Priorities
October 27, 1981
The Scriptural order of priority of relationships:
God.
Spouse.
Children.
Parents.
Other associates in family, church, work, school, neighborhood, etc., with the closest associates having the highest priority.
The order of priority moves from the most
personal, spontaneous, experiential, intimate, and spiritual
to the most
abstract, structured, impersonal, theoretical, and distant.
The nature of evil is to reverse this order of priority, with the highest priority given to the most distant (the state) and the lowest priority given to God. The effects of good spread from the most personal to the most distant. The effects of evil spread from the most distant to the most personal, as we observe the pattern of breakdown of society. It is the opposite of the constructive development of a society.
Societies develop strength as men have faith in God, love their spouses, care for their children, care for their parents, show love for their neighbors, and support the proper functions of the state.
Societies deteriorate when the state becomes coercive in some areas (e.g. welfare), neighborhoods are threatened, children neglect their parents, parents neglect their children as mothers abandon domestic functions, spouses abandon each other as homosexuality grows, men lose all faith in God, and collapse follows.