“In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25)

Today, many people feel unsure about what to believe. Trust is fading in major institutions, including the news media, education, science, technology, government, and even in commonly held narratives. The COVID-19 pandemic made this worse. For instance, scientists revised their advice as they gained more knowledge, but many perceived these changes as confusing or untrustworthy. Even before the pandemic, some people saw most news outlets, especially the mainstream ones, as biased. As the various news sources reported radically different versions of the same events, people became more divided. Now, many feel lost and do not know whom to trust.

This confusion only grows with technology. Social media spreads news quickly, but it often mixes facts with opinions and speculation. It is hard to know who is truly reliable. Online platforms care more about attention than accuracy. Because profit comes from clicks, they promote posts that stir anger or fear, as these receive the most views.

Even though we now have more information than ever (Daniel 12:4), people cannot agree on what is true. It feels as though there are many versions of truth, making life confusing and uncertain. The prophecy of the time of the end in Daniel 12:4 fits these times exactly: “. . . many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.”

As trust in leaders and systems wanes, people feel compelled to determine the truth on their own. This state of affairs means that each person decides right or wrong based on their own life, what feels true to them, who they listen to, and the groups to which they belong.

The Church Reflects the World

What happens in the world also eventually affects the church. Dr. Herman Hoeh, a long-time evangelist in the Worldwide Church of God, once said, “If it’s in the world, it’s in the church.” This zeitgeist—this “spirit of the times,” where everyone decides for himself what is right—has also spread into the greater church of God.

The Bible states that ancient Israel once lived in an age like this. Judges 21:25 says, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Without a trusted authority to guide them, the people followed their own way, decided their own course.

We face this problem at a critical time in the history of God’s church. Most members believe that we now live in a time whose attitudes resemble those found in the church of Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22). It does not take a great deal of insight to confirm this opinion. Because we live under the same influences, we, too, almost certainly wrestle with this attitude ourselves. But what is the Laodicean attitude?

The name of the city in Asia Minor gives us a clear clue. Laodicea derives from two Greek words: laos, meaning “people,” and dike, meaning “to judge” or “to decide.” For Laodiceans, they, the people, take it upon themselves to decide what is important instead of submitting to God, the one true Authority. The past several decades have presented ample evidence that some people affiliated with the church feel free to curate their own set of doctrines, flitting from group to group to find one that agrees with them.

The Error of Self-Rule

Richard Ritenbaugh reflected on this phenomenon in his May 4, 2024, commentary titled “Sovereign God, Not Man”:

One thing about sovereignty is that when you are a sovereign, no one can tell you what to do. You are the ultimate authority. And so, you do whatever you want to do, your decisions are in fact God, in that way, if you have the wrong attitude. It is not necessarily that you are making these decisions because you are doing them because that is what you learned from God. You become the arbiter of truth, and you decide . . . but you decide that you are the authority and that you make the rules. You make rules for yourself and for your empirical self.

This [theft of divine sovereignty] has affected the church terribly because now everyone thinks that he or she can make the rules about religion, about God’s truth. It is something that we need to take very seriously—because that is not our job. God is the arbiter of truth. He is the great Judge. He is the great Sovereign. I think that many people in the church have become a little too proud, a little too self-exalted, and [have decided] they are the ones that are going to decide what to do.

His warning reminds us of a sobering reality: God alone has the right to judge truth. When people try to take that role, they are not just following their own opinions—they are replacing God as Judge. It is not that people reject God’s view outright but, rather, fail even to consider it (Psalm 10:4). Stubbornly clinging to our own way instead of humbly seeking God’s way is idolatry (I Samuel 15:23). It is a choice to replace God’s authority with self-rule—a willful decision that may trade salvation for the fleeting satisfaction of autonomy (Hebrews 10:26).

To expose how inherently vulnerable we are—how readily we swallow the hook of the temptation to assume God’s role and decide for ourselves—consider Satan. He chose this weapon for his first and most crucial attack on humanity. In Genesis 3:5, the serpent told Eve, “You will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Satan proved he understood our greatest weakness, using it to persuade her to decide right and wrong for herself. Proverbs 14:12 warns, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.”

This desire to be in charge and make our own rules is one of the most dangerous features of human nature. It often begins in small ways—choosing what feels right over what God says, picking which parts of Scripture to follow, usually the comfortable parts while dismissing the hard ones, or convincing ourselves that our situation is an exception. Over time, these choices reveal a deeper issue: We want control. The danger of this desire lies in how deeply rooted it is within us.

Like Satan—who refused to serve and chose to usurp leadership—we often struggle to yield fully to God’s authority. While our resistance may not be as overt or defiant, it can still manifest in our actions. We may say that God is in charge, but we often live as though we still hold the reins. This quiet resistance may not look like rebellion, but it is still a refusal to surrender. True submission to God means trusting Him even when His way is hard, uncomfortable, or different from what we would choose.

The Consequences of Self-Rule

The danger goes even further than idolatry. When people decide for themselves what is right or wrong in matters of doctrine or morality—without clear support from the Bible—they are not merely mistaken. By promoting what is false, they are bearing false witness—lying. This is not just an error in judgment but a distortion of truth with serious spiritual consequences.

God warned His Old Testament people at least fifteen times to be careful with His words. Yet, we still are not—whether by twisting Scripture to suit our views or treating His commands casually. He warns us not to add to or take away from His commands (Deuteronomy 4:2; 12:32; Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18-19), yet we do, adding our own ideas or rejecting parts of His. He tells us not to turn aside to the right or the left (Deuteronomy 5:32; 28:14; Joshua 1:7; Proverbs 4:27), but we do—either by adding rules God never gave or ignoring the ones He did. Too often, we trust human opinion over God’s Word. We accept what feels right and dismiss what does not agree with our feelings, instead of humbly seeking God’s thoughts through His Word (Proverbs 3:6).

When we decide right and wrong for ourselves, we break the first commandment by putting ourselves before God, leading to the sins of idolatry and lying. Choosing to rule ourselves puts our salvation at risk. Revelation 21:8 gives this severe warning: “[I]dolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:8 shows how seriously God judges lying—and also idolatry—both sins, in this case, caused by repeating Eve’s mistake, rejecting God’s rule for self-rule.

People often speak of “life and death” issues to emphasize the seriousness of a matter. But choosing to live by our own words and ideas instead of every word of God is far more serious. It is not just a matter of life and death in this world—it is an eternal life-and-death issue. As Revelation 21:8 warns, those who commit sins such as idolatry and lying risk the second death. These sins often stem from a life that does not truly value God or His Word (Psalm 10:4), which occurs because God has ceased to be the focal point of our lives (Hebrews 2:1).

Be Ready to Give an Answer

So, how do we protect ourselves from this fatal error, which is rooted in our greatest weakness, the desire to decide for ourselves what is right and wrong—a sin that could cost us the gift of eternal life? God gives each of His called children an explicit instruction in this regard:

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear. (I Peter 3:15)

If someone asks why we believe what we believe, God expects us always to be ready to respond to questions about our beliefs. That answer should come from Scripture because God—the true arbiter of truth—expects us to live by every word He has spoken (Matthew 4:4). Just as God expects us to give others a scriptural answer, He expects the same from us when we examine our own beliefs (II Corinthians 13:5). We must also ask ourselves why we believe—and be sure our answers clearly come from the Bible.

Doing this honestly and consistently helps protect us from relying on our own judgment and becoming wise in our own eyes. As Solomon observes, “Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him” (Proverbs 26:12).

Peter teaches that we should be ready to give answers, and to be ready faithfully, we must regularly test our own beliefs to make sure they are in line with God’s Word:

» Test all things; hold fast what is good. (I Thessalonians 5:21)

» Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. (I John 4:1)

Richard Ritenbaugh offered a helpful guideline in his December 27, 2024, CGG Weekly essay, “The Biblical New Year:”

When studying a biblical topic, it is always helpful to begin with a plain, unambiguous statement that provides a fundamental understanding of the subject. Such a clear and concise scriptural declaration becomes a springboard for expanding our inquiry into deeper and less distinct areas of the doctrine. As long as we hold on to these clear scriptures—which can be called “definition verses,” for lack of a better term—allowing them to underlie and delineate our belief, we are likely to remain on course.

This principle applies not only when we examine our own beliefs but also when we consider the ideas we hear from others. Many teachings circulate within the greater church of God, and we must be careful. It is critical to ask every time for scriptural evidence that is clear, direct, and easy to understand. As believers, our response should always be, “Show me in the Bible.”

A Warning

If we cannot identify solid biblical backing—whether in our own beliefs or in what others teach—we must take seriously the words of Isaiah 8:20. These words command our attention, serving as both a test and a warning that must never be overlooked: “To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.”

This warning went unheeded during the period of sweeping doctrinal changes in the Worldwide Church of God. One prominent teacher used persuasive logic and academic credentials to promote ideas rooted in human reasoning, confusing many about key doctrines—particularly the Trinity, the nature of God, and other core teachings. His arguments sounded convincing, and many accepted them without testing them against Scripture. But the warning of Isaiah 8:20 still held true—and the deception succeeded because too many failed to apply this verse.

The danger did not end there. It is still with us today—and we cannot afford to make the same mistake. We must not rely on personality, intellect, or tradition. We must test all teachings and ideas against the Word of God—our only authority.

God is light (I John 1:5), and Jesus calls Himself the light (John 8:12). This is the same light that Isaiah 8:20 speaks of: “If they do not speak according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Any claim about right or wrong that does not have clear support from the Bible may reveal who a person truly follows—whether themselves or some other supposed authority on the matter.

When people attempt to be like God by deciding for themselves what is good and evil (Genesis 3:5), they are rebelling against Him, following the example of Eve, who listened to the serpent and chose her own way. The Bible compares rebellion to witchcraft (I Samuel 15:23), showing that rebellion opens the door to evil, even to spiritual fornication, which puts at risk the gift of eternal life.

The apostle Paul warns the church in I Timothy 4:1:

Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.

Determining the truth is not a game. We are not playing church. We must be diligent about what we believe, making sure it is firmly grounded in God’s Word. Nothing less than our eternal life is at stake. Our salvation depends on it!