By Whose Authority? That is one of those critical questions that seems to never be asked in our day. It not only needs to be asked, I want to show you that is our duty and obligation as Christians to be asking this question rooted in a Christian world view.
Video of the sermon
I had an interesting experience this week in a conversation with a College President. It happens to be a publicly funded College, so our tax dollars are taken to pay their salaries, so it is appropriate that they should be held accountable to we the people who pay the bills. The question was why they have made a obligation that every student must fulfill a diversity requirement – a course they must take that will in my terms indoctrinate them in the mantra of diversity. Now we have spoken about the whole issue of diversity before from this pulpit. And historically we know that the diversity agenda is actually part of the plan of cultural Marxism, the path to a Marxist revolution that is the slower march through all the institutions of a society rather than a violent, bloody revolution such as the 1917 Russian revolution. In particular we know the diversity agenda is a pro-sodomite, pro-abortion movement with the design of destroying the God ordained institution of the family which is a foundational goal that must be accomplished in any type of Marxist revolution.
Now in this conversation with the College President they were polite, they listened but countered every attempt to allow true diversity in the student body. Would it not be truly upholding diversity to allow students to choose not to take a course on diversity? But the revealing statement is made when queried about the purpose – to “creating an engaged and inclusive society.” So they are freely admitting the goal of the College is not about education, it is about changing society, creating one that by their definition is inclusive. But they are revealing their hand that they don’t like things they way they have been in America and Western Civilization for millennia. And historically we know that America and Western Civilization for nearly two millennia have been specifically Christian. So what they want to accomplish is jettisoning Christian Civilization for something they call more inclusive. But this is actually polytheism, a belief in a multitude of gods, with many conflicting truth claims. Inclusivism is a code word for relativism, where there are no absolute truth claims allowed. You break this down in the minds of the college student by indoctrinating them in diversity, labeling them pejorative names, using the power of peer pressure to bring them into conformity. You can believe whatever you want, except to believe what the Bible clearly proclaims in every area of life. This is the reason Rome persecuted Christian, because they claimed there is only One True God. What they want today is also an aggressively anti-Christian society and they are seeking to indoctrinate students at the College to that specific end. By the way, Ken Ham reports in his book Already Gone that they are very successful, 80% of all students raised in Christian homes, attending church regularly by their sophomore year in college have completely abandoned the Christian faith.
Now as questions were asked and positions were revealed, the one question I valued the most was this, “By what authority?” By what authority has the College established their goal of creating a more inclusive society? By whose authority are they imposing the diversity requirement? Did they survey the people paying the bills, the taxpayers and determine that the majority of those people were demanding the College adopt this goal? Or as a public institution did they inquire of the elected representatives of the people to determine this new goal for their institution? Or did they simply sit down and determine for themselves this new goal? The answer to this question kept coming back to one supposed higher authority which the College claimed it answers to, the The Middle States Commission on Higher Education, which oversees accreditation for all non-profit, higher-education institutions in the Mid-Atlantic region, and it “requires that all general education curricula offer ‘sufficient scope to draw students into new areas of intellectual experience, expanding their cultural and global awareness and cultural sensitivity, and preparing them to make well- reasoned judgments outside as well as within their academic field (Middle States, 7).’”
Well this begs the question upon whose authority is the The Middle States Commission on Higher Education established? Their own website declares, “The Commission is a voluntary, non-governmental, membership association.” But that would mean they established themselves as their own authority which Colleges voluntarily submitted to. So they give this further defense. The Middle States “Commission on Higher Education is recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education to conduct accreditation.” So they are claiming that the U.S. Department of Education grants them, or recognizes that they are an authority. And where does the U.S. Department of Education obtain its authority? Supposedly from the U.S. Constitution, but you can read that all day long and you will find not grant of power from We the People to the Federal Government to have anything to do with education in our land. If we didn’t grant them such a power, they do not have it. This was clearly understood in previous generations, in fact President Ronald Reagan ran with the promise to end the U.S. Department of Education because it was unconstitutional. Sadly it didn’t happen. But the point is that U.S. Department of Education has no authority to do anything at all, let alone choose and approve of organizations which will determine the accreditation standards for Colleges in America.
We didn’t get that far in the conversation with the College President as time ran out and they had to go on to their next meeting. But the point needs to be made all across this land, academic standards promoting anti-Christian animas are being installed in lower as well as higher eduction by institutions that have no legal authority to do so, based on the false premise that the U.S. Department of Education is lawful and legitimate.
By whose authority is a vitally important question not just in education but in every area of life. We are daily confronted with those who would command our obedience or twist our thinking to their world view, claiming that they are the authority. Quite often, as in the field of education, it is a self proclaimed authority without any valid backing whatsoever. As Christians, how are we to understand this issue, how are we to determine what is legitimate authority and how are we to interact with those who truly represent actual authorities? Turn to Titus 3:1
The Authority Question? – Titus 3:1 reads “Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,”
This was not new, but a truth they needed to be reminded of it. So it would appear that Paul while he was on the island of Crete had taught them these principles. It has been noted by historians of the First Century, that Crete was a notoriously unruly place. The people seemed to have a bent towards rebellion against all forms of authority. Perhaps they were of the same mindset of today’s anarchists, holding the belief that all civil government is bad, that people are better off without it. That by the way, is not a Biblical understanding of civil government. It is God ordained, but forcefully restricted by God’s Law to just two areas of life. And within those boundaries is not include the education of anyone on any subject. So even if our U.S. Constitution did grant power to the Federal Government to do something in the realm of education, it would be an illegal move to do so, for it would violate the supreme Law of the Universe, God’s Law. So Paul commands Titus to put them in remembrance of what he had already taught them regarding submission and obedience to authority. But as we experienced with the College President, we need to ask the source question, by Whose Authority? So where does the authority question lead us to? Is there an ultimate source, a fountain head, a primary source of authority? Yes there is, since the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the forty days between the resurrection and the ascension (by the way, this Thursday, May 25th is Ascension Day in the church calendar) Jesus taught His disciples many things. One of which is He taught ….
Who is the source of all authority on earth? – Matthew 28:18 “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Now most Christians have no problem thinking of the first, Jesus has all authority in heaven, after all that is His throne. But all authority on earth? Doesn’t that mean that there can be no human authority here on earth except it is a derived authority, an authority delegated by Jesus Christ Himself? And wouldn’t this mean that all such holders of a grant of power from Jesus Christ are ultimately accountable to Jesus Christ and He can withdraw that grant of power any time He chooses, or any time the delegate over steps his grant of authority, anytime he would act in violation of the Law Word of God? So presidents, kings, even dictators have only derived authority, and should they over step the God ordained boundaries, should they ever act in violation rather than in submission to the Law Word of God, they lose the very position they claim gives them the authority to command other human beings.
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