic, if I could,
05:44 is whether or not she wants her children
05:46 to live in a babyproofed world for the rest of their lives.
05:50 Do we really count it a success if we keep our children
05:53 completely sheltered from everything forever?
05:57 Or would we rather train them
05:58 so that they learn to recognize danger when they see it?
06:02 Every parent knows the frustration and pain
06:04 of having a child ignore their advice
06:07 and watching them get hurt precisely the way
06:10 that mom and dad were trying to prevent.
06:12 But, at the end of the day,
06:14 all you can really do is teach your children
06:16 what's right and wrong or what's safe and dangerous,
06:19 and you hope they're listening to you, why?
06:23 Well, it's all you can do
06:25 because they're autonomous people with wills of their own.
06:27 And the best you can do with autonomous individuals
06:30 is give them a warning.
06:33 Anything else would be a violation of liberty,
06:35 and honestly, a form of slavery.
06:38 When we set about having children,
06:40 most of us are hoping they'll move out one day
06:42 as well-adjusted, fully-functioning adults.
06:45 We don't really want them to stay at home forever.
06:48 And if we're good parents,
06:50 we're really not interested in raising mindless slaves.
06:53 And really, parenthood is probably the easiest way
06:57 to illustrate what happened in the story of Genesis.
07:00 You know full well that having children comes with risk.
07:04 Those kids might not love you in return.
07:06 They might ignore your advice and live their lives in a way
07:09 you know is courting disaster.
07:12 They might ultimately reject you,
07:14 and yet you want children.
07:16 You're willing to take that risk,
07:17 because another human being with free will
07:20 has the ability to love you back.
07:23 There's no such thing as a meaningful relationship
07:25 unless both parties actually have a choice.
07:29 And so what God did was create us with the capacity to love,
07:33 to love each other and to love Him.
07:36 And if we didn't have the ability to turn our backs on God,
07:39 then our relationship with Him really wouldn't mean much
07:42 because it's involuntary.
07:45 There had to be a choice.
07:47 There had to be some way that you could say no.
07:50 It was a risk that God was willing to take
07:53 because He thought that the free-will relationship
07:57 would be worth it.
07:59 What God didn't do was light a fire in the living room,
08:02 the way this skeptic put it.
08:04 There was nothing in God's creation
08:06 that was inherently dangerous.
08:08 The only obstacle to a lifelong,
08:10 meaningful relationship with God
08:12 was a matter of your choice,
08:13 and that was it.
08:16 There was nothing inherently dangerous
08:18 about the Tree of Knowledge.
08:19 There is no indication in the text
08:22 that the fruit was actually toxic.
08:24 This was all about the freedom to choose.
08:27 And right now I have the freedom to choose to take a break,
08:31 so I'll be right back after this.
08:33 [gentle music]
08:37 - [Announcer] Dragons, beasts, cryptic statues,
08:41 "Bible" prophecy can be incredibly vivid and confusing.
08:46 If you've ever read Daniel or Revelation
08:48 and come away scratching your head, you're not alone.
08:51 Our free Focus on Prophecy guides
08:54 are designed to help you unlock the mysteries of the "Bible"
08:56 and deepen your understanding of God's plan
08:59 for you and our world.
09:00 Study online or request them by mail
09:03 and start bringing prophecy into focus today.
09:06 - All right, we're talking about the fact
09:08 that God allowed us to fall into sin and rebellion
09:12 and He didn't make it impossible.
09:14 And the reason for that is not that hard to figure out.
09:16 The "Bible" defines God as love,
09:19 and it says that you and I were made in His image.
09:22 But there's no way to love someone
09:24 if you don't actually have any choice.
09:27 So right from the beginning,
09:29 God made choice available.
09:31 And I actually suspect that if Adam and Eve
09:33 had chosen to reject temptation,
09:36 eventually the need for choice would've disappeared.
09:39 Now, I don't have a specific "Bible" verse to support that,
09:42 but given the character of God
09:43 and the content of the rest of the "Bible,"
09:46 I believe that probably would've been the case.
09:49 But it's not what happened,
09:50 so that's really kind of a moot point.
09:53 So, again, did God want us to fail?
09:57 Absolutely not.
09:58 That's an idea about God
10:00 that comes from centuries of human tradition
10:03 and not from the pages of the "Bible."
10:06 A lot of people live with this unspoken assumption
10:08 that God is in the business of getting rid of us,
10:11 and the only way He's ever gonna take you into heaven
10:14 is if He has to,
10:15 if you kind of slide in through the judgment
10:17 on some kind of technicality.
10:20 But that's a mindset that came to us courtesy
10:22 of the Medieval Church where Western Christianity
10:25 tragically conflated the teachings of Christ
10:28 with the politics of the Western Roman Empire.
10:31 Where the political Roman Empire had crumbled in the West,
10:35 the church historically stepped in to fill the void,
10:38 and it became perhaps the biggest political authority
10:41 in a lot of people's lives.
10:43 And because Roman emperors and European kings
10:46 often resorted to violence to retain their power,
10:50 the people mentally put God in that same category,
10:53 because, after all, the potentates of the church
10:56 were doing that kind of thing.
10:58 Regular people were just a huge inconvenience
11:00 to the authorities.
11:02 But they were also a key source of revenue,
11:04 and so they could fund the army,
11:05 so kings kind of tolerated the peasants.
11:10 You might remember that old comic strip, "The Wizard of Id,"
11:12 where someone shouts, "The peasants are revolting!"
11:15 And the king, without even looking out his window,
11:17 says, "You could say that again." [chuckles]
11:19 The reason it's funny
11:22 is because there's a kernel of truth to it.
11:24 The nobility of Europe barely tolerated the serfs
11:27 because of the advantages that came with being a landowner.
11:31 But loved the serfs?
11:33 That was so rare that we still find a lot of fairytales
11:36 from yesteryear featuring a good king
11:39 who actually cared about people.
11:41 It was so rare it was considered extraordinary.
11:45 I mean, think about it,
11:46 we still sing about "Good King Wenceslas,"
11:48 who ventured out on the Feast of Stephen
11:50 out into the cold winter
11:52 where he discovers a poor man trying to find enough firewood
11:55 to keep himself warm.
11:57 And so the king decides that this is unacceptable
12:00 and makes sure a feast is delivered to the peasants hovel.
12:05 It's a really old story about the Duke of Bohemia
12:08 dating back more than 1,000 years.
12:10 And whether or not the story's true,
12:13 it was meant to celebrate a monarch who cared about people.
12:17 So think about that.
12:19 We've been commemorating this guy now
12:21 for more than a thousand years,
12:24 and you'd have to think long and hard
12:26 to find other examples of that kind of royal generosity.
12:30 That's how rare it was.
12:34 So when we began to conflate church and state,
12:37 we started to think that God must be like the tyrants
12:40 who lived on the hill in the castle
12:42 and the bishops who lived sumptuously
12:44 while the rest of us starved.
12:46 Now, that's not the whole picture, not even by a long shot.
12:49 We also have to factor in the pagan ideas
12:52 that made huge inroads during the Medieval period,
12:56 which led many people to think of the God of Abraham
12:59 as if he was one of the gods of Mount Olympus,
13:01 this unpleasant deity who toyed with human beings for fun.
13:06 But you know?
13:06 Whatever the influence,
13:08 we really did come out of that Medieval period
13:11 with this horrible picture of God.
13:13 And so to this day, we have a lot of people
13:16 assuming that God doesn't want us,
13:18 He's trying to keep us out of His kingdom.
13:21 And to be really honest,
13:23 I still hear a lot of 21st century preachers
13:26 saying that kind of stuff
13:28 instead of showing us the God that you actually find
13:31 in the pages of the "Bible."
13:33 So let's slow down now for a moment
13:35 and look at what the authors of this book actually said.
13:39 "For God so loved the world," it says in John 3:16,
13:43 "that He gave His only son,
13:45 that whoever believes in Him should not perish,
13:47 but have eternal life."
13:50 So now ask yourself,
13:52 why in the world would God make that kind of sacrifice
13:56 if He didn't want you?
13:58 Or consider this one,
14:00 it's one of my favorites found in Romans 5.
14:03 It says, "For while we were still weak,
14:06 at the right time Christ died for the ungodly."
14:09 For who? The ungodly.
14:12 "For one will scarcely die for a righteous person,
14:15 though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die.
14:19 But God shows His love for us
14:21 in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
14:26 Honestly, it's hard to think of God
14:28 as cruel and vindictive when you stop to read
14:30 what the "Bible" actually says.
14:33 I mean, consider what Paul just said.
14:36 God didn't wait until we were good enough to save
14:39 because He knew that was never gonna happen.
14:41 He didn't wait until we proved ourselves
14:43 before He laid down his life.
14:45 He did it while we were still lost in sin
14:48 doing the very things that hurt Him the most.
14:52 I mean, let's just be honest.
14:54 While we know that Christ died to save us,
14:57 we also know that the act of murdering Him
15:00 was the peak of our sin and rebellion.
15:02 And even then, at that moment, we find Christ saying,
15:05 "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
15:10 So now stop for a moment and let's reassess the charge
15:14 that my internet skeptic brought against God.
15:17 "Why would you purposely tempt Adam and Eve?
15:20 Did you want them to fail?"
15:23 The answer is no, absolutely not.
15:27 You don't go to all those incredibly painful lengths
15:29 to save people that you set up to fail.
15:32 It doesn't add up.
15:34 God did not create this world as a painful trial
15:37 that you need to pass through in order to be good with Him.
15:40 In fact, the "Bible" says the day He created us,
15:43 the human race, He stepped back and noticed
15:46 that what He made was, and I quote, "very good."
15:50 At the end of every other day, He said it was good.
15:54 But the day he made us, very good.
15:57 So why in the world would He wanna change that?
16:00 Why would He make this world something less
16:02 than He was capable of making?
16:05 Why would a God whose character is defined by love
16:07 deliberately create a world of pain?
16:10 And the answer is He didn't.
16:13 But He did create us with choice,
16:15 because without it,
16:16 we would never be capable of experiencing love
16:19 the way that God planned.
16:21 There would be no profound relationships,
16:23 no fulfilling interactions with each other,
16:25 no meaning to our existence.
16:29 Without the possibility of choice
16:31 it would've been a completely empty existence,
16:33 nothing more than cosmic slavery.
16:38 And so He took the risk because He thought it was worth it.
16:41 And while I absolutely abhor the choices we made,
16:44 the wreck we made out of God's creation,
16:46 I'm still glad He took the risk.
16:49 Because even though we now have to live in considerable pain
16:52 and we've almost completely eradicated
16:54 the image of God from this world,
16:57 I'm still free to love.
16:59 And I'm still free, thanks to the gift of the cross,
17:01 to build a meaningful relationship with a personal God,
17:05 a God who is willing to give His very life for me.
17:09 And did God babyproof the Garden of Eden?
17:11 Yeah, in a way He did.
17:13 It's not as if He simply set the whole thing in motion
17:15 and let the first people guess what that tree was for.
17:19 He told us point blank,
17:20 "Look, you're free to do what you want.
17:22 But if you go down this path
17:24 and willfully disconnect yourself from the only source
17:27 of life in the universe,
17:29 it's going to lead to pain, and suffering, and death."
17:34 Look, if you read the "Bible" carefully,
17:36 you'll notice that the real issue
17:39 was whether or not God can be trusted.
17:41 And wouldn't you know it,
17:43 the skeptic's question implies that He can't be trusted,
17:46 and that's really the biggest question in the world today.
17:49 With all the pain, with all the disappointment
17:51 that we suffer every single day,
17:53 can we really trust God?
17:56 I'll be right back after this to explore
17:58 that question just a little bit more.
18:00 [gentle music]
18:04 - [Announcer] Life can throw a lot at us.
18:06 Sometimes we don't have all the answers,
18:10 but that's where the "Bible" comes in.
18:12 It's our guide to a more fulfilling life.
18:15 Here at the Voice of Prophecy,
18:17 we've created the Discover "Bible" guides
18:19 to be your guide to the "Bible."
18:20 They're designed to be simple, easy to use,
18:23 and provide answers to many of life's toughest questions,
18:26 and they're absolutely free.
18:28 So jump online now or give us a call
18:30 and start your journey of discovery.
18:34 - Let me show you something really interesting
18:35 in the book of 2 Timothy,
18:37 which was addressed to a young preacher
18:39 the Apostle Paul knew and loved,
18:41 and showed a keen interest in helping.
18:44 He's talking about the suffering that he's had to endure
18:47 as a missionary and a preacher,
18:49 suffering that Paul expected
18:51 because the world he preached in is at odds with God.
18:54 And anybody who picks up the cause of Christ
18:56 is bound to experience a little friction.
19:00 Actually, friction is a pretty mild word
19:02 for what Paul had to endure,
19:04 because he was actually left for dead at one point
19:07 by a mob that really hated him.
19:09 So now listen to what he wrote,
19:10 because I find this very interesting,
19:13 he says, "Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony
19:17 about our Lord, nor of me, his prisoner,
19:20 but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God
19:23 who saved us and called us to a holy calling,
19:26 not because of our works,
19:28 but because of His own purpose and grace,
19:30 which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
19:34 and which now has been manifested
19:36 through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ."
19:40 So let me pause right here and point out something
19:42 that many people miss,
19:44 God intended to save us and bring us into His kingdom,
19:48 Paul says, "Before the ages began."
19:51 In other words, even before He made us,
19:54 He'd already made plans for what to do
19:56 if we made the wrong choice.
19:58 That's why in Revelation 13:8,
20:00 you find mention of the Book of Life
20:02 and the lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world.
20:07 The plan to save us was already there
20:10 the very moment we were created.
20:13 So it's not really a matter of God wanting us to fail.
20:17 What He did was create us
20:18 with the fullest potential for joy,
20:20 and He had a safety net in place just in case.
20:25 And that was a safety net
20:26 that came at a very high cost to God Himself,
20:29 it meant the life of his only son.
20:31 Now back to 2 Timothy 1, it continues,
20:35 "Which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
20:39 and which now has been manifested
20:41 through the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ,
20:44 who abolished death and brought life and immortality
20:47 to light through the gospel,
20:49 for which I was appointed a preacher,
20:51 and apostle, and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do."
20:56 Now, here comes the most important part for today,
20:59 "But I am not ashamed," he writes,
21:01 "for I know whom I have believed,
21:03 and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that day
21:06 which has been entrusted to me."
21:09 So here's what I want you to notice,
21:12 This was written by a man who had suffered terribly
21:15 and still he trusts the God of the "Bible."
21:18 This was such a profound thought
21:20 that inspired one of the greatest hymns
21:22 of the Christian Church written in 1883.
21:25 You probably know it, it goes like this,
21:27 "I know not why God's wondrous grace
21:31 to me He hath made known,
21:33 nor why, unworthy, Christ in love redeemed me for His own.
21:38 But I know whom I have believed
21:41 and am persuaded that He is able
21:43 to keep that which I've committed unto Him
21:47 against that day."
21:49 That is the ultimate expression of trust.
21:53 There was nothing in the Apostle Paul's life
21:55 to suggest that he was headed to anything good.
21:58 His life was hard, and he ended up in prison,
22:00 and then he died when the Roman Empire beheaded him.
22:04 But in spite of all that,
22:06 in spite of the hardship he endured,
22:08 he trusted the God of the "Bible" with his future.
22:12 And that's the universal witness
22:14 of the people who wrote this book.
22:16 Really, it's completely impossible
22:18 to read the "Bible" honestly and come to the conclusion
22:21 that God somehow intended for us to fail.
22:24 That might make good cult theology,
22:26 and I know a cult that teaches that,
22:29 but it doesn't make for good biblical theology.
22:32 In this book, we have page, after page,
22:35 after page of God's incredibly good intentions toward you.
22:38 I mean, just consider what it says
22:40 in my wife's favorite verse,
22:42 and this was written in the context of God's people
22:44 going horribly astray
22:46 and having to live with the consequences
22:48 of some really bad choices.
22:50 In fact, they were told to settle down
22:53 in Babylonian captivity
22:55 because they were gonna be there for a while,
22:57 70 years in fact.
22:59 But then listen to this from Jeremiah 29,
23:03 "For thus says the Lord,
23:05 'When 70 years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you,
23:09 and I will fulfill to you my promise
23:11 and bring you back to this place.
23:13 For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord,
23:16 'plans for welfare and not for evil,
23:18 to give you a future and a hope.
23:21 Then you will call upon me
23:23 and come and pray to me, and I will hear you.
23:25 You will seek for me and find me,
23:27 when you seek for me with all your heart.'"
23:31 God wants us to fail?
23:33 No, hardly.
23:35 The only way you could come to that conclusion
23:37 is to build your ideas about God on what people tell you,
23:41 because that's not a picture you'll find in this book.
23:44 I'll be right back after this.
23:46 [gentle music]
23:49 - [Announcer] Here at the Voice of Prophecy,
23:50 we're committed to creating top-quality programming
23:53 for the whole family.
23:54 Like our audio adventure series, "Discovery Mountain."
23:58 "Discovery Mountain" is a "Bible"-based program
24:00 for kids of all ages and backgrounds.
24:02 Your family will enjoy the faith-building stories
24:05 from this small mountain summer camp and town.
24:08 With 24 seasonal episodes every year
24:10 and fresh content every week,
24:13 there's always a new adventure just on the horizon.
24:16 [gentle music]
24:19 - You know, the problem of evil
24:20 is one of the biggest questions in the world.
24:22 In fact, I've seen a lot of modern philosophers,
24:26 people like Susan Neiman, suggest that the problem of evil
24:29 is really the underlying question
24:32 behind every philosophical pursuit of all time.
24:36 So to think that I'm gonna fully satisfy
24:39 a critic's accusations against God in half an hour,
24:43 now that's wishful thinking.
24:45 But I will say this,
24:47 if you're honest with the biblical text
24:50 and you actually take the time to read the whole thing,
24:54 you're gonna find the idea that God set us up for failure
24:57 completely untenable.
24:59 It's just not in here.
25:01 If anything, you're gonna discover that God
25:03 went out of His way to set us up for success,
25:07 and He did that without taking away our right to choose.
25:13 So, again, maybe think of this in terms of parenthood,
25:16 if that's helpful.
25:18 When we first start our families,
25:20 we have all kinds of hopes and dreams for our children.
25:22 In fact, we want the very best for them.
25:26 We create promising situations.
25:28 We take them to soccer practice or to music lessons,
25:31 or to whatever it is they happen to show an interest in,
25:35 sometimes to the point
25:36 of loading our kids down with way too much.
25:40 But the reason we do it,
25:42 we're trying to set them up for success.
25:44 I mean, from the day we bring these babies
25:47 home from the hospital,
25:48 we're out there buying those "Mozart for Babies" albums
25:51 because somewhere we read
25:53 that it helps a baby's mental development.
25:55 Whether or not that's true, I have no idea,
25:58 but I know a lot of you did it just in case it works.
26:03 You help your kids with their homework.
26:05 You help them prepare for their ACTs or the SATs
26:08 because, well, you want them to win scholarships
26:11 and get into good colleges.
26:13 You spend countless, white-knuckled hours in a car
26:16 teaching your kids to drive.
26:18 You invest in teaching them right from wrong
26:21 trying to prepare them for the brutal reality
26:24 of living in this painful and broken world.
26:28 And then, comes the day when they pull away from the house,
26:34 maybe for the last time,
26:35 and you send up a little prayer
26:37 that your kids are gonna be okay.
26:40 You launch them and you want them to succeed.
26:43 But you also know that they're free agents,
26:46 real people with real choices,
26:48 and there's the very distinct possibility
26:51 that they're gonna make some bad decisions
26:53 that cause them pain.
26:55 Yet in spite of that, you don't lock them in your house
26:58 hoping to prevent the pain,
26:59 not if you're a decent and reasonable parent.
27:02 You take that risk and you set them free,
27:06 because that's the only way
27:08 they're gonna find a meaningful existence.
27:11 And that's what we have in the "Bible."
27:13 A heavenly Father setting His full-grown children free.
27:18 The analogy of babyproofing your house just doesn't apply.
27:21 That's a false equivalence.
27:23 And here's the thing,
27:25 even though we made a horrible mess of this world,
27:27 God still protects your right to choose.
27:29 Instead of wiping us out,
27:31 instead of starting all over with a clean slate,
27:34 He waits for us hoping we'll accept the path
27:38 out of this mess, the only path, which is Christ.
27:43 Thanks for joining me today.
27:45 I'm Shawn Boonstra, and you've been watching "Authentic."
27:49 [gentle music]
27:58 [gentle music continues]
28:08 [gentle music continues]
28:18 [gentle music continues]
28:28 [gentle music ending]


Home

Revised 2023-11-16