Helicopter parent 1Some made us the center of their lives.  That means they trained us and shaped us and gave us a world view and set examples.  My parents made my brother and I the center of their lives but they brought us up to believe that we had responsibilities, not rights.  In their silly world a job, and an education, were not rights.  They were responsibilities.  I was responsible to get an education so that I could get a job and care for myself and those around me.

If you notice that is exactly opposite of what we are taught today by the so called transformational politicians.  Bernie Sanders came out and said that we have the right to a free education, free health care etc, “because we are human beings”.  We also supposedly have the “right” to life but he conveniently forgets that.  This may have been the most telling statement in this silly season of politics because it brings us to the philosophy behind the world in which we live and the precarious position of faith.

My demanding of rights has the same value and weight as yours.  In a world made up of rights and the demands for them without responsibility, a major step is taken to destroy the Gospel and the influence of the “orthodox church” by creating a society based on rights.  When I say orthodox I mean that one that unabashedly preaches the full Gospel and not  some watered down culturally defined Gospel.  The orthodox, confessing church says, “We have the truth because we have Jesus who is the truth.  We have the way because we have Jesus who is the way and we have the life because we have Jesus and He is the life.”  That is something that the “rulers of this world” cannot abide.

Jesus defines the issue between the Kingdoms of the world and their rulers and the folks who belong to His Kingdom in Matthew 20 -Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26“It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; 28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Imagine a world in which everyone served each other.  A world in which each individual cares for other individuals more than for him/her self.  That world would have no need for governments and that is what the kingdoms of this world cannot abide.  This is the realm of Leviathan.  More later –