I’ve been watching some of the Republican National Convention this week. I noticed, not too surprisingly, most of the speakers in one way or another advocate the importance of values.
We’ve heard about values of honor. Honesty. Hard Work. Integrity. Truthfulness. Law and Order. Respect. And, of course, Republican values.
The futurist writer, Arnold Brown, wrote: “People are searching for absolute values and a sure grasp of right and wrong. They really want to return to eternal verities. They long for something permanent, a transcendent set of values.”
By definition, values are “the ideals, customs, institutions, etc., of a society toward which the people of the group have an affective regard.” (New Random House Dictionary)
In America today, and even in the church, there has been a shift of values. There was a time when everyone believed that America was a “Christian nation” and should be governed by “divine values.” Today that is not the case. However, it is ironic that our law was rooted as John Adams put it, “in a common moral and religious tradition” that goes back to Moses and Mt. Sinai.
Every monument in our nation’s capital has a scripture etched in concrete or stone, our money says in “God we trust” and our Congress begins every day with a prayer, and yet we are not only failing to live up to those standards, as a nation we are rejecting them.
Misplaced Values
Something is wrong when we place more value on an animal than human life. It is unlawful to kill Eagles. In fact, the federal protection of eagles is not just limited to live birds, but extends to their eggs and nests. It is even unlawful to possess one feather from an eagle without a government permit! Yet, the unborn child can be sucked to pieces from his or her mother’s womb!
Several years ago the late Margaret Thatcher, the former prime minister of Great Britain, was in New York City and spoke at a banquet. She talked about many of the concerns in today’s world. She said, “Just a note about your moral decay. It should be no secret that you have such troubles. Your founders believed you should be one nation under God, and now so many of you are committed to eliminating God from your life.”
What’s The Answer?
Hyrum Smith says, “Whatever your particular governing values may be, they are represented by the clearest answers you can give to these questions: What are the highest priorities in my life? and Of these priorities which do I value the most?
For the Christian the answers to these two questions ought to be found in the answer to Jesus’ question in Matthew 16:26, “For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?”
It has been said that “we live in an age that knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.” When we spend most of our time, talents and money on things pertaining to the material, we have little energy or incentive to focus on matters that are spiritual. W.R. Jones once wrote: “When our values come into proper focus we will attend to the matters of the soul.”
Do you treasure the spiritual over the material? Do you want to go to Heaven? Do you value your soul? Do you care about the eternal destiny of your family?
It is not enough to give lip service to “Christian values” we must live our lives and make decisions based upon what we claim to value most. I like the statement: “It is unlikely you will become the person you want to be, if the decisions you make conflict with your values.”
It’s time to wake up and realize it’s hypocritical to condemn our politicians, educators and entertainers for corrupting our society, when we fail in our families to “live soberly, righteously and godly.”
We need a return to values. Not Republican values. Or American values. But a return to Bible-based spiritual values.
Our values define who we are.
–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman
ThePreachersWord 
Good article. I especially like the quote from Margaret Thatcher. We in the church better wake up since the world wants us to sleep.
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Words spoken our hard to get back Focus is good on the right thing
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Amen to this article. We need more conviction in our lives and live for God. Pray for our country daily. God has never left us, we have left him.
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Its a shame Brown isn’t running as that make more sense than any of the candidates combined.
I’d reconsider quoting Thatcher though…
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It’s good to think about and to try to define one’s values. I do try to do this. I disagree, though, that we value animals more than we value humans. If we did, people would be subjected to more severe penalties for abusing their own cats and dogs. Too many people are leaving dogs in hot cars for extended periods of time. Your pet is a member of your family! All members of the family (the humans and the furbabies) should be treated well.
For me, the fact that God made us stewards of the earth is really important. Yes, it includes the eagles, which are magnificent birds, which is why the bald eagle is our national symbol.
I also agree that abortion is a sad situation.It is very sad that so many feel that they have no alternative but to end a pregnancy that they may have wanted. Seventy five percent of all abortions occur because the woman feels that she cannot afford to raise a child.
There’s no connection between birds and babies, however.
Thank you for the thought-inspiring post.
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Very thoughtful post. I pray I can do better and I pray our nation will do better.We really have no choice.
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Ken, thanks for another clear and inspiring piece. No values, no greatness. Thank you for the Margaret Thatcher quote, which I had never heard before. There have been times in life when I apparently did not express my values, and people said, ” I know you take THIS position”, but they had it backwards. Maybe we need to not only hold Christian values, but also speak to them more.
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