What is the Danger of Unrecognized Authority?

The world didn’t just change. It accelerated, and a lot of us feel like the ground shifted under our feet while we were raising kids, loving neighbors, and trying to stay faithful.

We’re starting a new teaching series called Divine Design, and before we tackle the hardest questions about gender, sexuality, homosexuality, and marriage, we slow down and build a foundation. We talk honestly about why these conversations now touch almost every family, why silence feels easier than conflict, and why the church can’t afford to avoid what Scripture says. Using Deuteronomy 11:18–21, we unpack God’s command to internalize his Word and teach it diligently in everyday life, not just at church, but at home when we sit, walk, lie down, and rise.

We also dig into the deeper issue behind today’s confusion: authority. When we let the world shape how we read the Bible instead of letting the Bible shape how we see the world, the stakes get bigger than a single hot-button topic. We explain the “collision” many believers face as culture competes for our allegiance, and we make the case that we don’t need to be louder, we need to be clearer with both conviction and compassion.

If you’re a parent, grandparent, pastor, or simply trying to think faithfully in a noisy world, join us for the start of this series. Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs clarity, and leave a review so more people can find Foundations of Truth.

Transcript

Series Launch And Cultural Confusion

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Foundations of Truth, the biblical teaching ministry of Dr. Timothy Mann. Our mission is to help you build your life on the unshakable foundation of God's Word, rooted in Scripture, anchored in the grace of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We live in a culture filled with confusion about some of life's most basic questions. What does it mean to be male or female? What is marriage? Why did God create us the way He did? And where can we find answers we can trust? Today on Foundations of Truth, Dr. Timothy Mann begins a brand new series: Divine Design, Gender, Sexuality, Marriage, and the Bible. Over the coming days, we'll discover that God's design for humanity isn't arbitrary or outdated. It's wise, purposeful, life-giving, and rooted in his unchanging truth of the Bible. Our study begins today in Deuteronomy chapter 11, as we consider God's command to teach his truth diligently to the next generation. Here now is Dr. Timothy Mann.

SPEAKER_00 0:57

We are beginning a new series. We're talking about divine design, issues related to gender, sexuality, marriage, and the Bible. And there may be other issues that will flow out of this as we begin to address these topics from a biblical perspective. I'll do a combination of preaching through throughout these series. Some will be expositional where I'll take a passage and walk through it. Some will be topical as we gather scriptures from across God's Word that that specifically biblically in context address a theme. We'll be doing some of that. When I began, and I've been this has been on my heart for a long time, this topic, this issue, really for about six years. And I've never directly addressed it in a series. We've touched on it through some expositional preaching as we began to see where the culture is moving at breakneck speed. And then also I'm very aware of many situations in the life of our church where these topics are touching lives, and folks are needing to deal with these issues and knowing how to address these issues. And what does the Bible say? You may have a child who is involved in a homosexual lifestyle, maybe married at this point. You may have a sibling, you may have a loved one who is dealing with gender confusion and maybe has already been involved in the process of transitioning to try to find happiness. You may not have any of those directly in your life, but you may have family members or neighbors or friends who are dealing with these situations. That may not even be the case with you and your children or your grandchildren, but it could be that you have family members, children, loved ones who really see no problem or no issue with these topics. And when you have these conversations, conflict arises, friction comes into play, disagreements arise, and you just can't talk about it. And so you're silent on these issues because you don't want there to be trouble. And so there's a lot of need. Our children and grandchildren are being bombarded through the media, through school, through every single institution that exists in our culture today as it relates to these topics. The only institution that I see, on a great scale at least, that's not addressing these topics from a biblical approach is the church. And it's time we did. But today I'm going to lay a bit of a foundation because we need to have some good groundwork set before we just dive straight into the deep end. Give some context to which to work from. And that's what I hope to do when I'm I'm trusting God to do his work and meet needs and give grace where grace is needed, correction where correction is needed, and hope in the life of people. I'm sure you've noticed this.

Why God Placed Us Here

SPEAKER_00 4:04

I sure have. And that's that the world has changed around us. Have you noticed that? And not only has the world changed around us, it continues to change. And it's changing quickly at a speed that I would have never guessed. It's changing quickly. It's difficult to find clarity about some of life's most important issues today. And although our world is filled with many challenges, and I was as I was thinking about this, this really dawned on me. Although our world is filled with many challenges, this is the world that God has placed us in. Right? He allowed us to be born in this time. The Bible is clear that He chooses the boundaries and the times and seasons in which we come onto this planet. God, in his sovereign plan and will, has placed us in this world at this time. And we need to understand that we are living in this time, even though we may complain against it, we may bemoan it, we may despise it, we may hate it. And I've done all of those things. I have felt all of those ways as I observe our culture and what's happened and is happening. But in spite of all of that, we need to understand that we are living in this time for a specific purpose. As followers of Jesus Christ, we're alive now, not by accident, but for a specific purpose. The Bible teaches that Jesus has called his followers to be salt and to be light. He's called us to be light where God has placed us. Wherever God has placed us. He's called us to be light. And God has placed us here, now. And he calls us to be light and to glorify him in how we live our lives in this world. He's called us to glorify him in how we live our lives in this world. Glorify is a fancy word which simply means to make known. We're to make him known in how we live our lives. We're to make him great in how we live our lives. We're to make him big in how we live our lives. And he's already big, he's already great. But we're to demonstrate that in our lives. He's called us to that in every situation, in every circumstance. And the confusion we experience in this life is not from the absence of God, but because of the consequence of sin. That's why. We're going to unpack that some. In the very same way that I've been having trouble with my left knee for a little while now. You know, it comes and goes and gets better. But there's an issue. And so, in the very same way that the pain is a signal alerting us that something in our bodies isn't right, the pain and suffering in our world is a signal that something is broken. This is not the way the Creator designed it. This brokenness. And as followers of Jesus, and I'm going to be hitting this again and again, it's one of the reasons we are where we are, I believe, today. As followers of Jesus, we need to speak with great clarity. We need to speak with compassion and conviction about where the brokenness in our world comes from. And that's sin, which is rebellion against God. Look, we're not called to hide from the world. A lot of Christians want to do that. We're not called to hide from the world. We're not called to blend in with the world. A lot of professing Christians are trying to do that today. We're not called to blend in with the world. We're actually called to stand out in the world. We're called to stand out in the world. That's why Jesus said, you're in the world but not of the world. We're called to stand out, to be distinctive. And in order to grow, to become distinctive followers of Jesus, distinctive disciples, what one of the things that has to be there is we need to be able to have meaningful and deep conversations that explore difficult subjects and difficult questions in light of God's word. We need to be able to do that. And in particular, and again, this is where the church as a whole, I think some decades ago, really began to drift from its mission and cut loose from its anchor. But in particular, there's a collective responsibility within the church, and that's to bring children up with the clarity about who God is and about what He has said. We have that collective responsibility. And we started chasing after other things as a church. And in addition to all of that, we have to raise children and grandchildren in the world the way it is. Not the way we would like it to be. We have a world the way it is, not the way we would like it to be. And we have to raise kids and grandchildren up in this world the way it is.

Partner Support Message

SPEAKER_01 9:43

We'll return to today's message from the Divine Design series in just moments. But first, a special message from Dr. Timothy Mann.

SPEAKER_00 9:52

Friends, we're able to bring you this program each week because of the generosity of listeners just like you. But we can't do it alone. If God is using this ministry in your life, now would be a great time to step in and help sustain it. Every gift, large or small, makes a real difference. Go to firm-foundations.org and partner with us today. We'd be deeply grateful.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

Let's return now to the second part of our first message in the series, Divine Design. Here's Dr. Timothy Mann.

Deuteronomy 11 And Daily Discipleship

SPEAKER_00 10:20

Consider God's word to Moses. Let's look at God's word. Consider God's word to Moses. Now, the context of this is God has brought the Israelites out of Egypt. They're heading toward this promised land. God has given his law and his word, his written word to Moses in great detail. And he has made his will very clear. And I want you to know that the words we're about to read, the call, the command that God gives Moses to give to the people, this is not coming in some sort of a sanitized context. This was not the land they're going into and the land they left out of Egypt. This was not some sort of context that was, you know, 1950's leave it to beaver sitcom. This was not middle class America, Father Knows Best, where everything was all nice and normal and clean and perfect. We think, whoa, we've got it so bad. They came out of Egypt, which was a pagan culture. They're going to be going into a country surrounded by heathens, the worst of the worst, all kinds of evil and ungodliness and wickedness. And so if you have the mindset of, oh, they had it so easy to hear this, this would have been easy to do. Don't think that way. This was not easy. And so the command of God to Moses for the people, after he's given them his law, his will, his ways. Look at verse 18. We're going to read verse 18 all the way down through verse 21. So follow along with me here as I read God's word. Therefore, you shall lay up these words of mine, this is God, therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, bind them as a sign on your hand, they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up, and you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, that your days and the days of your children may be multiplied in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers to give them like the days of the heavens above the earth. And we'll stop here, and this is God's word that we've just read. So what's happening here is God has given his word, and Moses has passed it on, and what's being communicated is God is saying to them, My word is to be internalized in your innermost person. My word is to be absorbed into your mind. And as this happens, my word is to be what governs the very works of your hands, what you do. My work is to govern. My word is to govern what you do. My word is to be constantly before you. You're talking about my word to your family, to your children, to your grandchildren. When you're hanging out at home, you're talking about my word. When you are walking by the way, when you're going about your business throughout your normal routine of life, your word is my word is in your heart and on your mind, and you're discussing it. You're speaking of it. When you go to bed at night, my word is in your heart and on your mind, and you're talking about it when you lay down. And when you get up in the morning, my word is there governing your life, and you're thinking about it, and it's in your heart, and you're talking about it with your family. As soon as you get up in the morning, when you rise up, my word is actually supposed to saturate your life. My word is to saturate your home. When someone approaches your home and enters your home, soon and very soon they will know that my word is spoken of, that my word is upheld, that my word is loved in your home. It's as if you've written it on the doorpost. It's just like you've got it out there on the gate. And when you do this, when my word is that important to you that it saturates every comprehensive aspect of your life, your days will be multiplied in the blessings of my will for you, the promised land. And it'll also go that way for your children. We are called, according to this passage, we are called not only to hold tightly to God's word ourselves, but to actually pass it on to the ones we love. It's not only something that we should know and cherish, but also something which must be carried on to the next generation. And to the next generation. And to the next generation. I have to tell you, I failed in much of this area. Part of that time was as a pastor. Oh, the word of God was around. It was preached, it was discussed. They heard me preach, heard me talk about the truths of God's word. But what I see here, I did not do. Many of you did not do. I want to tell you what, it's not enough just to have your kids in church. Yes, that's important. But it's not enough. The truth of this scripture must permeate your life. And as the world is changing, ladies and gentlemen, and it's changing. As the world is changing, we don't need to flee. We don't need to run from it. Instead, we need to point to Jesus Himself, who is both the truth and the life. We need to point to Jesus unashamedly, unapologetically. And in a world cluttered with opinions about gender, about same-sex attraction, sexuality, opinions about marriage, in a world cluttered with all of these things and other issues connected to them. We don't need to be louder, we need to be clearer. We don't need to be louder. We need to be clearer about these issues. And to do so in a way that is intelligent, that is loving and honoring to God.

Why These Questions Matter

SPEAKER_00 17:14

Now, before we dive into some of these topics, which we're going to do over the days ahead, before we dive into some of these topics, I think it's important to ask the why. I don't want to assume that everybody just inherently, intuitively knows the why. Why should we care about gender? Why should we care about sexuality? Why should we care about homosexuality? Why should we care about marriage and other issues connected to these things at all? I mean, is what we believe about these matters really that important? Are these issues that should matter to everyone? And see, without understanding the why, we will be tempted to slip into silence on these topics. Especially when I have a child that's dealing with these. When I have grandkids that's struggling. When I have a brother or sister or a friend. If we don't understand the why, we will simply be tempted to slip into silence on these topics because either we don't know what to say, we don't know how to deal with it, or we don't want the conflict. We don't want to lose the relationship. And so we'll slip into silence. Or worse yet, we'll slip away from what God's Word says. See, if we don't take these issues seriously, and we don't take found building foundations seriously, our children and our grandchildren will continue to fall deeper and deeper into what I believe are at least two very massive dangers. One is this, one danger is this. And it's we're we're seeing it pro being pervasive in our society today. If we don't address these things biblically, we see them continue to go down this hole, this danger.

The Authority Collision With Culture

SPEAKER_00 19:16

And the first one is this it's the danger of unrecognized authority. The danger of unrecognized authority. What do I mean by that? Well, let me put it this way: God's word should be the lens. God's word should be the lens through which we view the world around us. And it should be the ultimate authority in our lives and over our lives. Isaiah chapter 40, verse 8 says, The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever. The Bible says, Jesus himself said in Matthew 24, verse 35, Jesus said, Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away. Psalm 110, verse 89 says, Your word, O Lord, is eternal. It stands firm. It stands firm. Listen, our beliefs, our thoughts, our actions should be and must be shaped by what the Bible teaches. Has to be shaped by what the Bible teaches. Not what we feel, but what the Bible teaches. Every day, every single day, we are tempted and our children are tempted to allow the world to shape the way we see God's word rather than allowing God's word to shape the way we see the world. We're tempted with that every single day. And it's crucial that the ever-changing views of the world are not allowed to affect the way we understand the everlasting truth of God's word. There's just too much at stake, ladies and gentlemen. There's too much at stake. The future of your children, the future of your grandchildren. And the danger is not that, it's not just that we might get gender wrong, quote unquote, or be on the wrong side of history. It's not just, the danger is not just that someone we love might become gender confused or practice homosexuality, even though those are dangers. The danger is that a wedge might be placed between our lives and God's word. That's the danger. Because if we choose, if we choose not to believe what God's word says about marriage, if we choose not to believe what God's word says about sexuality, if we choose not to believe what God's word says about gender or about homosexuality, then we should not be surprised at all when we choose not to believe God's word at all. When we start to pick and choose when to Accept the authority of God's word, then we're standing on a slippery slope. Because if one part is rejected, you know what's going to happen? We will struggle then to hold on to any of it. How we think and how we talk about these issues, and a lot of other issues in truth, how we think and how we talk about these issues is connected to our view of God's word as a whole. How do you view God's word? To you, what is this Bible? What's your understanding of what this collection of 66 books are? We are living in a world that is not only vying for our attention, but also for our allegiance. It wants our allegiance. And you know what that does? This sets Christians, especially children and teenagers and college students, but even adults too. This sets Christians up for an inevitable collision with the world, fighting for our allegiance. This sets us up for a collision. I'm not a scientist. I don't know a lot about physics and things like that. I'm not, you know, I got a C in science. But here's what I do know. When two objects collide, the stronger prevails over the weaker. I do know that. And in a very real way, we, our children, our grandchildren, our churches, we need to be trained to handle the strongest assault the world can bring, and yet remain committed to God's word. That's what we need. That's the need of the hour. We need these subjects to be discussed biblically. We need these subjects to be talked about without fear biblically. Because you and your family, you and your family will have to decide who you stand with on the questions of gender, on the questions of homosexuality, on the questions of marriage, on the questions of sexuality, and ultimately on the questions of authority. Because there are only two options, and that's either you stand with God or you stand against him.

Next Steps And Closing Promises

SPEAKER_01 24:33

God's design for humanity is not something we invented, it's something we receive from the one who created us. Next time, Dr. Mann will continue this introductory message and help us understand why God's design for gender, sexuality, and marriage remains essential for families, churches, and society itself. We hope you'll join us tomorrow for Foundations of Truth, the biblical teaching ministry of Dr. Timothy Mann. If you'd like to hear this message again, get ministry resources, or support this outreach, visit us online at firmfoundations.org. For Dr. Timothy Mann, I'm Dallas Freeze. Thanks for listening, and may God richly bless you this day.

Book Resource On Salvation

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Before we close today, I want to tell you about a resource that I believe will be a genuine help to you. I've recently published my first book, Saved, Understanding God's Work in Us. In over 30 years of pastoral ministry, one of the questions I've encountered more than almost any other is this How can I know that I am truly saved? It is a question that deserves a careful, biblical answer. Saved, understanding God's work in us, walks through what the scripture teaches about salvation, what God has done for us, what he is doing in us, and the assurance that every believer can have because of his work. You can find it on Amazon, Barnes Noble, and Books a Million, and pretty much anywhere you buy books. I pray it strengthens your faith. Thanks for being with us today. God bless you.