Right in My Own Eyes (1) – Strange Story

Welcome to CROLCC, we are so glad you are here worshiping with us. If this is your first time here or if you haven’t been here a while you have picked the perfect week to come. Because today we are starting a brand new series and you will be like watching from the beginning of a movie. We are mostly going to be in the book of Judges so if you are not familiar with that book of the Bible, you probably are going to learn something new. My hope is that you will find the Bible fascinating that you will want to read it on your own during and after the series.

Here’s what we are going to talk about during this series – there’s an unstated part of the American dream and it goes like this: “I want to have the freedom to do what I want, when I want, with whom I want. And nobody can do a thing about it, as long as it doesn’t hurt anybody.” Does that sound like what you want? But what if life doesn’t work that way? What if you can’t do what’s right in your own eyes without eventually hurting someone? Glad you ask.

Moving Forward

None of us wants a king until we find ourselves doing what we want places us where we can’t do what we want. We all look for a king to bail us out. We throw ourselves on the mercy of our parents, our bosses, the government . . . or God.

How might your life be different if your standard of behavior changed from doing what you want as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone to doing what you want as long as it helps someone? How would your relationships be different?

Discussion Questions

1. Do you ever wish you didn’t have to answer to anyone—your boss, your parents, your spouse? What is the allure of that kind of fantasy?

2. Consider the story in Judges 19–20. How is it that circumstances spun out of control even though everyone in the story did what they thought was right?

3. Think about a time in your life when you chose to do what was right in your own eyes. In what ways did it hurt you, the people with you, the people who care about you, or the people coming after you?

4. If you were God, how would you respond to a culture, a nation, or an individual characterized by and attitude of what I want, when I want it, with whom I want?