I don’t much like that word, “values.” It leads into stupid discussions like the one Ted Cruz started in 2016.
I mean, come on–what are “values”? The word takes us another step away from good vs. evil, right vs. wrong. After all, everybody has his own “values.” You don’t have to wait long before the term becomes meaningless.
You won’t find “New York values” in the Bible–or anybody else’s “values,” either. We are to seek what God values.
“Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart: who hath not lifted his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully” (Ps. 24:3-4).
God doesn’t care what your “values” are.
“Values” boil down to likes and dislikes, i.e., how much a person is attached to something. The focus is on the person’s acceptance of, or comfort with, an idea rather than the source and objective worth of the idea itself.
Value is an economic term, like how much will you pay for an item or service. “Values-Clarification” being taught in public schools is like when America went off the gold standard – both led to a giant debt in morality. When anything goes, everything goes down the toilet. Please Lord Jesus, help everyone of your elect ones be the salt of the earth so Your Kingdom may come and Your will may be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
I once read that when someone studies the Bible, then chooses what they will believe based upon their interpretation of what is important and what is not important, then they are merely studying their own opinions. My values are based upon the Bible and if I stray from this, I will suffer the consequences of poor decisions I have made of my own volition.
You wonder if some of today’s leading churchmen even have a Bible.
I’m sure that many of them have little, if any, interest in scripture.