DUCK DYNASTY DEBATE
Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
When this debacle came out about the Duck Dynasty I was motivated to put down a few thoughts.
I have never watched the reality series Duck Dynasty, but I have listened to the testimony of Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the series. Like my text says, “There is a way that seems right to man, but it leads to death.” In the 20th century, which is known as the century of genocide, we have seen where some of our governments have killed over 150 million people. This does not include war killings. Why did this happen? I believe it happened and will continue to happen because man is trying to take the place of God and thinks his way of living is better than God’s way. One thing that I have learned from history is that man makes a very ‘bad god.’
A question that comes to my mind is: What is the real debate about? Is it over homosexuality, abortion, government control, or what? I think it is a debate on whether we are going to follow God’s way or man’s. Are there two ways of thinking or two sets of knowledge or truth? Let me try and explain what I mean.
Thomas Aquinas born in Italy in 1225 was not only a Dominican Friar and priest, but an influential philosopher and theologian. He was considered one of the top proponents of natural theology; which is a branch of theology based on reasoning and ordinary experience to be distinguished from revealed theology based on Scripture and religious experience.
Kevin Swanson in his book APOSTATE says: “His influence on Western thought is considerable, and much of modern philosophy was conceived in development or refutation of his ideas, particularly in the areas of ethics, natural law, metaphysics, and political theory.”
Aquinas, with his idea of natural theology, opened the door for other philosophers to join in and this in the 21st century eventually has brought us to the place where human reasoning and ordinary experience is competing with God’s Word – the Bible, with man taking the place of God. This to me is where the real debate is. Can we trust only human reasoning and experience? Looking back in history, and just in the 20th century, I would say “Absolutely NOT!” Because, as I stated, “man makes a very ‘bad god.’
Are homosexual men/women sinners and going to hell? Yes. Is the practice of homosexuality sin? Yes! Are there heterosexual men/women sinners going to hell? Yes. Is sexual intercourse outside of marriage sin? Yes! The book of Romans is very emphatic about it, saying that “we all have sinned and come short of the Glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) THIS IS WHY WE ALL NEED THE SAVIOR; WHY GOD HAD TO MAKE A WAY FOR US THROUGH HIS SON JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD. AMEN AND AMEN!!!
We celebrate Christmas, the birth of our Savior, but we need to keep in mind the following verses:
Acts 4:12 “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
1 Timothy 2:5 “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”
The real debate is between man’s reasoning and personal experience verses Holy Scripture and religious experience. Right now in our universities it is man’s reasoning that is winning the debates. This is why there is such a war against the Word of God. We are not allowed to quote it in any of our public discourse in courts, schools, etc. We often hear the pundits say that because there are some who do not recognize or accept Scripture – we cannot use it. Ridiculous! I say, I do not accept man’s reasoning, so then we cannot use man’s experiences either in determining right and wrong, lie and truth.
God’s word is: “Living and active; sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)
“So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11 KJV)
Paul tells us in Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
We as God’s people need to be so saturated with the Word of God that the principles of the Bible not only come out of our mouth in our daily discourse, but also will be seen in our daily living.
The opponents will always try and change the debate by looking at ‘religion’ and the damage that has been done by Islam, Hinduism, Crusades, etc. When I was in Nainatal (India), a hill station in the Himalaya Mountains, I was asked to speak in a Hindu college. They told me that they did not want me to speak about religion. I said that was fine because I did not want to speak about religion, but about the life of one solitary figure that has impacted the world like no other: Jesus Christ. When they heard that they said, “Oh! that is fine.”
My prayer is that we, who say we follow Christ, be so filled with His Word that out of our mouths (out of the abundance of our hearts) will come forth God’s wisdom, that weakens and humiliates man’s. I for one, have had enough of the puny wisdom of man. We need God’s great wisdom for living out our lives in the fullest, the way God intended for mankind. Like I said, men make terrible gods and we have all the inhumanities to prove it.