We are not detached observers. . . .

         We are not detached observers in life. I've lived in the academic world all my adult life and taught professionally for 42 years including many Bible classes and preaching. I have 3 degrees and have written extensively and have been well-trained in the aura of “professionalism” as a “detached observer.” But there is no such person, though many are self-deluded (or “victims of their own propaganda.”) You can't “observe” life without being a participant. You're here on planet earth in this universe in this time and place and history. You're part of the problem and you're not totally objective no matter what you think. Besides that, you're finite, a created being, and you have what we call “the Old Sin Nature.” In other words, you're a “fallen creature in a fallen world.” “A creature”, a “created being”--not God or “a god” whatever that might mean.

         On the other hand, “subjectivity” certainly is not the “solution” to the problem! And that does tend to be the trend today! I'm shocked at how often I see people implying that they are the “authority” and the final word in whatever issue they are discussing. Just because they believe it or say it, they seem to assume that you are supposed to accept it. And so I ask them, “By what Authority do you say these things or believe these things?” You are not your own “authority” and you are not “autonomous.” You didn't create yourself and you don't keep yourself alive. You are dependent on God for the very breath you breathe and for the ability to breathe it. But it's provided by God, not by you. The same is true of your water and food and all else in life. “ In Him we live and move and have our being.” Acts 17:28 “and have our being”? Yes, our very existence! You are not “self-created” and neither is anyone else.

           The Bible never assumes a “detached observer” status. It's designed to glorify God and lead us to Him and in the process show us “how to live” and what to believe. God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. In wisdom He made them all. His great power provides food and the ability to produce it and use it with thankfulness to 5 billion people and untold numbers of animals of the field and forest, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea. What He gives, they gather. Psalm 104:28 So also are we dependent upon God's provision and are thankful for it.

         God not only created all the stars and planets, but He calls them all by name and holds them in orbit. He positioned the earth in just the right relationship to the sun to sustain human life and maintains that stability throughout history. So then where is history going? Scripture reveals that, too. ^“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:4-7 ESV

        Back then to that elusive question, “How then should we live?” The heart of the answer is, among other places, in 2 Corinthians chapter 4: “. . . by the mercy of God, we do not lose heart. . . . , but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. . . . For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 4:1-6