Tuesday, April 26
Radical individualism
Scripture: Judges 17-18, 1 Corinthians 13
Judges 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him. (See also Judges 18:1, 19:1, 21:25)
Observation
The stories in Judges go from bad to worse and this is why: “there was no king in Israel; everyone did whatever seemed right to him.” One of king’s responsibilities listed in Deuteronomy 17:14-20 was to write his own copy of God’s law and read it every day so that he could fear the Lord and do what God says. The king, along with the priesthood, was responsible to teach and model God’s law to the nation.
But in Judges, there was no king, people were ignoring God’s law and everyone was doing what was right in their own eyes. Idolatry was common and worship was divorced from morality. So you have the Danites stealing Micah’s priest and silver idol for their own worship! The community of faith devolved into radical individualism: everyone did what seemed right to him. “I am my own authority. I create my own truth.”
Application
Does this sound familiar? We have wandered far down this path! It is common to reject spiritual authority, walk away from community and insist on being your own guru. Spirituality and morality have become intensely personal and often unrelated to each other. It’s “my truth,” as though truth were completely subjective and individual, rather than objective and shared.
While it’s unpopular, I insist that it is imperative that we submit to someone, something bigger than ourselves: to God, to His word, to the community of faith. The book of Judges is a warning about the results of radical individualism where “everyone does what seems right to him.” It is moral and spiritual chaos.
When we encounter this kind of thinking, we need to lovingly (1 Corinthians 13) speak truth and challenge it.
And we need to check ourselves that we’re not being infected and living as though we were a law unto ourselves.
“These things happened to them as examples, and were written down for our instruction.” 1 Corinthians 10:11
Let’s learn, and not repeat these mistakes.
Prayer: Lord, first, help me to be submitted to You, Your word and Your community. I know that we don’t follow Jesus alone; we do it together. Help me to help others follow together rather doing it on their own.