Authority of Teaching

SHOREVIEW COMMISSIONING.

Good morning! My name is David Sorn, and I’m the Lead Pastor here at Renovation Church.

This is a special day for our church as we are going to be commissioning our Shoreview Launch Team today.

In fact, if you are on our Shoreview Launch Team, we want to invite you to come up on stage.

We now have 310 people who will be helping to launch our Shoreview Location.

So this is not all 310, but the people that are regularly in this service that are going to Shoreview.

This is their last Sunday with us here in Blaine.

As next Sunday they will have their first of 3 weeks of practice services at Turtle Lake Elementary

And the Grand Opening of our Shoreview Location will be on March 29th

We are so grateful for the mission work they are going to do there.

They will be helping with set-up & tear-down, or Renovation Kids there, leading new House Churches, on the follow-up team working with new disciples, you name it.

And they’re going, not as a matter of convenience, but a matter of mission.

To reach a new city for Christ.

And I want you to take a good look at them.

And you’re going to see:

College students, empty nesters.

People that are going with babies, teenagers.

All for the gospel.

And so first we want to HONOR you and THANK YOU (clap)

And secondly, we want to pray over you and commission you out

If you would, extend out a hand…

INTRODUCTION

All right, for our message today we are in week 3 of a series called “The Authority of Jesus”

Where for 6 weeks we are talking about 6 different aspects of Jesus’ authority.

And today we’re going to talk about his authority in teaching.

You know in our culture today, people seem to constantly be arguing about what is right.

Just scroll through social media, and outside of cat videos, you won’t find much of anything else.

People seem to, at the core, always be arguing about morality…and how someone is wrong, unjust, or just plain idiotic.

But it feels like no one ever stops to ask the question: “How do we know what’s right in the first place?”

Or even more specifically, “On what authority is your viewpoint (or my viewpoint) right?”

Or is it just an opinion? A feeling? Are we just going off general consensus?

How do any of us know if something is right or wrong?

These are the deeper questions that not enough people are asking anymore.

And so it’s on that topic that we’re going to dive into the Bible this morning

Matthew 7:28-29

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If you’ve been here a year or so you might know that our messages are rarely the same style.

We don’t just dish out 52 weeks of practical pep talks or 52 weeks on the glories of Calvinism

Sometimes our messages here are very practical, sometimes deeply emotional, sometimes theological…

They could be about healing (like last week), or like this week, a bit more philosophical in helping you understand the unique times in which we live and how people think…

And I love that about our church…you never know what you’re gonna hear when you walk in here

THE PASSAGE

SO let’s read today’s passage

Matthew 7:28-29

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28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, 29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

It starts with saying, “When Jesus had finished saying these things…”

So this is right at the end of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (which is chapters 5-7 of Matthew) and is considered by many to be the greatest teaching on morality of all of history

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches authoritatively on such matters of poverty, hate, adultery, forgiveness, divorce, prayer, and so much more in just 3 chapters.

And our author, Matthew (who’s an eyewitness here) says that the “crowds were amazed by Jesus?”

But why?

It wasn’t because he was super funny, or super dramatic…

Look at verse 29…the reason is there:

29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

Jesus taught in such a way that He was revealing to them the divine truth from God Himself.

Why?

Well, because He is God.

He’s the Son of God…on earth.

And so He speaks very differently from how their Jewish teachers taught morality, right and wrong

The Jewish teachers of that day found authority by quoting a famous Jewish rabbi who had quoted a Jewish rabbi who had quoted a Jewish rabbi (not unlike the telephone game).

And so when Jesus speaks as if He IS the authority (and he doesn’t need to quote anyone else…)

…they are AMAZED by it…because it’s so different than what they’re used to and so POWERFUL at the same time.

And what I want to show you this morning is that people, even today, are still looking to other authorities to ground their morality in ( that is, their view of right and wrong)

In fact, I want to show you how the average American has changed their authority for how they determine right & wrong 3 different times already in just the last 35 years or so

So we’re going to go on a quick journey of recent history this morning

Because as Christians if we’re going to bring God’s truth into the culture, we have to understand the culture.

We think of ourselves here at Renovation Church as a church of passionate Christ-followers, but also really thoughtful Christ-followers as well.

TRADITION

The first phase I want to show you for where people have found their authority for morality is what I’m going to call the “Tradition Phase”

(Chart #1: Tradition: Pre-1990)

I’m sure you could find more phases if you went farther back in American history, but for today’s purposes we’re going to stay in recent history.

If you asked most Americans in the middle of the 20th century “Where is truth found?”

Or, “What sources are you using to determine what is right and wrong?”

For most people (pre 1990) truth & morality was found in their traditions….and for the majority of Americans in those days, it was actually their church traditions.

It might have been the Catholic Church, or their Lutheran upbringing, or something similar

Now, it’s tempting (and plenty fall for this temptation) to say, “Well, back in 1955 everybody was Godly and great and super Christian”

But this just wasn’t the case.

In fact, the percentage of Americans that have been true born-again believers is relatively unchanged over the last 100 years.

1926 wasn’t that different from 2026

But what has changed (and actually significantly diminished) is the reach of what we might call “Cultural Christianity.”

For example, in the mid-20th century, the majority of American’s views on (pick any moral issue) divorce, cohabitation, abortion, adultery… were shaped by traditional views of their denomination. Or Christian tradition.

And, before you think I’m against that, in many ways, that’s great.

That is common grace.

It’s the spillover blessing of Christianity on a society.

But understand that the average person in 1955 wasn’t basing their moral authority for their views on divorce from their deep study of Matthew 6:31-32…

NO. They just believed divorce was wrong because it was considered traditionally wrong by the culture-at-large…not because the Bible said so.

Cultural tradition is not synonymous with Christianity

And notice this: When your source of truth is derived from a cultural majority rather than from the Word of God, your morality can easily…change…

…because the majority views of the culture…can (and do!) easily change.

And certain segments of Americans began to pull away from tradition certainly as early as the late 1960’s…

…but you don’t see culture-at-large transition to a different moral authority until somewhere around 1990….

(Chart #2: Yourself (1990-2016)

And the second phase (or place) for where people found their authority for right & wrong…was…within themselves!

This is a phase that’ll last roughly from 1990 - 2016

BTW, I hope you put this chart int your notes!

So around 1990, people really began to say that TRUTH is actually found within…YOURSELF!

This is the peak age of:

“You do you”

“Follow your heart”

“Live your truth”

“You shouldn’t judge” & “You can’t tell me how to live”

Once we got into the 1990’s and for SURE into the 2000’s, the majority of Americans believed in what is called “Moral Relativism”

Moral Relativism: The belief that right and wrong are not absolute or universal but can be determined by each culture or individual.

And Moral Relativism goes hand & hand with what scholars call Expressive Individualism

Expressive Individualism: The belief that the highest moral good is to discover your true authentic self and live that out

(SPLIT SCREEN DEFINITION & CHART 2)

And according to expressive individualism, you are supposed to live out your true self even if it’s at odds with the culture around you

And according to these beliefs, society must (and is obligated even) to affirm your self-expression, because your truth IS truth.

Because remember, in this second phase, the authority for truth is found WITHIN.

And these new ideas had huge implications for morality and even church attendance!

Once we entered this second phase, many Americans felt like it wasn’t necessary anymore to attend church just to socially and culturally fit in like it very much would’ve been in 1980.

Now they felt like they could just live their own truth and their own life.

(Chart #2: Yourself (1990-2016)

In fact, 2002 was the first year where the number of Americans who identified as “no religion” started to really skyrocket.

In 2002, the number of people who identified as “no religion” began to increase rapidly from about 9% of American to almost 30% of all Americans by the late 2010’s.

Interestingly enough, that number has since plateaued, and many believe, that with the rise of Gen Z, it’s actually beginning to shrink as so many young people are coming to Christ.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

Let me instead show you where so many people thought our culture was going, but it never went there

SECULAR UTOPIA

(Chart #3: Secular Utopia (Never Happened)

The common idea of the mid-2000’s was: “now that religion is finally retreating from public square, we can finally work towards a secular utopia”

Now, I say “utopia” a bit in jest…I don’t think anyone actually thought it was going to be an all-out utopia.

But this gets at the idea often given by the New Atheist thinkers (like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and others)

Their theory was that removing religion from society would reduce division & increase peace.

And then science, technology, and human reason was supposed to guide us, morally, to a better place.

And certainly we’ve progressed in terms of science and technology…

But morally, not so much.

I think most people would agree that we’re going backwards in society

And what about things like purpose? And meaning?

Secularism can’t give answers to those things.

Because, shallow platitudes like “Be true to yourself & follow your heart” work fine when life is great and you’re living your dreams…

…but when life gets hard, and you have no fixed meaning whatsoever to grab onto…

…life can get incredibly disorienting & depressing really quickly.

And that’s because human beings crave meaning.

People crave truth…structure…reason.

And also…this 2nd phase idea that we each can determine our own truth showed itself to not only lack meaning but also lack clear logic.

So much so that it led many thinking people (even a lot of non-Christians) to say,

“This idea where there are no boundaries whatsoever, and each person can determine their own reality of identity, gender, or even biology (and everyone else must adhere to their new reality)…

…this idea is not leading us toward moral progress like we thought, but it’s actually leading us toward chaos

And so, a lot of thinkers started to say in the last decade, perhaps we need something stronger.

YOUR TRIBE

And you need to understand that it was into that particular void that the 3rd dominant and different place our culture has found truth in just 35 or so years stepped in

(Chart #4: Your Tribe (2016-Present)

And the 3rd place we’ve found authority for our truth is in our tribe…specifically our political tribes.

Some experts place the beginning of this new era at 2014 or 2015, but for sure, by the election season of 2016, the majority of Americans had switched to a new cultural era of where they find truth.

Now these transitions are not black & white (on & off) transitions.

They fade into one another.

And so, yes, you obviously can still see some of the thinking from the “Yourself” phase still around today.

But our path is bending backwards now because, as a whole, our culture is turning back from this idea of “everyone creates their own truth”

It’s moving back toward clear lines, with clear heroes and villains.

But it’s not all the way back over, because while traditional beliefs may last for 100 years.

Today’s era still is still kind of fluid:

What was morally acceptable 5 years ago, could be condemned by your tribe tomorrow.

Let me tell you more about how this 3rd & new phase looks:

In present day, most Americans determine what is right and what is wrong, not by cultural tradition, or even by their own internal feelings anymore, but instead by what their political tribe says.

It’s important to understand that the fault line of culture in America is no longer religion, but the fault line of America runs right down the aisle of politics

In fact, studies already prove that Americans today are significantly more likely to marry someone of a different religion than they are to marry someone of a different political party.

So how did we get here?

We got here in part because in this last phase, people were desperately seeking truth & purpose, but found none…

…but now they feel like politics give them purpose and a moral grid

Social media has also played a massive role in the ushering in of this new phase

In the 90’s & 2000’s, life was supposed to be all about immersing yourself in other cultures and tolerating new beliefs from around the globe, but social media reversed all that.

Even though it advertised it would connect us, it has actually isolated us.

Ironically, when people just hung out with their neighbors 40 years ago, they were exposed to far more diverse viewpoints than we are today when we’re connected to people all over the country on social media.

And that’s because social media, intentionally, creates echo chambers

You may have people on your feed from Alabama, Alaska, and Arizona, but chances are, that (unlike your actual neighbors) they are people who think just like you

And the algorithms of today intentionally do this.

They figure out how you think and feed you more of the same…because they know it’s what will bring you back

And so how we look at right and wrong is VERY different today than it was when “tolerance” was king in the previous era…

Today, in fact, that tolerance is evil.

We’re now told that to not speak up and boldly tell others their viewpoint is WRONG is actually considered cowardice. And even harmful.

And someone’s opinion from the other tribe is no longer just another person’s “truth” (like it was just 10 years ago)…

NO! Now it’s a moral wrong that must be stopped.

In fact, it’s against our tribe.

And the political tribe, in many cases has become, in America, almost like a new religion.

Full of moral rules and expected patterns of speech and behaviors.

It has its own dogma

And if you happen have a few views counter to the accepted views of your particular tribe, you best keep them to yourself (especially online!)

It’s almost like a rigid religion; you could be kicked out of the group for having non-conforming opinions to the political tribe.

THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS

Just sit and think about this for a few seconds……….

It’s absolutely WILD to me how different this type of morality is from just a little over 10 years ago…when everyone was saying, “All truth is relative…you’re right and I’m right…let’s all hold hands…kumbaya”

Things are constantly shifting…

And they’re going to shift again! It’s inevitable.

It might take another 5 to 10 years, but this will all probably keep heading back more towards tradition again.

I’m already hearing a number of secular voices say that America needs the teachings of Christianity again.

And be careful with this! They’re not saying that because they think Americans need to be born again and have an eternity-changing relationship with the Risen Jesus.

No, no, no…they just want to use Christianity as a prop to hold up their desired version of culture

Well, that’s just Tradition all over again.

History repeats itself.

So listen, let me tell you why I walked you through this.

It’s because I want you to clearly, and visually see, that the way people generally determine right and wrong…and the place from which they’re finding their truth…is constantly shifting. Constantly!

So the question for you is: What can you base your life on that is actually stable? That won’t change?

Because if you base how you are going to live your life based on what you feel today…or based on what your political tribe says this election cycle…

…I’m telling you…it won’t hold you up.

It’s shifting sand.

In fact, let’s go back to the Word of God

Matthew 7:24-27

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These are the few verses right before our passage today.

It’s the very end of the sermon on the mount

(Matthew 7:24-27) – NIV

24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

The truth of life, my friend, is that the rain will come, and the winds will blow…life will be hard.

But the teachings of Jesus Christ and the Word of God is a ROCK upon which you can build your life on.

(Chart #5: The Word of God)

The Word of God does not change.

And you want to plant your life on something HIGHER.

Something above all of this other stuff

And so I want to urge you, wherever you are on this spectrum, to take steps towards placing more of your life on the Rock of Jesus Christ.

The Bible says that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life

For many of you in this room, the unsettledness you feel in your soul is partly a result of the world constantly changing its moral compass beneath your feet.

It’s disorienting to live in this shifting world right now.

It reminds me of a quote I read recently:

"There is a vacuum created by the retreat of religion in our society. In its place, political loyalties and social causes have emerged as pale imitations, promising meaning and significance they cannot deliver." - John Stonestreet

As we always say, it’s not that politics are bad or are unnecessary.

They are quite necessary for a flourishing society, but they are not your God.

You cannot have a meaningful relationship with them

And they cannot be your Rock.

There are few things stable about them.

(Chart #5: The Word of God)

Let me explain the shifting sands of these other so-called authorities with a more Minnesotan example

These other schools of thought are kind of like if you’ve ever had to walk across a long icy patch on the road, or even your driveway.

And just think of how happy you are to be on dry concrete again

You almost want to get down and kiss that rock.

That’s what this book is.

It’s a rock

It has lasted not for a decade or two like these other schools or thought but for millennia.

And every evil emperor or tyrannical government has tried to stamp it out, but this is a rock you cannot destroy.

Because it’s from God.

And it’s the authority (the ONLY authority) that is worth basing your whole life upon.

I yearn for you to see the truth and freedom in Christianity.

For some of you, that may be to take a Bible for the first time…just take the one at your chair…there’s a little QR code in the front to a Bible reading plan to start in the easiest books.

Take that today…and start looking into this.

For others of you, it may be to put Social Media down.

Maybe get off of it until Easter…and see how much calmer your life feels when you start finding your authority for how to live again in the teachings of Jesus rather than ever-changing thoughts of the crowd on social media.

And for others of you it may be to firmly surrender your life to Jesus Christ for the first time.

Have you done that?

Have you truly believed that this Jesus came and gave his life for you? Dying for you on the cross…for your sins…in your place.

Because when you truly put Him on the throne of your life…as the authority in your life…and you believe in Him as your Savior, and the Leader of your life…you can be saved.

Forgiven of your sins, and Jesus will come into your life and walk with you, and granting you eternal life in heaven.

Let me give you an opportunity to that now.

Let’s have everybody close their eyes.

If you need to do that for the first time, I’m going to ask you to stand up in just a second.

It’s a way to cross the line of the faith.

If that’s you, I want you to stand.

The Bible tells us that in this moment we believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths.

Dear God

I confess to you, that I have sinned against you.

But God I believe, that you sent your Son Jesus, to take my place

And God I thank you, for forgiving my sins.

And now I commit, to following you, with my life.

Amen, you can have a seat.

All right, two quick things:

1) If you just stood up, I want you to come see me (resources & next steps)

2) If you have a friend who is going to Shoreview, be sure to hug them on the way out, and even stop and pray for them if you would!

All right, thanks everyone!