The Vision
by Laurence Windham

Well we hope this installment of Every Thought Captive is as arresting for you as our last issue. Especially since the subject that we are exploring with you this time is law. Yep, we thought since we talked last time about what we can do, that it would be a good idea to deal with where we have to draw the lines.

After all, law is not always popular with us. We all have taken our turn at bending or breaking the rules. Everything from "borrowing" money from the bank when playing Monopoly, (which reveals the depth of our depravity. We all have the propensity to become politicians taking what doesn't belong to us) to disobeying the greatest commandment, loving the Lord with all our heart, strength, soul and mind. But once the necessity and importance of rule is explored, the wisdom of the Lawgiver in setting parameters for His creatures becomes another reason for our adoration of Him. Loving obedience to our Lord and gratitude for His statutes becomes an easy and natural reflex for the believer who understands and benefits from the practice of following the commandments and precepts of Scripture.

The priority of law in our lives is one that should be dear to every child of God. After all, we are to love the law, obey the law, teach the law and the love of the law to our children, and of course, enforce the law. This is important, for law is the seam that keeps the fabric of life from unraveling, the code that makes us members of the club, the bars, of our freedom and the bounds that define our field of play. There is safety behind the fence, order in following the rules and assurance that we are doing the right things. The Bible is the "top of the box" where the guidelines to the game of life are written for all the participants to know and follow. Life isn't some form of Calvin-Ball that we, are playing.

That is the pagan's idea of how the game is played- making up the rules as you go along. Our biblical history records the tragedy of those who thought they were above the law, Achan, Eli, King Saul, David, and Solomon to name a few whose penalty for transgression far outweighed any pleasure of gain they derived from their crimes. Would that we would all learn this lesson.

Fear should grip us when we see the enforcement of law weakened in any sphere of life. More than earthquakes, power failures, enemy invasions or disease we should guard against and fight for the preservation of the standard. For, if the standard dips in one area, mankind loses balance. Then the dominoes of decency, morality, protection, etc. all begin to fall. And they are falling. But instead of trying to juggle the fruit of law, we must uphold the standard, Law itself. The rest will naturally be stabilized.

Many in our society and often in our churches do not see the importance of this. They are willing participants in this age of relativism. For example, in the latest issue of George magazine, the editor, John R Kennedy Jr., acted as a spokesman for this age by parroting the sentiment of the majority regarding Mr. Clinton's ability to govern the nation. Saying, "As far as I can tell, there is no good reason to hold public officials to a stricter standard of personal conduct than we do the folks whose triumphs and tragedies are the staff of tabloids and television shows." Do you see the absence of any sense of a standard? Statements such as this one make it evident that the Word of God that used to manifest itself, at the least in subconscious ways when people spoke of standards, is not even considered, referred to, or debated. There is not even the idea that such an out- dated, superstitious, proletarian idea of a standard needs to be explained away. Most if not all of Mr. Kennedy's audience will not even 'miss" the exclusion.

But it isn't just the 'bad guys" who are at fault. We the church bear our share of the responsibility. The less we practice law the more lawlessness will abound. As much as we mimic the world, the whole nasty spiral begins because we fail first, and the world follows us. In fact the order of the universe is patriarch, family, church, and then government. (So who dropped the hall?!) "We the people"...of God are to uphold His standard from the greatest commandment to the smallest principles derived from Scripture. We are not to be antinomian and color outside the fines, nor are we to be legalists and add to the Word of God.

With this in mind we will explore in the following pages the importance, necessity and practice of law as pertains to the many facets of our lives. As you partake of this latest offering from your friends here in the hills of Virginia we think you will find the flavor of our subject sweet to the taste and fulfilling in its substance. We have written this time with as much if not more enthusiasm and pleasure as any issue we have ever done. The Word of God is our milk and honey and we enjoy sharing its commandments, principles and ideals with you. Let us together be edified and so become people who love and embrace the just rule and light burden of the King of Kings.

Here at the Highlands Study Center we delight in the laws of God that bind us, rail against the oppressive laws of Caesar, and mock the laws of the pharisee that attempt to corral us. And from the cards, letters, phone calls and e-mails we receive, we are encouraged to find that we are not alone, but in good company.