Basic Principles

In life, everyone has principles. We live by principles (which doesn't declare them good or bad) by which we make our choices, have our worldviews, call good "good" and bad "bad", derive morality and values, etc. These principles are typically varied, often unconscious, and always prioritized. That is, when one principle overlaps another, one of the two will have a higher priority. Thus, at the top (bottom?) of this chain is what I'm calling "basic principles." Do you know what yours are or where they come from?

Let me illustrate. Let's say that Bob (not you, Bob ... a fictitious Bob) has a principle of "Live and let live." Thus, as he goes about his day he will likely leave people to their own devices. Then he comes across an accident and stops to help someone injured in the wreck. "Wait," someone might say, "isn't that a violation of his 'live and let live' outlook?" Yes, but clearly our friend, Bob, has a more basic principle in play here that says you help people when you can. So with a clearer idea of Bob's principles, we watch him walk by a homeless guy on the street asking for money. "Hey, wait! Didn't we just say that he has a 'help people when you can' principle?" Yes ... yes we did. But a more basic principle for Bob is "Me first," and Bob felt that giving this guy money would be too costly to Bob's comfort, so he didn't. Perhaps you get the idea now.

Everyone has principles. There is a bottom set of principles with others higher up by which we determine in a case-by-case basis what we will value and do and think. For many the most basic value is always and only "Me first." For others there is an element of "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." There is, beyond these, some variation. But the most basic principles inform the rest.

It is my aim that my bottom "basic principle" would be "whatever God says." Others have a different bottom "basic principle." How do I know this? Well, it's not rocket surgery. (I said that for a laugh, not unintentionally.) There are a larger number of unbelievers than believers. These would be classified as "hostile to God" (Rom 8:7-8) and have no genuine concern about "whatever God says." But even among those who call themselves "believers" there is a significant number who do not have that bottom "basic principle." How do I know? They demonstrate it often.

Consider. In a recent event a church leader was accused of covering up a rape. The Bible (God's Word) says, "Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses" (1 Tim 5:19) which is unambiguous and easy to grasp, but this leader was professionally executed without a trial because the more basic principle in play is "If it's an accusation of impropriety between a man and a woman, the man needs to suffer the consequences." In other words, "I'll go along with God's clear statements unless I find a moral principle that overrules it." It doesn't take a "fundamentalist" to see this. Everywhere you look you will find self-identified Christians consciously tossing out absolutely clear Scripture because they find a moral principle that overrules God's Word. Christians will tell you, "I don't need some Bible to tell me what's right or wrong" in direct contradiction to the Bible (Jer 17:9). It is abundantly clear, then, that these people do not have "whatever God says" as their bottom line.

This explains a lot in today's "war against the Word." Most people are applying their bottom "basic principle" to the Scriptures rather than vice versa. They have the idea that there are values and morals and beliefs that the Scriptures must meet or Scripture will be eliminated. They will tell you, "I believe the Bible" and even "I hold it in high regard," but when push comes to shove, "what I think is right" overrides what Scripture says. Conversely, a when a person who has a "whatever God says" outlook comes across a conflict between "what I think is right" and Scripture, they will pursue at all costs "whatever God says" even if it means that they decide "What I thought was right apparently wasn't." They will dig down to discover what God thinks is right at the cost of their own value system in an attempt to align their basic principles with God's principles.

Unfortunately, this is not very common. But, then, it's what you would expect (Matt 7:13; Mark 8:18; 1 Cor 2:14; 2 Cor 4:4; Eph 2:1, etc.).