Of All the Opinions Only One Really Counts

These days everyone seems to have an opinion. I’ve often said, being one myself, that journalists have an opinion on everything – whether they know anything about it or not. And we’re being bombarded with these opinions, often nestled indistinguishably in the reporting of news.

 

But journalists are hardly alone among the opinionated. As the holidays approach, we’re reminded that when families gather for feasts and festivities, it’s often wise to hold opinions to ourselves if we’re to avoid familial civil wars.

 

Our schools – whether at the elementary, middle school or high school levels, and especially in colleges and universities, our institutions of higher learning – increasingly deliver as much opinion as academic curricula. Students at many schools are being exposed to as much ideology as they are geology, sociology and biology.

 

Opinions abound, of course, at every level of politics. Sadly, it seems you can’t support a particular party without fully accepting its opinions and biased perspectives. It used to be we could go to the movies or watch TV to be entertained. Now, story lines are littered with thinly disguised opinions on virtually every area of social conduct and discourse.

 

So, with all these opinions flying around us and infiltrating our minds, which ones are we to believe? I have some opinions on that – ha, ha! But if you’ve been reading my posts for any length of time, you’re aware that in my view ultimately there’s only one opinion that counts: God’s. Which is why, no matter which topic I choose to write about, the question I always ask is, “What does the Bible say about that?”

I know there are those who would disagree, but I’m convinced that on many matters the Scriptures are unequivocal in what they say. For instance, they’re very clear on the uses and abuses of money and material things. (I’ll write more about that another time.) The Bible offers straight-forward guidelines about relationships – within marriage; outside of marriage; parents and children; friendships; bosses, employees, coworkers and subordinates; and even strangers.

 

The prevailing social culture might – and often does – look at issues in stark contrast to what the Scriptures present, but cultural trends come and go. God is eternal and unchanging: “Jesus Christ is the same today and yesterday and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

 

Another verse from the same New Testament book tells us of the Bible’s very personal impact on those who read it and honestly consider what it has to say: “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).

 

Perhaps my favorite passage about the intrinsic value of the Word of God is 2 Timothy 3:16-17, which declares, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

 

The Bible doesn’t speak specifically about some topics. Take, for example, texting while driving or getting behind the wheel while intoxicated. However, its principles do address it, I believe. We read, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13) and operating a motor vehicle while distracted or impaired and getting into an accident that results in someone’s death is tantamount to murder. 

 

The rest of the Ten Commandments cover a wide range of human behavior, including theft, sex outside of the marriage bond, lying and being dishonest, envying what others have, having respect for parents and those in authority, and especially our relationship with God. 

 

Much of the Bible is effectively elaborating on what Jesus regarded as the two greatest commandments: “'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).

 

I’ve yet to find an issue or topic of major consequence the Lord does not address in His Word, directly or indirectly. So, while I try to listen to and consider the viewpoints of others, even those that differ drastically from my own, it’s settled in my mind that God’s opinion is the only one that really matters. And that serves as the underlying motive for what I write.