Who Do I Listen To? (Friday Devotional)

When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than any human authority.”

- Acts 5:27-29

This time of year, there is no escaping holiday advertisements. On billboards, in newspapers, on television, in the mail, and online, retailers across the country are doing everything in their power to get your attention. They do it with brightly colored ads, with catchy jingles, with memorable commercials, and, if you’re lucky, with sales. Whatever it takes, they want you thinking about their products when you shop this month.

The problem, of course, is that since you’re being bombarded from all sides by advertisements, it’s hard to discern which are worth listening to and which can be safely ignored. Nobody wants to be suckered into buying something dumb just because they got lured in by an ad—but on the flip side, nobody wants to miss out on the sale of a lifetime either. You know some of what you’re seeing and hearing is worthwhile—but how are you supposed to know what’s what?

We face the same problem when it comes to issues of morality. In our information age, opinions about what you should think and do are as plentiful as holiday advertisements. Whether you’re talking with a coworker in the break room, scrolling through Facebook, talking on the phone with your parents, or watching cable news at home, you can’t get through a day without being exposed to a constant stream of (often contradictory) messages about what you’re supposed to believe. So how are you supposed to know who to listen to?

The answer to that question comes from the apostles. In the early days of the church, they had already won many new disciples to Christ, but had subsequently managed to land themselves in hot water. Jerusalem’s high priest and council—the same men who had brought false charges against Jesus and passed him on to Pilate—were concerned by the popularity of their message and wanted to see it put down quietly before they caused any more fuss.

But when they tried to throw the apostles in prison, an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors overnight and the apostles went right back to publicly proclaiming the gospel. Frustrated, the council called the apostles before them and demanded they stop preaching about Jesus. That’s when Peter, speaking for the Twelve, took a courageous stand: “We must obey God rather than any human authority.”

In our day of opinion overload, the apostles’ declaration is more important than ever. Believers are not supposed to take our cues on right and wrong from celebrities, politicians, or social media, but from the Word of God. Even and especially when obeying God means defying conventional wisdom or human authority—as was the case for the apostles—we are called to stand firm and be courageous, listening to our Lord instead of to idols. Morality isn’t determined by the whims of popular opinion, but by the unchanging God.

Every day, whether you realize it or not, your beliefs and behavior are being shaped. Left to your own devices, they will be shaped by the opinions of your friends, the authorities you respect, and the ever-shifting views of the majority. So pray for the conviction, the courage, and the cognizance to obey God before any other and to be shaped by Him instead. Bombarded by other’s beliefs, look to the Lord to know what’s what.