Opinions
We live in an opinionated world. I have often said that opinions are like armpits, everyone has a couple and a lot of times they don’t smell real good. The page on which this column appears is filled with various opinions on topics of local, state, and national interest.
Honesty compels me to say that I am a fairly opinionated person. As a minister I have opinions on theological matters. As a citizen I have opinions on matters of politics. Hopefully my spiritual beliefs shape those opinions.
I have opinions about what foods I eat, what television programming I watch, and what books I read. I have an opinion about who Mark Richt should play at quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs this season. You name it, I probably have an opinion.
In the book of First Corinthians it is fairly obvious that the Corinthian Christians had asked St. Paul for an opinion on many subjects. One of those subjects was whether or not a Christian who was married to a non-believer should stay married to the non-believer.
In the seventh chapter of First Corinthians Paul gives his opinion but he does so in a very odd way, he says, “To the rest I say—I and not the Lord.” In other words, Paul makes it very clear that he is giving his own informed opinion but makes no claim that he is speaking for God. In doing so, he reveals that he feels that the way he sees things is far less important than how God sees things.
I am sure there might be those who would be surprised to find that there are parts of the Bible that are human opinions, but Paul’s honesty, while being brutally refreshing does reveal a great truth. Ultimately our opinions are superfluous and irrelevant.
What matters is the opinion of God. In a world that is filled with moral relativism this is a great truth that we need to remember.
Too often in our culture we define right and wrong and other issues of morality as a matter of individual choice. Ultimately right and wrong is not a matter of our choices and our opinions it is matter of what God says.
Granted, there are times it is difficult to discern God’s will. Granted, there are times when my opinion of what God wants and another’s opinion of what God wants in a particular situation may differ. Yet, even with that understood we must also understand that God is the final arbiter of right and wrong.
One of the disturbing things in modern society is the usurpation of the name of God to defend human agendas. Clearly there are times that there are clear choices of right and wrong when it comes to many current issues. Yet, there are times when God’s name is misused to further the agenda of one side or another in a human debate.
As we examine the opinions of humanity as we debate the great issues of our time we would be wise to remember what Abraham Lincoln is purported to have said at the height of the Civil War.
When asked if he thought God was on his side in the conflict Lincoln is said to have responded, “The important thing is not whether God is on our side. The important thing is whether or not we are on God’s side.”