The Right Side Of Eternity

Recently, the U.S. Supreme Court narrowly voted to redefine marriage. This isn’t the first time they’ve got it wrong. How wrong? Exhibit A…

“Any person descended from Africans, whether slave or free, is not a citizen of the United States, according to the Constitution.”

The above was the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the 1857 Dred Scott vs Sandford case. It’s worth citing that to those who would use the court’s decision to support redefining marriage.

The Right Side Of What?

“Get on the right side of history” – phrases like this are favoured by those who try to make the mood of the times grander than what it is. Such shallow sound bites are used against those who promote natural marriage. You’ll hear more of these with the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.

“The fear of man brings a snare,
But whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe.
Many seek the ruler’s favor,
But justice for man comes from the Lord.
An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous,
And he who is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked.”
Proverbs 29:25-27

And strangely so. Such thinking assumes this court determines what is right and what is wrong. Period. And not just for their country, but for all countries and for all time. It also assumes that people cannot think for themselves. God rightly compares us to sheep.

But not only can we think for ourselves, we must. The Dred Scott vs Sandford decision clearly demonstrates this. The “right side of history”, that which is popular, that which men determine can and has been wrong. It has always been.
Look no further than 1941-1945 in Germany and 1994 in Rwanda. Look no further than parts of the world today where women are merely property or where violence is the prevailing means of persuasion.

Here is the challenge each of us face: realising whose word accurately reflects reality. Is truth found in the words of man, words which can be warped by mere fashion or the Word of God?

The right side of history can be wrong. We need to get on The Right Side Of Eternity, The Right Side Of God.

Righteous Disobedience

“Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.”
Acts 5:29

Clear thinkers have always been called to correct unrighteous laws which conflict with higher laws. St Peter was one of them. Abraham Lincoln was one of them. This was his reaction to the Dred Scott vs Sandford decision:

“…another Supreme Court decision, declaring that the Constitution of the United States does not permit a State to exclude slavery from its limits. …We shall lie down pleasantly dreaming that the people of Missouri are on the verge of making their State free, and we shall awake to the reality instead, that the Supreme Court has made Illinois a slave State.”

When your culture deletes God, you lose The Divine Law Maker. You no longer pray and you’re now prey to human law makers.

Lincoln was right because he had the right perspective. But he not only had the right perspective, he did something about it. He went on to free his nation from the cultural bonds of slavery. Clearly he was born for such a time as that. And we, for such a time as this. Let us not forsake our calling. The calling is hard but the alternative is harder. Being able recognise such low points in history testifies to the reality that culture can be turned around.

“There will be consequences to shutting down the political process on an issue of such profound public significance. Closing debate tends to close minds.”
“The majority’s decision is an act of will, not legal judgment..”
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts

Much of what’s passed off as reasons for redefining marriage are no more than shallow sound bites. The problem is, it works.
But it only works if you let it. It only works if you let it pass without challenging it. If you let those who say them do so without making them think, without making them face reality. So, this needs All Of Us. We all have been given our own circle of influence. I encourage you to be the Salt and Light where you have been placed.

History is laid out by God and messed up by man. God’s standards are laid out by Him untouched by anything impure. This is what we need to be on the right side of, not our messed up history.

Be on The Right Side Of Eternity. History is but a brief speck in a single dimension of existence. Eternity is where the real game is at and life is not a spectator sport. Get engaged.

Photograph of a Sydney sidewalk chalk writing by Arthur Stace.

6 Responses to “ The Right Side Of Eternity ”

  1. […] That’s what happens when we compromise the needs of children for the wants of adults. That’s what happens when marriage is viewed from a shallow, single perspective. Marriage is far richer and more complex than that. It is far richer that just the two people entering into it. It’s also about the children coming from it and the wider society it touches. […]

  2. […] masses, you’d seek to remove these gateways to blessings from the wider culture. This is why marriage is being warped  and children are being called a curse not the blessing that they really are. This is why they […]

  3. […] God’s ways are higher than our ways and sometimes, it’s in a small way. Like this: The Underestimated Value of Present Fathers. […]

  4. […] our thinking on the authority in matrimony. This is the why in the […]

  5. You perfectly explained the situation clearly and concisely! I’m so glad to have discovered your blog and it’s resources. The Deed Scott decision is the perfect analog. Thank you!

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