Prepared with a Reason: Lesson 4

Overview

Axiology: What Should We Value, and Why?

Axiology is the branch of philosophy concerned with how we determine our values and prioritize what matters most. As Christians prepared to give a reason for the hope within us, we need to recognize two common assumptions our culture makes about value—and how Scripture answers each.

Assumption 1: "If It Feels Right, Do It"

The world tells us that whatever feels important in the moment is what we should prioritize. But Scripture exposes the danger of letting emotion sit in the seat of authority. In Genesis 3:2-6, Eve saw that the forbidden fruit "was good for food and a delight to the eyes." It seemed right. It felt right. But it was not right. The rich young ruler in Mark 10:17-22 walked away from Jesus grieved because his feelings about his possessions outweighed his Lord's clear call. And Judges 21:25 gives us one of the most damning verses in Scripture: "everyone did what was right in his own eyes." Doing one's own thing is portrayed in Scripture as lawless chaos.

The question is one of authority: do we have authority over God's Word, or does God's Word have authority over us? Laziness may feel better than service; anger may feel better than forgiveness. But Proverbs 4:20-27 and 1 Timothy 4:6-10 both warn that, because of sin, our instincts do not naturally lead us toward good values. Instead of letting emotions trample God's Word, we submit our feelings to it. Scripture gives us biblical priorities to put in their place: to witness to Him as a royal priesthood 1 Peter 2:9-10, to love God and neighbor Matthew 22:37-39, to seek His kingdom first Matthew 6:33, to deny ourselves and follow Him Matthew 16:24-26, and to make it our aim to please Him 2 Corinthians 5:9.

Assumption 2: "All Faiths and Values Are Equal"

The second cultural assumption says, "You do you, I do me"—that contradictory faiths and values can all be equally valid. We hear it in slogans like "many paths up the same mountain" or "we all worship the same God by different names." But this collapses under the simple principle of non-contradiction: something cannot be both A and non-A at the same time. Islam denies the Trinity; Christianity confesses it. Islam denies that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross; Christianity proclaims it as the very heart of the gospel. Judaism denies Jesus is the Messiah; Christianity confesses He is. Both claims cannot be true. Praise God, Jesus is the Messiah.

Pastoral Application: Sanctified, Not Conformed

Holding firm to truth in a world that resents it can be costly. In John 17:13-19, Jesus prays for His disciples—including us—knowing the world will hate them because they do not belong to it. His prayer is not that we be removed from the world, but that we be sanctified in the truth: "Your word is truth." Romans 12:2 presses the same point: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds."

Sharing the faith may bring pushback, but it remains the most loving thing we can do for our neighbor. We do not have to bend to falsehood to be kind. We stand on God's Word—not because our feelings demand it, and not because every claim deserves equal footing, but because Jesus is who He says He is: the Son of God, crucified, risen, and reigning still.

Transcript

Heavenly Lord, we thank you. 5s

We thank you for your word, your word is truth. 7s

We ask that you would use this time of study to lead us by your word that we would know 10s

you, that we would know your will for our lives, and that we would seek after your discernment 19s

your wisdom that we would be able to live our lives according to your purpose and plan 26s

for us. 33s

Lord, we praise you for being the God that you are, the God that loves us, and the God 35s

that has saved us. 39s

We lift this time to you, asking for you to lead us by your spirit, the spirit of truth, 40s

in Christ we pray. 47s

Amen. 48s

Okay. 49s

I'm going to try not to do it. 50s

Okay. 51s

So clearly, I am not Pastor Eibel. 52s

He and Denise are gone today, but I am going to be teaching his lesson. 55s

Okay. 65s

So, last week, we studied two assumptions around the area of anthropology. 66s

The first assumption that we studied was that humans are simply the result of evolution 75s

and not fundamentally different from other animals. 81s

And as he laid that assumption out, he also built the response scripturally that we find 85s

that we are God's special creation. 94s

I love it when Pastor Eibel says, when you were created, God broke the mold. 97s

You are created by God. 103s

So we are created by God, the crown of his creation created in his image for the Christian, 106s

that image is being restored. 114s

The second assumption that we studied was that human identity is principally defined 117s

by individual sexual preference, orientation, gender choice, or self identification. 124s

And the response is that the idea that humans can or ought to attempt to remake their sexual identity 131s

as something other than male or female is contrary to Scripture. 139s

There is no wiggle room, male female, done. 144s

Language like gay or lesbian or transgender or non-binary turns which is not God's plan 149s

and turns it into an identity. 156s

But a Christian's identity is in Christ. 160s

A Christian's identity is in Christ. 165s

Our identity is that we have died to sin and we have been raised to newness of life. 168s

Our identity is that we are sheep, that we are priests, that we are chosen. 176s

It's amazing, now I'm going to tangent, it's amazing to have that clarification 186s

and to have that understanding come into focus, that question of who am I or what is my identity 194s

in Christ, it is already answered for you. 204s

It is who you are in Christ. 207s

That is your first and foremost identity which then means that we have died to sin and raised to newness of life. 209s

So on. 219s

Okay, so today we are going to turn to the subject of axiology. 220s

Axiology deals with questions such as what is important and what should we value and why? 226s

What is important and what should we value and why? 236s

Axiology is the study of how we determine our values. 239s

How do we know what we value, what we should value? 244s

It deals with how we figure out how to prioritize what's important in our lives. 248s

So we are dealing with how we determine our values and how we prioritize what's important in our lives. 254s

So we have two assumptions of the world in this area. 260s

The two assumptions that we are going to look at today are the assumption that the world makes is that what you feel is important in the moment is what you should prioritize. 264s

So assumption one, what you feel is important in the moment is what you should prioritize. 275s

And the second assumption is that the faith beliefs and values of other people are equally valid to your set of faith beliefs and values even if they contradict each other. 287s

So the second assumption is that all faiths and values are equal, even if they contradict one another. 301s

So let's dig into that. 317s

The first assumption that it's really captured in a phrase and I know we've all heard this if it feels right, do it. 320s

Let's go ahead and open up to Genesis chapter 3. 336s

Genesis chapter 3. 341s

Beginning in verse 2. 346s

Genesis is the first book in the Bible. 349s

Chapter 3 is the third chapter in the Bible. 353s

The first two. 355s

The woman said to the serpent, we may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said you shall not eat the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it or you shall die. 358s

But the serpent said to the woman, you will not die for God knows that when you eat of it, your eyes will be opened and you will be like God knowing good and evil. 371s

Pay attention here. 380s

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was to be desired and to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. 382s

And she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate. 396s

If it feels right, do it. 402s

Verse 6 really reveals that rationalization process. 406s

It seemed right. 411s

The devil was making a seemingly good argument. 412s

It felt okay. 418s

It certainly felt right. 419s

It looked good. 423s

It was going to be a delight. 427s

But it wasn't right. 431s

It seemed right. 433s

It felt right, but it was not right. 434s

One author says laziness might feel better than service. 437s

Anger might feel better than forgiveness. 441s

Human emotions can be a contributing factor to putting ourselves on the path that is not the right road. 445s

And we elevate emotions to the wrong place where we are moved and shifted by the way that we feel. 452s

And so what we feel takes precedence then over what we know is right. 463s

I have had a lot of conversations with people. 470s

I just had one this weekend where the question came down to 473s

a human sexuality question. 481s

And it was, I know what the Bible says, but it feels 485s

mean, or it feels not right. 492s

And so we had that conversation about, okay, so who has authority? 496s

Do we have authority over God's word or does God's word have authority over us? 502s

God has authority over us. 507s

And whether we feel warm fuzzies or not doesn't matter. 510s

God's word stands. 515s

So human emotions, we so easily elevate them to the wrong place. 517s

Let's go to Mark, the Gospel of Mark. 524s

This is the New Testament, the second Gospel in the New Testament. 526s

Mark 10. 530s

Mark 10 verses 17 through 22. 537s

Mark 10 verses 17 through 22. 542s

As he was sitting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him. 546s

That's Jesus and asked him, good teacher. 551s

What must I do to inherit eternal life? 554s

Jesus said to him, why do you call me good? 558s

No one is good but God alone. 561s

You know the commandments. 563s

You shall not murder. 564s

You shall not commit adultery. 565s

You shall not steal. 567s

You shall not bear false witness. 568s

You shall not defraud. 570s

Honor your father and mother. 571s

He said to him, teacher, I have kept all these since my youth. 573s

Jesus looked at him, loved him, and said, you lack one thing. 577s

Go, sell what you own and give the money to the poor, 582s

and you will have treasure in heaven. 585s

Then come follow me. 588s

When he heard this, he was shocked and went away, grieving. 590s

For he had many possessions. 593s

Jesus exposed what the man had elevated to the supreme importance in his life. 599s

Jesus exposed this man's greatest priority, what he felt most strongly about. 606s

And emotions can be like this. 615s

We are tempted to exalt emotions over the word of God. 617s

We elevate them to the wrong place. 620s

Instead of submitting our feelings to the word, 622s

our feelings can run rampant over God's word. 627s

So we try to make ourselves boss or authority. 632s

Or our feelings, boss and authority. 640s

Go to judges. 643s

This is in the second, or the second testament. 644s

The Old Testament. 648s

After the Pentateuch, you are going to find judges. 650s

So you are going to find Joshua after Deuteronomy. 655s

And then you are going to find judges. 658s

Chapter 21, chapter 21, verse 25. 660s

Chapter 21, verse 25. 667s

Where it says, out of the half tribe of Manasseh, 670s

the teneth with its pasturelands and garramon with its pasturelands, 673s

two towns. 678s

Wait, is that 21? 680s

Judges? 682s

Oh, I'm in Joshua. 682s

Like that doesn't. 684s

I mean, that's good. 687s

Nice. 688s

Did not make sense in the context. 689s

So I'm so glad we lead with grace. 691s

Okay. 695s

So judges, chapter 21, verse 25. 696s

In those days, there was no king in Israel. 700s

All the people did what was right in their own eyes. 703s

What a damning, what a damning, verse. 708s

That everyone did what was right in their own eyes. 714s

Doing one's own thing is looked at negatively in Scripture. 721s

It implies a lawless chaos. 726s

There's lawless chaos. 731s

In Proverbs, chapter 4, verse 20, 734s

20 through 27. 739s

So we can go to Proverbs. 740s

If you keep going to the right, 741s

you'll find the center of the Bible, Psalms. 743s

You'll find Proverbs are right after that. 745s

Proverbs 4, verse 20 through 27, 747s

or verses 20 through 27. 752s

My child, be attentive to my words, 756s

incline your ear to my sayings. 758s

Do not let them escape from your sight. 760s

Keep them within your heart. 762s

For they are life to those who find them, 764s

and healing to all their flesh. 766s

Keep your heart with all diligence. 769s

Vigilance, sorry, from, for from it, 771s

flow the springs of life. 774s

Put away from you crooked speech, 775s

and put devious talk far from you. 777s

Let your eyes look directly forward, 779s

and your gaze be straight before you. 781s

Keep straight the path of your feet, 783s

and all your ways will be sure. 786s

Do not swerve to the right or to the left. 788s

Turn your foot away from evil. 791s

First Timothy, chapter 4. 794s

This is in the New Testament. 796s

It's in Paul's letters. 798s

So after the gospels, after the book of Acts, 801s

you're going to find the Romans and Corinthians, 803s

Galatians, Ephesians. 807s

You're going to find yourself at the T-books. 808s

So we're in 1 Timothy chapter 4, 812s

verses 6 through 10, 815s

where Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, 819s

writes to Timothy, saying, 822s

if you put these instructions before the brothers and sisters, 823s

you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, 826s

nourished on the words of the faith 829s

and of sound teaching that you have followed. 831s

Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives' tales. 834s

Train yourself in godliness. 837s

For while physical training is of some value, 840s

godliness is valuable in every way, 842s

holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 845s

The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, 849s

for to this end we toil and struggle 852s

because we have our hope set on the living God 854s

who is the savior of all people, 858s

especially of those who believe. 860s

Both Solomon and Paul are recognizing 863s

in these passages that are feelings 866s

and our instincts don't lead us to good values 869s

and good judgments because of sin. 874s

When left to our own devices, 878s

we fall to sin. 880s

When Eve was left to determine 884s

or decided that she should determine for herself 887s

what seemed good, what felt right. 890s

She fell into sin. 894s

Solomon and Paul are both warning against that. 898s

What are some biblical priorities to witness to him? 902s

Biblical priorities, as opposed to the worldly priorities, 908s

to witness to him. 913s

In 1 Peter, chapter 2, verses 9 through 10, 914s

so if you go to the New Testament, 918s

you're going to find, if you get to the end, revelation, 921s

go back just a little bit and you're going to find yourself 925s

at 1 Peter, chapter 2, verses 9 through 10. 928s

You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. 933s

God's own people in order that you may proclaim 938s

the mighty acts of him who calls you out of darkness 941s

into his marvelous light. 944s

Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. 946s

Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 950s

So there's a biblical principle that you are a priesthood. 955s

It is the priesthood of all believers that we are witnesses of God. 959s

We are witnesses to God. 964s

We are also to prioritize, to love him and our neighbors 966s

in Matthew the 22nd chapter. 972s

We're going back to the first gospel, Matthew 22, 975s

verses 37 through 39. 985s

He said to him, 992s

you shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart 994s

and with all your soul and with all your mind. 996s

This is the greatest and first commandment. 999s

And a second is like it, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. 1001s

So biblical priorities, to witness to him, 1006s

biblical priority, to love God and love our neighbors. 1009s

Another biblical priority is to seek his kingdom, 1013s

staying in Matthew. 1016s

Let's go to chapter 6, chapter 6, verse 33. 1018s

But strive, Jesus says, but strive first for the kingdom of God 1025s

and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well. 1029s

So we are prioritizing witness to him, 1035s

we are prioritizing loving him and our neighbors seeking his kingdom. 1039s

We are called to serve him as we deny ourselves and follow him, 1044s

staying in Matthew, go over to the 16th chapter, 1051s

Matthew 16, verses 24 through 26, 1055s

then Jesus told his disciples, 1060s

if any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves 1063s

and take up their cross and follow me. 1066s

For those who want to save their life will lose it 1069s

and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. 1072s

For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world 1075s

but forfeit their life or what will they give in return for their life? 1079s

So we are called as a biblical priority or to prioritize to serve him 1085s

and deny ourselves as we follow him. 1092s

And finally, we are called as a biblical priority to please him, 1095s

staying in the New Testament, going over to 1 Corinthians, 1101s

or 2 Corinthians, sorry, right after the gospels, 1105s

the book of Acts, Romans, and 1 Corinthians, 1111s

we are in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 9, 1113s

where Paul, under the inspiration of Holy Spirit, 1118s

says whether we are at home or away, 1120s

we make it our aim to please him. 1123s

We are called with a biblical priority to please God. 1127s

So our emotions do not take priority. 1137s

We are sinning when we make our emotions the priority. 1142s

We see that we easily fall into sin when we prioritize our own feelings 1147s

if it feels right, do it, not okay. 1152s

But biblically, we are told to prioritize to witness to him, 1157s

to love him in our neighbors, to seek his kingdom, to please him, 1160s

and to serve him as we deny ourselves and follow him. 1164s

Assumption number two. 1169s

Assumption number two of the world. 1171s

The faith beliefs and values of other people are equally valid 1174s

to your set of faith beliefs and values, 1178s

even if they contradict each other. 1182s

Now, I think a saying that really encapsulates what that is, 1185s

is you do you, I do me, you do you, 1190s

and putting all faiths, all values, on the same level, 1195s

holding them to the same value, 1203s

even if they contradict each other. 1206s

As we reflect on the world, there are a lot of God's worship. 1209s

There are a lot of religions, 1214s

and a lot of people try to minimize the difference 1216s

between religions, phrases like, 1219s

there are a lot of paths to heaven. 1222s

There are a lot of paths to heaven, 1225s

or there are many ways up the mountain to God, 1227s

or we're all worshiping the same God, 1230s

we just call God different names. 1233s

We're all worshiping the same God, 1236s

but we just call God different names. 1238s

It's called the principle of non-contradiction. 1240s

A cannot be both A and non-A at the same time. 1244s

So if something is true, then the opposite is false. 1251s

If the opposite is true, the, or if the something is true, 1257s

the opposite is false, 1260s

because something can't be both true and false 1262s

at the same time. 1265s

So let's say A is an ant. 1267s

So we have A ant. 1270s

Non-A is an art-vark. 1273s

We cannot say that the ant is an art-vark. 1275s

They are contradictory. 1279s

They are not the same thing. 1280s

It's very simple logic. 1282s

So Islam denies the Trinity. 1284s

Islam denies the Trinity. 1289s

Christianity says that God is Trinitarian. 1290s

You can't say that God is both. 1294s

That God is both Trinitarian and deny the Trinity. 1297s

It does not work. 1305s

Islam says that Jesus did not die on the cross. 1307s

Islam says that it's blasphemous to say that Jesus is the son of God. 1310s

Christianity says the exact opposite. 1315s

Both religions cannot be right. 1319s

It's very interesting having a conversation with someone 1322s

that insists that it's the same thing. 1327s

I had a conversation with a woman who is Islamic. 1333s

And she was just adamant that we believe the same thing. 1339s

And I said, no sister, we don't. 1344s

And I said, Jesus Christ is the son of God. 1347s

And she looked at me and she said, 1353s

you really believe that? 1354s

She couldn't believe it. 1357s

She did not believe that that is actually Christianity. 1359s

That's the crux of Christianity. 1365s

And so we had this conversation that both can't be right. 1368s

Both can't be true. 1375s

Jews say that Jesus was not the Messiah. 1378s

Christianity says that Jesus is the Messiah. 1382s

Both statements cannot be true. 1387s

Both statements cannot be true. 1391s

Jesus is the Messiah or Jesus isn't the Messiah. 1393s

Praise the Lord, we know that Jesus is the Messiah. 1399s

Exactly what we celebrated last week in that glorious celebration. 1403s

That we celebrate always. 1408s

But Easter is its own thing. 1409s

Turn to John, please, the gospel of John. 1413s

So you're just going to go back a little bit. 1416s

The gospel of John, it's the fourth gospel. 1419s

Chapter 17, beginning in verse 13, 1421s

where Jesus is praying. 1428s

He's praying for his disciples, which you are his disciples. 1431s

It's the disciples of his time and the disciples throughout all time. 1435s

But now, Jesus says, I am coming to you and I speak these things in the world 1440s

so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 1444s

I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world. 1448s

Just as I do not belong to the world. 1454s

I'm not asking you to take them out of the world, 1456s

but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 1459s

They do not belong to the world. 1463s

Just as I do not belong to the world. 1465s

Sanctify them in the truth. 1468s

Your word is truth. 1471s

As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 1473s

And for their sakes, I sanctify myself so that they may also be sanctified in truth. 1478s

Jesus' prayer for the disciples and us is that God would keep his people safe. 1486s

In the world with beliefs and values that oppose the beliefs and values of Christians. 1492s

We do not currently live in a world where the gladiators go and fight in the in the coliseum. 1501s

But there is hatred for the Christian that holds truth, 1513s

that does not allow for the equal valuing of all faiths when they are contradictory. 1523s

I know that is a big hang up with people when witnessing, when sharing the faith. 1537s

It can be scary because we know that there will be opposition. 1543s

We know that there will be pushback. 1549s

But we are still called, as we talked about a little bit ago, 1552s

we are still called to witness to him. 1558s

We are still called to love him and to love our neighbor. 1560s

And it is the most loving thing we can do, to share the faith. 1563s

It is the most loving thing we can do, to not bend to a falsity, to a false worldly assumption. 1568s

Hold on a second here. 1578s

Okay, we are still good. 1579s

Go to Romans, so we are going to go to the right. 1582s

We are going to go past the book of Acts and we will find ourselves in Romans chapter 12. 1585s

Romans chapter 12. 1591s

Verse 2. 1596s

I love this one. 1598s

I love this verse. 1600s

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds 1602s

so that you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. 1607s

We are called not to be conformed to the world around us. 1615s

We are called to be transformed by the word. 1621s

We talk about that a little bit in the sermon today as we are studying. 1626s

And we will talk about that further in the sermon series that begins today on discipleship. 1629s

But God's word is transformative, that it molds us, it shapes us. 1635s

And so we are called to be shaped and transformed by God's word, not conformed to the world, the world around us. 1641s

So our assumptions that we face in the world is that our feelings are to be prioritized, 1652s

that we are to place our feelings above anything else. 1664s

But we know that this is not what the Bible says, the Bible says that the Bible sets our standard, the Bible sets our course. 1669s

And the second assumption that all faiths and values are equal even when they contradict one another. 1678s

Two things that contradict each other cannot both be true. 1687s

If Jesus is who He says He is, He is the Son of God. 1693s

If Jesus is who He says He is, then He died for our sins and He was resurrected and He lives even today. 1700s

We have to hold that, we have to hold that and stick to it. 1711s

And it is the most loving thing we can do for our neighbor. 1719s

And it is the most feeling thing we can do for those around us. 1724s

Next week, Pastor Eibel is going to lead us in a study of ethics addressing the question, what is the source of morality? 1730s

That should be really fun. 1741s

What? 1743s

That'll be good. 1745s

Yes, yes it will. 1746s

So we will see you either second service or next week. 1748s

All right. 1753s