God Speaks

Times have changed. Walk around a grocery store or a restaurant or anywhere in public where a child might be pushing their boundaries, and you're likely to hear a parent, soft-toned and down on eye level with the child, asking, "Can you make good choices for five more minutes until we're done here? Can you do that for me? I need you to make good choices." 

In the age that I grew up in, our parents didn't ask us anything. They told us. They told us to be good. They told us to calm down. They told us what they expected of us, and it wasn't an option. It wasn't an opportunity for collaboration or feedback. It was an order. 

They would even say it as such. There was no, "Can you go clean up your room for me?" It was, "I'm not asking; I'm telling." 

It seems harsh in today's world to a lot of folks, but quite honestly - it's the only way that actually works. I've not yet met an adult who collaborated on their own raising as a child and grew up to be able to navigate well the demands of the adult world. Because there was no one with authority in their house - and that means they don't know how to recognize authority, how to respect authority, or how to assert authority. To them, everything is a give-and-take and a conversation. 

But it's not better that way. 

This world is not better off if there's no authority in it. Take this scene from Matthew: 

Jesus commands the demons to come out and they come out (17:18). They leave the human being they have possessed and tortured for so long alone, and they come out, and they don't return. 

Why? 

Because God doesn't ask; He commands. 

God didn't have a conversation with the demon. He didn't ask the demon to make good choices. He didn't try to collaborate with the demon or try to talk him into choosing a different action. They didn't talk about behavior and choices and the impact of those choices. Can you imagine if they did? Can you imagine if Jesus went to the demon, who was on a full mean streak at the time, and said, "Hey, uhm, I think you need to do something else for awhile. Do you want to pick something else to do so that you can regulate yourself?" 

It doesn't work like that. Demons don't respond that way. They don't have the capacity to reason with you. They must be commanded - and they are commanded either by the prince of demons or by Jesus, but they are always commanded. 

So Jesus commands them. He's not asking; He's telling. This is what's expected of you. Right now. Without delay. 

And, in fact, it was His authority that the people of His time marveled at quite a bit. And, in fact, it's His authority that we desperately need in our world today. 

And, in fact, I think that if we recognized more of God's authority in our world, and praised it, we would be happier for it. In addition, of course, to simply being better humans.