Values Clarification

A federal judge struck down Arkansas's law banning transgender treatments for children. Why? Science admits no non-binary sexes. The judge didn't do it for the truth of the question. He did it for "gender-affirming care" -- people who feel they're the "wrong sex" ought to be able to become the "right one." This judge values "affirmation of feelings" over scientific fact. When the Christian Reformed Church synod passed a resolution condemning gay and lesbian sex as sin and same-sex marriage as false, a delegate pastor walked out on behalf of "many LGBTQ+people" ... one of which was his son. The pastor valued his son's sexual orientation over Scripture.

In the past we've often suggested that "our side" has values while "the other side" does not. It's simply not true. On the other hand, I think we've largely missed the fundamental importance of values. For instance, when I discuss abortion with people in general, I don't start with Scripture; I go right to science. Science is not ambiguous. That embryo is a human being. It isn't simply a mass of cells. Nor is it mere "fetal tissue" that belongs to the mother. Science says it has its own DNA, that it is undeniably the first stage of human life. The next stage is fetus. Then there is newborn, infant, toddler ... you get the idea. All of it is the natural progression of a human being. But science rarely sways anyone on the topic. Why? Because they hold a higher value -- a woman's choice. They don't value human life as much as they value choice. Higher than life, higher than truth, they will choose a woman's free will. That is their value system.

It turns out we are expressing our value system in every choice we make and every position we espouse. A person can declare, "I value Scripture" and mean it right up until the Scriptures declare something that opposes what they value more, and Scripture will lose. A Christian -- a Christ-follower -- will seek to follow Christ at least as long as He doesn't go somewhere that violates the Christian's values. Because what we value will trump what we believe and will always supercede truth unless we have Christ as our highest value and truth as our bottom line. Thus, when we do deviate from biblical values, it serves as an indicator that our values are misplaced and gives us an indication of where to fix the problem ... in us.