Beyond Recovery

Historically and Biblically, the family is the central institution in law and in society. Although we do not think of the family normally as a lawmaking body, the family is nonetheless the basic lawmaking body in all history. Every point of power and authority is also a point of law, and, historically, family law has been the basic law of mankind. In any society or institution, there are basic rules of conduct, and these rules of conduct constitute its law structure.

Ask anyone in my family and they’ll tell you that I don’t watch a lot of television on my own, and I do so reluctantly when other family members have “the box” on. I have personally ruined many a show for my children (and husband) over the years, as I was quick to point out the unbiblical worldview being presented or an obvious violation of one or more aspects of God’s holy law-word. That said, there is an adage I have repeatedly heard that goes something like this: Everything is good for something, even if it is just to serve as a bad example.

Let’s say you wanted to prepare an ambassador for diplomatic service. What would be involved?

For starters, you would ensure that the candidate was well versed in the ideology and practices of your country and was prepared to discuss, defend, and promote your nation’s interests in the country where he was going to serve. Selections would be made on the basis of those who were in wholehearted agreement with your country’s goals and purposes, and verified so as to ensure loyalty when living in that foreign culture. You would make sure that anyone sent out was additionally versed in the culture and perspectives of the destination country to be able to conduct the duties and responsibilities of the calling effectively and productively.

Dr. Gary North once stated, “Protestant fundamentalist Christians have their eyes on the sky, their heads in the clouds, their hearts in Egypt, and their children in government schools.”

An old friend called unexpectedly in mid-January to talk about the economy. He has been in the bullion and numismatics business for decades, and he is usually optimistic. But now he was deeply concerned about the future, and for the first time in his life he was “paranoid.” His economic prognostications were bleak, he explained, because God promises to bring judgment on a faithless nation. Since the United States is grossly immoral, he could only expect tough times ahead.

The book of Ecclesiastes ends with a straightforward directive,

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.
Eccl. 12:13–14

This statement presupposes that God’s law-word is the rule for all areas of life and thought, and calls us to obedience to it as a duty. Anyone who takes this admonition seriously will naturally need and want to know, how do we go from being hearers of the Word to being doers of the Word?
Rushdoony in his second volume of Institutes of Biblical Law states,

In recent years, in one country after another, state courts have granted to individuals so desiring it the “right” to practice abortion medically or to abort one’s own child. The rhetoric of pro-abortion forces has strongly emphasized the aspect of personal choice and personal liberty. This note has greatly appealed to libertarians also, who have therefore readily echoed the pro-abortion language of “liberals” and leftists. Some conservatives too have been agreeable to abortion on the same premise, that personal choice is the higher good, whatever else may be in consideration.

Take a glance around the room where you’re sitting. What do you see? If you’re in your home, you see what you’re accustomed to seeing. If you’re somewhere else, you see whatever the owner of that space has filled the room with. Do you see anything else? Look hard. Anything? Don’t be afraid to say “no”—this is not a trick question. However, if you look with Biblical eyes, you will see something much greater—you will see the incalculable abundance God has hidden in this world. If you allow the Bible to change your view of creation, you will realize how you may be living far below your God-given potential; and you will discover one of Christianity’s most paralyzing defects.

The Children of This World Are Wiser

To deal with the most violent and incorrigible inmates in our nation's prisons, the Department of Corrections has created the Security Housing Unit (S.H.U.). The SHU is an isolation program for prisoners, locking them up in small cells 23 to 24 hours a day for years at a time, under conditions that cause many to experience physical and psychiatric problems. These are the one's who just haven't been able to understand that murder, slinging dope, and preying upon the weak is unacceptable behavior and will not be tolerated. When looking at their booking photo and reviewing their criminal records, it may be difficult for society to see the human side of these individuals.