The Importance of Standards

The Bible no longer serves as the standard it once did in American culture. Upon that I believe we can all agree. But the problem is actually worse than what many may realize. Before we look specifically at the movement away from the biblical standard, let us think just for a moment about the concept of “standards” in general.

If we lived in a world where there were no standard measurements how could we function? If one person says ‘I believe a foot is 14 inches because that is actually the size of my foot;’ yet another might say, ‘well I consider a foot to be 9.5 inches because that is the size of my foot.’ The only people who could then perhaps agree would be two people who had the same size foot! What about measurements in cooking? Teaspoons, tablespoons, pints, quarts, cups, etc. all have standardized meanings which have been assigned and universally accepted. A cook may say, ‘well, I think a cup really means the volume of a coffee can,’ but, most likely in that case, the recipe will not turn out well. When you are out on the highway and the posted limit says 65 mph. and you say, ‘well I think 87 mph. is going to be my speed limit on this highway.’ The highway patrol likely will have a different interpretation far more consistent with the posted limit on all the signs. In fact, they will go so far as to actually “enforce” a particular standard that is consistent with what is posted.
Standards are in place to protect us and help us. When the doctor prescribes medication it can be dangerous or fatal if not taken properly and in accordance with recognized standards of dosage. So we can see that laws protect us from ourselves and from others. It is against the standard of the law to steal from another. It is against the standard of law to kill another human being. It is against the standard of law to force someone into sex, etc. But someone may come along and say, ‘well I was hungry, therefore it was really ok to steal money from another to buy food’ or perhaps ‘I really did not like this person so I feel it was alright to kill them,’ or ‘I just really wanted sexual relations with this person and they would not consent therefore, I just did what I felt I needed to do.’ We would say this is madness, and that no culture can function for long without standards.
In the vast majority of cultures, down through the ages, there have been certain spoken or unspoken standards of morality. There were certain things people just did not do. On the rare occasion some actually did these things anyway, they were perhaps “shunned” or “banished” or otherwise disciplined by the community or by law enforcement officials.
The absence of or the rejection of an agreed upon standard is a very dangerous thing. The absence of standards breeds chaos. The period of the judges was a chaotic period in Israel’s history. When reading the Old Testament Book of Judges, one encounters man often at his worst. The final verse in that book reads, as largely a summary statement for that period and the book itself; “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judg. 21:25) The king was seen as the “standard” or “ruler.” The word “ruler” actually means “a person or thing that determines a standard.”
From the beginning, America has held the Bible as its standard, at times implicitly, while at other times explicitly. In reading the writings of the founding fathers one overwhelmingly sees that they sought for America to be a place of freedom to express religious conviction without the coercive involvement of the government. But it is equally clear that they believed certain standards of morality and thought were essential for the survival of the nation.
When considering the specific standard which has provided the underpinning for our nation, the Bible, we must not take lightly the fact it is not only the standard, but that it is actually God’s Word given to His very own created beings to guide their lives. My vehicle came with a thick manual addressing hundreds of issues that might have relevance in conjunction with my ownership of that specific vehicle. The vehicle was built by General Motors and the manual was also written by General Motors. Therefore, I assume their manual is accurate, and is the standard for information for my vehicle because they are the ones who actually built it. If God made us and gave us a manual to accompany our lives, we should assume it is accurate. In fact it is truly the greatest standard of all.
The increasing chaos of this world is predictable as society moves further and further away from a standard, and more specifically away from “the” standard, which is God’s inspired Word. Increasingly, mankind is rejecting any standard and instead doing what is right in his/her own eyes. When we view it in these terms it is not difficult to understand why many of the people of this world often seem out of control. The lack of a standard breeds chaos.

In Christ,

Dr. Allen Raynor, Pastor