I read this week that no piece of paper can be folded more than seven times. Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes. Walt Disney, the inventor of Mickey Mouse, was afraid of mice. A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why. Women blink twice as much as men. Elephants are the only animals that can't jump. And it is physically impossible to lick your elbow. But you'll probably try when you get home.

Why? Because we are skeptics. You looked skeptical as I recited those facts. You want to know how they know. We live in a culture which distrusts authority.

During Vietnam, we saw flags and draft cards burned for the first time in our nation's history.

During the Watergate scandal, we watched the first resignation of an American president.

During the sexual revolution we watched morals change dramatically. In 1969, 67% of young adults said premarital sex was wrong; today only 38% agree. Over a million people reported sexually transmitted diseases last year. And the AIDS epidemic continues.

As the world's religions have come to our shores, Muslim mosque activities have increased 75% over the last five years. There are more Muslims in America than there are Episcopalians, Jews, or Presbyterians. The Internet lists 67 different Buddhist societies in Texas. We have become the most religiously diverse nation on earth. As a result, 60% of young adults believe that God is not limited to a single faith.

As Christendom has declined, two out of three adults believe that religion is losing its influence in American society. The number of Americans who said they had no religion doubled in the last ten years.

What does it all mean for the concept of authority?

The number of Americans who believe that absolute moral truth even exists dropped last year to 22%, an all-time low. 93% of Americans say that they alone determine what is and what isn't moral in their lives.

As Chuck Colson summarizes: "The emerging consensus seems to be that vague, comforting spirituality is healthy, but that doctrinal, authoritative religions may even be dangerous."

Now you come to church and hear a sermon with this thesis: the Bible is the objective, absolute authority of God. When we know what God's word says, we must do it. And we ask, Why?