Participants:
Series Code: AU
Program Code: AU000135S
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00:00 - Are you always the same person,
00:02 even when nobody's looking? 00:04 If you knew for sure you could do anything you wanted to do 00:07 and never ever get caught, 00:09 what would that thing be? 00:11 That's our topic today on "Authentic." 00:14 [upbeat music] 00:35 Gene and I recently took a trip to the city of Athens, 00:37 which of course is one of those 00:39 historically important places 00:41 where thoughts and culture actually went viral 00:44 thousands of years ago. 00:46 And to a large extent, 00:48 you and I still think like those ancient Greeks, 00:50 because the writings of the Greek philosophers 00:52 played such a critical role 00:54 in the development of our civilization. 00:57 For example, it had a profound impact on the growth 01:01 of the Christian Church. 01:02 In the beginning, 01:04 when the Christians started to contrast biblical thought 01:07 with the ideas of the Greeks 01:08 and then again later as we moved 01:10 into the fourth and fifth centuries, 01:12 when there was an awful lot of effort 01:14 by some Christians to harmonize their thinking 01:17 with Pagan thinking. 01:19 And that kind of was both a good and bad development, 01:23 depending on how you look at it. 01:25 You see, on one hand, 01:27 Christianity really took root in the Greek based cultures, 01:31 which was quite a feat 01:32 because if you remember, 01:33 Paul said the gospel was a really tough thing 01:36 for a Greek mind to accept. 01:39 "For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom," he wrote. 01:43 "But we preached Christ crucified, 01:45 a stumbling block to Jews 01:47 and folly to Gentiles." 01:51 The the ancient Greeks didn't really see the wisdom in a God 01:54 who became human and then sacrificed himself. 01:58 And of course, Paul knew what he was talking about. 02:00 Over beside the Acropolis in the city of Athens, 02:03 there's a big outcropping of rock that overlooks 02:06 the ruins of the ancient city. 02:08 When you stand on it, 02:09 you're in the shadow of the Parthenon, 02:11 and you can see the temple of Hephaestus, 02:13 one of the best preserved ruins of the city. 02:16 This rock itself is known as Mars Hill or the Areopagus. 02:21 And this is the spot where Paul spent a day 02:23 trying to convince a bunch of Greek philosophers 02:26 that they were actually inadvertently 02:29 worshiping the one true God. 02:31 And while Paul found a handful of converts that day, 02:34 it was pretty tough going. 02:36 For the gospel to make its way into Greek 02:38 or Pagan culture was, well, to put it bluntly, 02:41 not very likely. 02:43 And of course, even though adapting the teachings 02:45 of the Bible to a local culture can be a good thing, 02:48 because I mean, the Bible is a message 02:51 designed for all people in all times, 02:54 sometimes I think we've gone too far 02:57 and we end up compromising, 02:58 distorting what the scriptures actually say. 03:01 A really notable example of this 03:03 is the way that ancient Christians took Greek ideas 03:05 about the afterlife 03:06 and imported them into the Christian Church, 03:08 to the point where we really still haven't 03:10 freed ourselves from some of those imported ideas. 03:14 A lot of the imagery that you and I use 03:16 to talk about things like death or the afterlife 03:19 aren't actually found in the Bible. 03:21 And over the last few years, 03:23 I've spent a lot of time 03:24 looking at some of those importations. 03:28 Now just in case you missed that, 03:29 you can look for a copy of this little book 03:31 called "Draining the Styx," 03:33 which takes a really good look 03:35 at how our thinking about death has changed 03:37 over the last 2000 years. 03:39 You can find this book by going to vop.com 03:42 and just clicking on the store link. 03:45 But you know, for today, 03:47 I wanna move on to another story 03:48 that comes from the city of Athens 03:51 because it raises some really good questions 03:54 about what it means to live a good and moral life. 03:58 And I think it's really important that we do this 04:00 because we've come to a point 04:01 where people are questioning 04:03 whether or not there really 04:04 is a right or a wrong way to live. 04:06 We seem to have adopted this idea 04:09 that there is no such thing as objective morality. 04:13 But you know, I've noticed 04:14 that when you actually press somebody to explain that, 04:18 that thinking starts to fall apart. 04:20 There are things that pretty much everybody still 04:22 considers to be universally wrong. 04:26 Even today's college undergrads 04:28 who say there is no objective morality still 04:30 somehow how and protest 04:32 when it comes to wrong behavior like racism or sexism. 04:37 We all seem to know those things are objectively wrong. 04:41 Which brings me to the Greek story I wanna look at today. 04:44 Most of you were probably forced 04:46 to read Plato's "Republic" in school, 04:48 and I still have the copy I was required to buy 04:52 as a first year philosophy student. 04:54 Now personally, I tend to favor Aristotle over Plato, 04:58 but I'm still glad I was forced to read this 05:00 because this book played such an important part 05:03 in the development of our culture. 05:06 At the beginning of book two, 05:08 we find this guy named Glaucon 05:09 who tells the story of Gyges the Shepherd, 05:12 a man who wandered into a cave 05:14 that suddenly appeared after an earthquake. 05:17 And in the cave he discovered the corpse 05:19 of an ancient giant wearing a ring. 05:21 He figured that the dead giant no longer needed the ring 05:24 because after all, he's dead. 05:26 So Gyges took it. 05:27 Then later on at his monthly shepherds meeting, 05:30 he was playing with the ring, twisting it this way 05:32 and that until it suddenly made him invisible. 05:35 Now this was in the day before DNA testing 05:37 or fingerprinting. 05:39 So Mr. Gyges realized that he could now do really bad things 05:42 and probably get away with it. 05:44 So what did he do? 05:45 He made his way to the palace 05:46 where he had an affair with the queen and murdered the king. 05:50 And of course, it's just a story. 05:52 It's an ancient thought experiment. 05:53 It didn't actually happen because 05:56 you and I both know there's no such thing 05:58 as a ring of invisibility. 06:00 But it does raise some really important questions. 06:03 For example, what would you do if you knew for sure 06:06 that nobody would ever know? 06:08 Nobody's ever gonna see you, 06:09 nobody's ever going to know you did it, 06:11 and you would be completely invisible. 06:15 Now, I'll admit that when I was a kid, 06:17 I dreamed up all kinds of things I could do 06:18 if I was invisible. 06:20 I'd sneak into people's houses 06:22 and listen to their conversations, 06:23 or I'd walk into a bookstore or some other shop 06:26 and just take whatever I wanted. 06:28 I could walk into the Oval Office and sit on the couch 06:32 and listen to the President's conversations 06:34 with foreign heads of state. 06:35 I could go places where kids were forbidden 06:39 and nobody would ever know. 06:41 Now, of course, I'm not really condoning any of this, 06:44 I'm just being honest 06:45 and telling you that those thoughts crossed my mind 06:48 when I was little. 06:49 Truth be told, I was about eight years old 06:51 and I learned about such things 06:52 from reading "Lord of the Rings" 06:54 where Mr. Tolkien described the downfall 06:57 of a hobbit named Smeagol 06:58 who murdered someone to obtain a ring of invisibility. 07:02 But owning it actually turned him 07:04 into such a hideous creature 07:06 that he had to go live in isolation. 07:08 Now I don't know for sure that Mr. Tolkien 07:11 lifted that idea from the ancient story of Gyges, 07:14 but I'd be very surprised if he didn't. 07:16 Because Lord of the Rings is saturated 07:19 with imagery from ancient paganism. 07:21 It's more Celtic and Teutonic than it is Greek. 07:24 But I still have little doubt 07:26 that we can think Plato forgiving Tolkien 07:29 the idea about that ring. 07:31 And of course, it would be good to know 07:33 what the point of this Gyges story really is. 07:38 Plato didn't include it in his work 07:40 just to amuse his audience with an ancient fairytale. 07:43 He was making a really important point. 07:46 As Glaucon finished the story of the invisible shepherd, 07:49 he suggested that everybody 07:52 would behave exactly the same as Gyges 07:54 if they had a ring that made them invisible. 07:56 "Give an unjust man a ring like that 07:59 and he'll do horrible things just like you'd expect. 08:02 But give a just man that same ring," he argued, 08:06 "and you get the same result." 08:07 He's gonna stop being just and start doing bad things. 08:13 "And in so doing," he argued, 08:15 "one would act no differently from the other, 08:17 but both would go the same way. 08:19 And yet, someone could say that this is a great proof 08:23 that no one is willingly just, 08:25 but only when compelled to be so." 08:28 In other words, 08:30 he's saying that human beings are only good 08:32 if we're forced to be good. 08:34 I'll be right back after this. 08:37 [upbeat music] 08:40 - [Narrator] Here at The Voice of Prophecy, 08:41 we're committed to creating top quality programming 08:44 for the whole family. 08:45 Like our audio adventure series, "Discovery Mountain." 08:48 "Discovery Mountain" is a Bible-based program 08:51 for kids of all ages and backgrounds. 08:53 Your family will enjoy the faith building stories 08:56 from this small mountain summer camp and town. 08:59 With 24 seasonal episodes every year 09:01 and fresh content every week, 09:04 there's always a new adventure just on the horizon. 09:07 [upbeat piano music] 09:10 - Right before the break, 09:11 we were discussing the story of Gyges, 09:13 this humble shepherd who discovered an invisibility ring, 09:17 and he used it to do things he'd never do 09:19 if somebody was actually watching. 09:22 Plato included that story in "The Republic" 09:24 as a way of exploring the nature of justice and morality. 09:28 The argument that one of his characters makes 09:30 is that you and I only behave in a just 09:32 and moral fashion if we're forced to. 09:37 And of course, that does raise a really big question. 09:40 Is morality really just a matter of coercion? 09:43 I mean, if you look at the way we've structured our society, 09:46 you'd almost have to think that Glaucon had a point. 09:49 I mean, we've got laws for absolutely everything, 09:52 and they're designed to keep people 09:54 from harming or taking advantage of others. 09:57 And if human beings were naturally good, 10:00 why would we need so many laws? 10:03 Why would we need harsh penalties 10:05 to prevent crimes like theft or murder? 10:08 Why do we have to keep going back to the drawing board 10:10 every time somebody finds a new loophole in our laws? 10:13 And why do people try so hard 10:16 to find those loopholes in the first place? 10:19 I mean, let's take the example of a computer hacker. 10:22 In the early days of personal computing, 10:24 it really wasn't that hard to cause problems. 10:27 I remember when I was a high school student, 10:30 there was this piece of software called Locksmith, 10:33 which allowed you to make copies of protected software. 10:36 That in itself is an illustration of what I'm getting at. 10:40 It was illegal to steal software, 10:43 and somebody went to great lengths 10:45 to circumvent those protections. 10:47 But then a friend and I took it one step further, 10:49 we made a phony copy of Locksmith 10:52 that looked like it was making a copy of some software, 10:55 but in reality, 10:57 it was quietly destroying all the data on every drive 11:00 in your entire system. 11:03 Now of course, at 14 years of age, 11:05 we figured that was really funny, 11:06 and we also figured it was just deserved 11:08 for anybody out there trying to break the law. 11:11 In reality, we were just being teenage jerks, 11:14 laughing as we imagine the faces of the people 11:17 who suddenly realized they just lost everything. 11:22 But here's the real point. 11:23 Back in the beginning of personal computing, 11:25 somebody like me could cause trouble 11:27 because home computers were really pretty simple. 11:30 Move forward 40 years though, 11:32 and it becomes a lot more sophisticated. 11:35 Why? 11:36 Well, it's because of the sheer determination of evil doers. 11:39 Every time we find a way to make our computers more secure, 11:43 there's always somebody out there who finds a workaround. 11:46 And every time you figure out 11:47 how to keep your identity safe, 11:49 someone's going to find a new way to steal it. 11:53 But those are evil people, right? 11:55 And you would never do it. 11:57 Except that, remember, 11:59 Plato argued that everybody would do these things 12:01 if they could, if there were no constraints. 12:04 Invisibility allows you to break the law 12:07 and get away with it 12:08 and it also allows you to circumvent social pressure. 12:12 If nobody knows you're doing something wrong, 12:14 then they can't use shame to make you feel uncomfortable. 12:19 Now all of this raises a really important question, 12:21 and that question is this, who are you? 12:24 I mean, really. 12:25 Are you exactly the same person when nobody's looking? 12:28 Or is your public persona different 12:30 from your private one because of social pressure? 12:34 What would you do if you couldn't be caught? 12:37 Or what would you do if you possess so much power 12:41 that nobody could stop you? 12:43 Tragically, we don't have to look all that far 12:45 to actually find those kinds of people. 12:49 I mean, take the case of authoritarians and dictators. 12:52 They start out by lying, 12:53 telling people they want to improve life for everybody. 12:56 And as long as they need people to stay in power, 12:59 they keep making those kinds of promises, 13:01 and they might even keep some of them. 13:03 But if they get to the place 13:05 where their power is completely secure, 13:07 you're likely gonna see their behavior suddenly change. 13:10 It just seems there's this essential flaw 13:13 in our human character that takes over as soon 13:15 as legal and social constraints disappear. 13:19 Sometimes these people promise 13:21 to make society more equitable, 13:22 hoping you'll support their rise to power, 13:25 and then they succeed 13:26 by making everybody equally poor and miserable 13:29 while they themselves become incredibly wealthy. 13:32 High ranking party members get a really good life. 13:35 They have cars and nice houses 13:37 and a great deal more freedom 13:39 than the little people they govern. 13:41 It's a little bit like that ring of invisibility. 13:43 Once these people achieve enough power 13:45 to shield themselves from consequences, 13:48 well, they can do whatever they want, 13:50 at least until the uprising happens. 13:53 This is the reason the founders of this nation 13:55 had to create so many checks and balances. 13:57 It's because they knew the truth 13:59 about our fallen human nature. 14:01 They knew how the human heart works. 14:04 But in spite of that, 14:06 you'll notice that when somebody's 14:07 out on the campaign trail, 14:08 they're usually making an awful lot of promises. 14:11 Yet, once they achieve enough power 14:13 to feel secure in their post, 14:15 everything seems to change. 14:16 It's no longer about you. 14:18 And honestly that's not a comment 14:20 on any particular political party or government. 14:23 It's just the way it usually goes. 14:25 Now again, I'm not a fan of Plato, 14:28 but he does raise some very important questions. 14:32 We might publicly protest that we would always, 14:35 always, always do the right thing even 14:37 if we knew we wouldn't get caught. 14:39 But do you really believe that? 14:41 I mean, you might not start with murdering your enemies. 14:44 The beginning might be a little more innocuous. 14:47 Let's say it's something really small. 14:49 You pull up to an automated toll on the highway, 14:51 one of those older ones with the coin basket, 14:54 and you don't quite have enough coins to pay the toll, 14:58 but the barricades open somehow. 15:00 And you know nobody's ever gonna catch you. 15:02 I mean, ever. 15:04 And maybe you even tell yourself you'll mail the money in 15:06 the moment you get home. 15:08 But of course, doing that requires a lot of effort, 15:10 and it just seems really easy to forget. 15:14 How sure are you that you would never cheat? 15:17 And I mean, absolutely never. 15:20 The problem is that it's that our unaided human judgment 15:24 is radically flawed. 15:25 "There is a way that seems right to a man," the Bible says, 15:29 "but its end is the way of death." 15:32 Even when you think you know the right thing to do, 15:35 your perception is tainted by your selfish orientation. 15:39 You see in the scriptures, 15:41 sin is not just a list of forbidden activities. 15:43 It's actually a fundamental flaw in your human makeup. 15:47 All of us are somewhat morally colorblind. 15:51 Our selfish disposition keeps us from truly understanding 15:54 just how awful sin really is. 15:58 Of course, we don't have a lot of trouble 16:00 spotting sin in other people though, do we? 16:02 In fact, we often hyperbolize how wrong somebody else is. 16:06 But at the same time, 16:08 we have this tendency to downplay our own transgressions 16:11 When somebody else does something, 16:13 "Wow, that's horrible." 16:15 But when we do it, 16:16 well, there always seems to be a reason you had to do it. 16:19 So I guess in some ways that means 16:21 that you and I are already wearing an invisibility ring. 16:25 It's not actually hiding you from other people, 16:27 it's hiding you from yourself. 16:30 It's taking the very worst parts of your character 16:32 and obscuring them to the point where, 16:35 well, you think they're great. 16:37 I mean, if you're unnecessarily argumentative and combative, 16:40 you just tell yourself you're in search of the truth. 16:43 If you're rude to people without justification, 16:45 you convince yourself that you're doing them a favor 16:48 or teaching them a lesson. 16:49 If you cheat on your taxes, 16:51 you tell yourself, 16:52 well, that's okay because the government 16:54 was already stealing from me. 16:56 I mean, I think you get the point. 16:59 Now, it's just about time for another break. 17:01 So let me tell you what we're gonna do. 17:03 I'm gonna show you a remarkable passage from the Bible 17:06 that vividly describes 17:07 why we're so attracted to the wrong things 17:10 and gives us a really good reason 17:12 to behave in a moral way even when nobody's looking. 17:16 And oddly enough, 17:18 it's a passage that a Greek philosopher 17:20 probably would've loved 17:21 because it describes the importance of pursuing wisdom, 17:24 which was the Greeks' number one obsession. 17:27 But I only have time to kick that ball 17:29 down the field right now. 17:30 So I'm gonna take a really quick break, 17:32 and that means I'll have a few seconds 17:35 where you can't see me and I can do whatever I want. 17:39 I'll be right back after this. 17:42 [upbeat music] 17:45 - [Narrator] Life can throw a lot at us. 17:47 Sometimes we don't have all the answers, 17:51 but that's where the Bible comes in. 17:53 It's our guide to a more fulfilling life. 17:56 Here at The Voice of Prophecy, 17:58 we've created the Discover Bible guides 18:00 to be your guide to the Bible. 18:01 They're designed to be simple, easy to use, 18:04 and provide answers to many of life's toughest questions, 18:07 and they're absolutely free. 18:09 So jump online now or give us a call 18:11 and start your journey of discovery. 18:14 - The first thing I do every day early in the morning 18:17 is to slip into my little study by our bedroom 18:19 and spend some time reading my Bible. 18:22 And recently I was working my way 18:25 through the Book of Proverbs, 18:26 which has some passages 18:28 that would've really resonated with the Greeks. 18:30 You see, the Greeks personified the concept of wisdom 18:34 as Sophia, 18:36 which is how philosophy actually got its name. 18:38 It's Philo or love, combined with Sophia, 18:41 which is wisdom or knowledge. 18:43 Philosophy is literally the love of wisdom. 18:47 And the Book of Proverbs kind of uses 18:50 some of the same imagery to teach us about God's wisdom. 18:53 The Bible describes wisdom as a woman 18:55 who calls to us invites us, 18:58 but then it tells us we have another suitor, 19:01 a seductress who wants to indulge 19:03 in selfish desires instead. 19:05 So in Proverbs chapter five, 19:08 we find some advice that on the surface 19:10 appears to be about marriage, 19:13 and it's really good advice. 19:14 It's telling us to be faithful to our spouses, 19:17 but then warns us of the terrible consequences 19:20 that follow infidelity. 19:22 On the surface, 19:23 it seems to be talking about sexual purity, 19:26 but at the same time, 19:28 it's telling us to be faithful to the wisdom of God. 19:31 Let's just read a little bit of this. 19:32 Starting at the top of Proverbs, chapter five, 19:35 where it says, 19:36 "My son, be attentive to my wisdom. 19:39 Incline your ear to my understanding, 19:41 that you may keep discretion 19:43 and your lips may guard knowledge." 19:46 So let's think about the fact that this wise King 19:48 is being so very careful to tell his son to be wise. 19:53 And if the world wasn't a morally dangerous place, 19:55 I mean, think about this, 19:57 he wouldn't have to give that advice. 19:59 But the king knows the same thing Jesus taught. 20:02 The narrow road to the kingdom is much more difficult 20:05 than the wide and easy road that leads to death. 20:09 He continues with a vivid description 20:11 of just how attractive bad thinking can seem. 20:15 "He says, for the lips of a forbidden woman drip honey, 20:19 and her speech is smoother than oil. 20:22 But in the end, she is bitter as wormwood, 20:24 sharp as a two-edged sword. 20:26 Her feet go down to death. 20:28 Her steps follow the path to Sheol. 20:30 She does not ponder the path of life. 20:33 Her ways wander and she does not know it." 20:36 So in a way this is kind of another invisibility ring. 20:40 The wise man is telling us 20:42 that the price of wicked living 20:43 is much, much higher than you think it is, 20:46 and someone has made the price tag invisible. 20:51 The wrong decision can be very attractive 20:53 because it serves our selfish impulses, 20:55 but it's always gonna leave a really 20:57 bad taste in your mouth. 21:00 "Wickedness," the wise man tells us, 21:02 "does not ponder the path of life." 21:05 You see, your life is supposed to follow a designated path. 21:09 There is a reason for your existence 21:11 and a goal for you to obtain 21:13 in the time that you have on this planet. 21:15 Godly wisdom gives you a safe path 21:18 through a morally hazardous landscape, 21:20 and it provides deep and lasting satisfaction 21:22 because you're now living the way 21:24 that humanity was designed to live. 21:27 You're actually living an authentic life. 21:31 But when you and I cave into our baser instincts 21:33 when we live as if we're never gonna have 21:35 to answer for our crimes, 21:37 that actually robs our life of purpose. 21:40 Wicked behavior never takes into account 21:42 the path you were supposed to walk 21:44 or the destination you're supposed to arrive at. 21:47 It's completely blind and meaningless. 21:50 You might accomplish some tiny selfish purpose 21:53 in the short run, 21:55 but you'll be wondering in immoral wilderness, 21:57 wondering why your life is so, well, disappointing. 22:03 By contrast, here's what we find in the previous chapter 22:05 where it says, "Get wisdom, get insight. 22:08 Do not forget, 22:10 and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. 22:12 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you, 22:15 love her and she will guard you. 22:17 The beginning of wisdom is this, 22:19 get wisdom and whatever you get, get insight. 22:23 Prize her highly and she will exalt you. 22:25 She will honor you if you embrace her. 22:27 She will place on your head a graceful garland. 22:31 She will bestow on you a beautiful crown." 22:35 It's telling us that godly wisdom will help you 22:37 find the meaning of life. 22:39 It's not the easy path, 22:40 which is why we're told we have to pursue it 22:43 to fight our animal instincts, 22:46 but it will be worth it, the Bible promises. 22:48 It says, "She will bestow on you 22:50 a beautiful crown." 22:52 So if you think about it, 22:53 the Book of Proverbs actually affirms 22:56 what Glaucon was saying. 22:58 All of us behave badly if nobody's looking. 23:01 It's our basic fallen human nature. 23:03 And in thousands of years, 23:05 we haven't had a lot of luck 23:07 when it comes to changing that nature. 23:10 It's the reason we have so much pain and suffering 23:12 in this world. 23:13 We seem helpless to change our basic selfish orientation, 23:17 and worse than that, 23:18 a lot of the time we don't even want to change it. 23:22 But then the Bible holds out this 23:23 very attractive alternative. 23:25 There's an external reference point 23:27 that can help us overcome our moral blindness. 23:30 It can pull evil out from behind its hiding place 23:32 and expose it for what it is. 23:34 The God who created us in his own image. 23:37 This image that we have distorted so horribly, 23:40 he's offering to coach you with a better way to live. 23:44 Someone who can see the end from the beginning. 23:46 Someone who is not deceived by selfish impulse 23:50 can teach you to see the world from his perspective 23:53 and gain the crown he wants to give you. 23:56 I'll be right back after this. 23:59 [upbeat music] 24:02 - [Narrator 2] Dragons, beasts, cryptic statues, 24:07 Bible prophecy can be incredibly vivid and confusing. 24:11 If you've ever read "Daniel: A revelation" 24:13 and come away scratching your head, you are not alone. 24:16 Our free Focus on Prophecy guides 24:19 are designed to help you unlock the mysteries of the Bible 24:22 and deepen your understanding of God's plan 24:24 for you and our world. 24:26 Study online or request them by mail 24:28 and start bringing prophecy into focus today. 24:32 - Just before the break, 24:33 we were looking at the way the Bible describes 24:35 a lack of wisdom. 24:37 It's a condition where you do not ponder the path of life 24:40 and where the steps follow the path to Sheol 24:43 and Sheol in the Bible is the grave. 24:47 What the author is saying is that going it alone 24:49 and resorting to your personal instincts 24:51 will never take you anywhere except your casket. 24:55 Now, of course, 24:57 all of us are headed for the grave one way or the other. 24:58 But what the Book of Proverbs offers is a better, 25:02 more satisfying way to live a more authentic life. 25:06 One path leads to a crown 25:08 because you're fulfilling the purpose of your life 25:10 by living in harmony with your creator. 25:12 But the other path, it's aimless. 25:15 Always seeking pleasure in a wrongheaded attempt 25:18 to attach some kind of meaning to your existence. 25:20 And at the end, there is no crown. 25:23 There's just a hole in the ground. 25:25 The problem we face is that our pride never seems to admit 25:28 that we aren't self-sufficient. 25:29 I mean, not really. 25:31 We like to tell ourselves that our understanding 25:33 of the world is enough. 25:35 But down in verse 11, 25:36 it shows us the end of that kind of thinking where it says, 25:40 "And at the end of your life you groan, 25:43 when your flesh and body are consumed." 25:47 So let's imagine for a moment 25:49 that you really do have the ring of Gyges, 25:51 and you can make yourself invisible. 25:53 Nobody's ever gonna know what you did. 25:56 I would still submit that character matters 25:59 because you were made in the image of God 26:00 with a specific purpose. 26:02 Live as you please, do what you want, 26:04 and you're still gonna wind up in a very hard place. 26:08 You might never face criticism from people, 26:10 you might never see the inside of a prison, 26:12 but at the end of your life, 26:13 you will groan and the person 26:16 you were supposed to be will be consumed by evil. 26:19 Here's what it says in verse 12, 26:21 "And you say, how I hated discipline, 26:23 and my heart despised reproof. 26:26 I did not listen to the voice of my teachers 26:28 or incline my ear to my instructors." 26:31 I mean, let's just admit it. 26:33 None of us likes to be told how to live. 26:36 And there's a reason that 26:38 so many of us 26:39 find this story about an invisibility ring so, 26:42 well, compelling. 26:44 It sparks our imagination. 26:46 You see, at some level, 26:47 we all understand that we behave in a good fashion 26:50 because we're told to, 26:52 and there are consequences if we don't. 26:55 We don't like instruction 26:56 because our hearts are driven by pride. 26:59 And if we're really honest, 27:00 we'll admit that we all kind of hate discipline. 27:04 But the price of ignoring God's wisdom, 27:07 it's a lot higher than just swallowing your pride 27:10 and admitting to God that you could use a little help. 27:14 "He dies for lack of discipline," 27:16 the writer tells us, 27:17 and because of his great folly he is led astray." 27:21 So maybe let me wrap this up by saying this 27:24 and let's just be honest. 27:26 Some of you avoid this book. 27:28 Some of you avoid the Bible 27:30 because, well, you hate discipline 27:33 and you really despise reproof. 27:36 I get it. 27:37 It's not comfortable. 27:38 It's not comfortable to find out 27:40 that you're doing life wrong, 27:42 but some of you have now lived long enough 27:44 that you are starting to regret doing life your own way. 27:47 You're starting to realize just how flawed your reasoning 27:50 has been over the years. 27:52 So let me suggest to you right now 27:53 that even though it might be late in your life, 27:57 it's actually not too late to open this book 28:00 and find out what God would have you do 28:02 with the time that you've got left. 28:05 I'm Shawn Boonstra. 28:05 Thanks for joining me. 28:07 This has been another episode of "Authentic." 28:11 [upbeat music] |
Revised 2025-06-28