Without Natural Affection

If you are a socon, tradcon, paleocon, or maybe even a neocon you are most likely familiar with the idea of “natural law.”  At one point in time most United States citizens were familiar with this concept, as it is enshrined within the Declaration of Independence when the founders gave natural law as the justification for rebellion against British rule.

The founders adopted the idea of natural law from John Locke (if you haven’t read his two treatises then you really should put that on the “to do” list), while Lock borrowed the concept from the Apostle Paul.  In Romans chapter 1 Paul addresses, at length, the spiritual decline and fall of the gentile world.  He begins by showing how human pride led the gentiles to reject the knowledge of God, which resulted in their departure from the natural order.  Paul emphasizes that homosexuality is against nature, and further describes the crimes of the gentiles as being a result of being “without natural affection.”

Now what exactly does it mean to be “without natural affection”?  Take the sad case of Crystal Rusaw, http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/08/09/3-kids-found-wandering-on-highway-after-mom-leaves-them-home-alone/#ixzz23280qTHN?test=latestnews , who left her small children alone and in dangerous circumstances in order to go to her neighbor’s house for a “booty call”.  We understand that it is natural for women to make the welfare and safety of their children the paramount concern of their lives.  We expect this to be so, and when we see a case like this one we are (rightfully) repulsed.  But is Ms. Rusaw really all that exceptional in our culture?

Each year the women of the United States abort over one million unborn children…. Is Ms. Rusaw’s crime worse than the women who do this?  If so, why?  Each woman who chooses to kill her unborn baby must harden her heart to the results of her choice.  How many times must a woman make a conscious decision to kill her own child before her psyche changes to something previously unrecognizable?

Leave abortion out of it however, and take a look around your community at the various “day care” centers.  How many of them advertise that they are for children “six weeks and up”?  A little research revealed that in my home state infants as young as six weeks may be placed in day care centers all day.  The state requires only one caregiver per six infants.  This means that various mothers drop their six week old infants off with a stranger who is also looking after five other infants, none of whom are her own.  Is this natural affection?  Is this in the “best interest of the child”?

The women of western civilization like to boast “you’ve come a long way, baby” and “we can have it all.”  The “all” they have seems to be a job, which from all appearances the majority of them hate, crushing student loan/credit card/car note/house note debt, failing marriages and abandoned children, all of it pursued by women who pridefully believed that they should be the same as men in every area.  Just as Paul predicted, these women have lost the affection they are naturally endowed with, and as a result are capable of any crime.  We may, as a culture, choose to ignore natural law, but if we violate its rules we will still pay the price.  Man never truly “breaks” the law of God, he merely breaks himself in rebellion against it.

Matthew 8:5-13 …

Matthew 8:5-13

5	¶ And when Jesus was entered into Caper’na-um, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him,
6	and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented.
7	And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.
8	The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.
9	For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
10	When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
11	And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven: Lk. 13.29
12	but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Mt. 22.13 ; 25.30 · Lk. 13.28.
13	And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. What is Biblical leadership?  Look at the centurion in this passage, and consider a few points. 1)  The centurion recognized proper authority.  Although he was himself a man having authority over others, he also recognized the authority of Christ as superior to his own.  As a Roman military leader he humbled himself before a Jew in a conquered land.  True leadership begins by recognizing true authority.   The centurion recognized the authority of God, and whether he realized that Jesus was the Christ or merely thought Him to be a prophet he still spoke to Him with humility. 2) The centurion cared for the welfare of those who served under him.  Notice that the sick individual is not a member of his family, nor is it one of his soldiers.  It is his servant, a slave.  How can it be that a Roman soldier would humble himself before a Jew on behalf of a slave?  This is one of the most amazing, and often overlooked aspects of this passage. 3) The centurion put himself at risk for his servant.  This centurion publicly acknowledged the authority of Jesus, and confessed that authority to be greater than his own.  Had he had an enemy present who might have chosen to report his words it is entirely possible he could have been held guilty of recognizing an authority other than Rome, and outside the hierarchy that Rome had established in the region, an offense which would almost certainly led to his death.  His confession of Jesus’ authority was not only an act of humility, it was an act of courage. The selflessness, compassion and courage of the centurion were all integral aspects of the faith he demonstrated when he asked Jesus to heal his servant.  His recognition of the proper role of Divinely established authority, and his place in that order, were hallmarks of the faith Jesus said was the greatest He had encountered.  Now what else do we learn?  The centurion looked out for the best interest of those who served under him, and in return expected their immediate obedience in all things.  This is the nature of Biblical authority, a fact that many churches today neglect.  If we do not adhere to God’s authority in all spheres then we are not acting with faith. How may we have this type of faith today?  By humbling ourselves before the authority of God.  Yet how can we know if we have truly done that?  Only if we humble ourselves before the authority God has established in all realms.  In the family the wife must humble herself to the husband’s authority, and recognize that this authority comes from God.  A woman cannot rebel against her husband and serve God at the same time. Children must obey their parents, once again recognizing this as God’s plan.  A child who is rebellious against his parents can no more be pleasing to God than any other sinner who chooses a life of rebellion against God. The husband and father must humble himself before Christ, just as the centurion did, and lead his family with courage and faith, recognizing that he will give answer in the day of judgement for how he has led his family. This is God’s plan, and should we choose to substitute the progressive/feminist model, or any other plan, for it then we prove we do not have faith.  True, Biblical faith discovers God’s plan within His Word, and having discovered it adheres to it through all the trials of life.