A Word in Season: Messages by R.J. Rushdoony on the Faith for All of Life

When a repeatedly arrested, probation-bound assemblyman is easily renominated, it reveals not merely the corruption of leaders but the deeper corruption of the people who elect them. As voters tolerate sins in their children and demand tolerance for their own, it is no wonder they tolerate the same in their legislators. Isaiah warned that in times of judgment, guilt runs through every class and station—“as with the people, so with the priest… as with the lender, so with the borrower”—because God locates sin wherever it lives, not merely at the top. The real crisis, as Proverbs 29:18 teaches, is the absence of biblical vision: without the teaching of God’s Word, people “run wild” and society decays, but where God’s law is kept, there is blessing. Our greatest need, then, is not better politicians but faithful proclamation of the Word—yet today, men prefer blindness to vision.

What if the greatest thief of your joy isn’t hardship, but your imagination? In this episode, we explore how countless people trade the real blessings God has given them—real spouses, real homes, real work—for fantasy versions that don’t exist, choosing imaginary “millions” over the thousand real gifts already in their hands. Scripture warns that fallen imagination blinds us to God’s goodness, while gratitude opens our eyes to the true wealth He provides. If you’re tired of dreaming your way into discontentment and ready to recognize the richness of reality, this episode will reorient your heart and your perspective.

This episode highlights a lesser-known side of John Knox, the great Scottish Reformer, showing that the strength that made him fearless—even as a galley slave—was matched by deep gratitude and affection. Knox not only wrote faithfully to his wife but also to his mother-in-law, whom he addressed as “dear mother,” loving her because she had given him his wife. Like the apostle Paul, he thanked God continually for those close to him, and this genuine appreciation inspired unusual loyalty from others. His life demonstrates that true spiritual strength is inseparable from heartfelt thankfulness, a quality Knox both practiced and expected, and one that still speaks powerfully to us today.

This episode recounts the remarkable progress of a boy with a low tested IQ who nevertheless achieved at or above grade level after enrolling in a thoroughly Christian school with a strong curriculum and devoted teachers. His transformation, the author argues, illustrates Paul’s statement that “the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” (2 Cor. 3:6): external forms, laws, or systems cannot produce true life or power unless animated by God’s Spirit. Modern society repeatedly tries to solve problems through curriculum changes, legislation, or environmental adjustments, but these alone cannot bring real growth. What changed this boy was not competition or technique but the life-giving influence of Christian teachers, Christian instruction, and the presence of the Holy Spirit. The passage concludes that while structural helps have their place, they become harmful if they replace the only true source of transformation—the Lord and His life-giving Spirit.

This episode stresses that the first commandment—“Thou shalt have no other gods before me”—requires God to be our supreme priority, governing every part of life. It illustrates this with a woman who, despite her children’s serious and obvious sins, declared that nothing would ever separate her from loving and supporting them. Her pastor’s wife rightly identified this as idolatry: the children had become her functional gods, displacing the Lord’s authority. In defending her misplaced devotion, the woman believed herself especially virtuous, yet her false priority put her in rebellion against God, her church, and her husband. The passage concludes that whenever anything—even something good in itself—takes precedence over God, it leads us astray, and it asks the reader to examine what truly holds first place in their own life.

This episode explains that when Jesus teaches us to address God as “Our Father,” we must understand fatherhood biblically, not according to modern sentimental notions. Hebrews 12:5–11 shows that God’s fatherly love is expressed through chastening: He disciplines those He loves, and the absence of discipline would mark us as illegitimate, not true children. Such correction deserves reverence, just as earthly fathers were respected for their guidance. Its purpose is to make us “partakers of His holiness,” preventing us from remaining complacent in sin. Though divine discipline is unpleasant in the moment, it ultimately yields “the peaceable fruit of righteousness” to those who accept it. Therefore, believers should receive God’s chastening as an expression of His love and as essential training for a life that leads to blessing and peace.

This episode reflects on the meaning of Christ’s title Immanuel—“God with us”—as foretold in Isaiah 7:14 and affirmed in Matthew 1:23. Humanity rebelled against God at the Fall, choosing to be its own source of truth and law, yet God in mercy sent His Son as the new Adam to remake a redeemed humanity and deliver us from evil. This is the true joy of Christmas: that in Jesus Christ, God is not merely near but with His people in ongoing presence and help. Even when human relationships fail or loved ones are distant, Christ’s companionship remains constant, enabling believers to say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.” The author illustrates this with a widow spending her first Christmas alone who still clings to God’s promise, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee,” knowing that Immanuel is with her.

This episode argues that Christians are not opposed to sex education itself but to the standards and worldview underlying much modern sex education, which is openly anti-Christian. Every course reflects a philosophy, and biblical sex education must begin with God’s law—“Thou shalt not commit adultery”—and the conviction that sexual intimacy belongs within marriage. While biological facts are simple to teach, the deeper attitudes of love, service, and unity in marriage grow over years through faith and obedience to Scripture. Public-school sex education, however, is rooted in humanistic morality, as illustrated by Dr. Mary Calderone of SIECUS, who explicitly teaches that youths must reject parental standards, form their own values, and determine for themselves when and how to engage in sex. This constitutes a rival religion that has reshaped the values of many young people since the 1960s. Because sex education is inseparable from moral and religious instruction, the author insists that only a distinctly Christian approach can faithfully teach it.

This episode reflects on The Lonely Crowd’s claim that Americans have shifted from an inner-directed, Scripture-formed character to an “other-directed” one shaped by peer pressure and consumption. The author sees this confirmed in modern parenting, where mothers and fathers allow their children virtually any immoral behavior—drug culture, promiscuity, pornography—out of fear that saying “no” will isolate them from the crowd. God’s law is ignored, and both parents and children follow the majority like unthinking sheep, despite Scripture’s warning not to “follow a multitude to do evil” (Exod. 23:2). True faith and character, he argues, require separation from the world’s standards, as expressed in God’s command: “Come out from among them, and be ye separate” (2 Cor. 6:17). Christian civilization itself was built by men willing to stand alone for truth—like Luther’s “Here I stand”—and without such courage, society will drift toward the destruction that comes from blindly following the crowd.

This episode recounts a young mother being ordered to stop modestly breastfeeding her baby at a public skating rink—an act once considered normal and respectable—while the same venue tolerates vulgarity and sexualized behavior. The author laments how, in an age that celebrates the sexual revolution, drug culture, and homosexual “rights,” a basic expression of motherhood is treated as offensive or even police-worthy. Citing Isaiah 5:20, he argues that society has inverted moral order, calling evil good and good evil, redefining “rights” to legitimize wrongdoing while ignoring the rights of nursing mothers and unborn children. Such reversal, he warns, sets people against God’s purposes. Perhaps most troubling, he notes, was the silence of bystanders—an indifference that allowed injustice to proceed unchecked.

This episode recounts how a religious fanatic smashed a friend’s fine dishes, claiming they violated the tenth commandment, and uses the incident to show how badly God’s law can be misunderstood. The Hebrew term for “covet,” the author explains, means to seize immorally by force, not simply to possess or enjoy good things; thus the woman who destroyed another’s property was the true lawbreaker. Scripture never condemns wealth, beauty, or material blessings themselves—only the love of money, a devotion appropriate to persons, not things. Likewise, Peter warns against trusting in outward adornment, not against having it. The Bible consistently teaches that God’s material gifts are meant to be enjoyed with gratitude (Eccles. 5:18–20) and that His blessing “makes rich” without sorrow (Prov. 10:22). Those who forbid or despise such gifts, the author concludes, misrepresent Scripture and burden others with false teaching.

This episode argues that the most successful modern revolution is not violent but ideological: the widespread adoption of socialist thinking, especially regarding moral responsibility. Biblically, guilt rests on the individual—sin is “my own most grievous fault”—and true social order depends on godly character and repentance. Socialism, however, shifts blame from the sinner to his environment, treating criminals as victims of circumstances, upbringing, or economics. This mindset increasingly absolves individuals of responsibility and even blames families or society when someone goes wrong. The author warns that if we instinctively excuse wrongdoing by blaming anything except the sinner, we have embraced the first principle of socialism. Believing that man is responsible leads us to seek change through Christ and transformed hearts; believing the environment is responsible shifts hope to legislation and revolution. Echoing the Berkeley protestor, the passage concludes by asking whether we have joined this ideological revolution by adopting its assumptions about guilt and human nature.

This episode observes that hatred must contain a kind of twisted pleasure, since so many people indulge in it—resenting others for their wealth, appearance, race, or even for no clear reason. Envy often fuels such hatred, as illustrated by a woman despised by a stranger simply because she looked good and drove a nice car. But envy is not the only cause; Christ teaches that hatred springs from an evil heart, which delights in malicious thoughts (Matt. 15:19). Modern culture—through entertainment and daily life—feeds this appetite, and Paul warns that the reprobate not only commit such sins but “take pleasure” in them (Rom. 1:32). Our pleasures, the writer notes, reveal the true state of our hearts. If we enjoy malice, gossip, or harm done to others, we expose inner corruption. The passage concludes by urging self-examination, remembering that while we may deceive others, God sees the heart.

This episode explains that the biblical word “blessed” means “very happy,” yet Christ’s Beatitudes redefine happiness in ways that contradict our natural desires. People assume they are blessed only when life is easy and they receive what they want, but Scripture shows that such indulgence can be spiritually harmful, as when God granted Israel’s desires but “sent leanness into their soul” (Ps. 106:15). True happiness cannot be pursued apart from God, because we belong to Him and exist under His absolute claim. Seeking blessedness on humanistic terms—independence, self-indulgence, or comfort—is ultimately a denial of God and leads to death (Prov. 8:36). Christ’s definition of blessedness includes trials but also promises: the Kingdom of Heaven, comfort, fullness, and inheritance. The passage ends by asking whether the reader is pursuing happiness on their own terms or on the Lord’s.

This episode describes Christ’s birth as the greatest invasion in history—God the Son entering the world to reclaim it as His Father’s Kingdom. While modern people eagerly entertain fantasies about extraterrestrials and “star wars,” they ignore the far greater reality that the true King has come, bringing salvation to those who receive Him and judgment to those who resist His rule. Rejecting the King is the only real tragedy; seeing the world through “dead men’s eyes” blinds us to His peace and joy. Instead, believers are called to let the message of the carols fill their hearts, to draw strength from the joy of the Lord, and to remember that Christ reigns now and forever: His government will endlessly increase, and He will save His people from their sins. Because we belong to this reigning King, every year and every age is “the year of our Lord.” Therefore, the writer urges, rejoice.

This episode confronts worry as a popular yet often unacknowledged sin, because anxiety reflects distrust in God’s promise to work all things for good for His people. Recalling the storm on the Sea of Galilee, the author notes that Jesus rebuked His terrified disciples not only by calming the wind but by exposing their fear as “no faith.” Since Christ has already accomplished the greatest act—our redemption—caring for our daily needs is a small matter for Him. Worrying, therefore, is a refusal to trust and obey. The writer urges believers, when tempted to fret, to remember that Christ has taken them “on board,” likening salvation to an unsinkable ark. To worry in His care is not only unnecessary but sinful, because the central reality is not our problems but the Lord’s steadfast protection and presence.

This episode identifies three subtle but pervasive problems people create for themselves. First—and most destructive—is self-pity, which makes the self the center of all interpretation, inflates expectations of God and others, and inevitably leads to constant feelings of hurt. Second is the habit of giving unasked-for advice, a self-righteous tendency to tell others how to live while refusing correction ourselves, which naturally offends people and accomplishes little good. Third is the mishandling of money—not money itself, but the attitudes of irresponsibility, pride, or manipulation that often accompany it. These three failings lie at the root of many personal troubles, yet people prefer to blame external factors rather than acknowledge how their own sinful patterns contribute to their difficulties.

This episode explains that the common English rendering of “contentment” in 1 Timothy 6:6–8 can mislead modern readers, since the Greek word autarkeia actually means sufficiency or self-sufficiency, not passive acceptance of lack. Paul’s point is not that believers should tell the needy to “be warmed and filled” without help—as James condemns—but that godliness paired with the basic material necessities for independent living constitutes “great gain.” The word for “gain,” porismos, refers to provision, underscoring that Paul rejects any false spirituality that despises material goods. Instead, he affirms that the truly Christian standard is a union of godliness and economic self-sufficiency—having enough to meet one’s needs responsibly while living under God’s rule.

This episode argues that while Christians profess belief in the commandment “Thou shalt not steal,” they frequently violate it through coercion, deception, or unfair expectations rather than overt robbery. Examples include a church pressuring a pastor’s wife to serve as a free organist to cut costs, and Christian schools underpaying teachers while claiming it is “sacrifice for the Lord’s work”—practices the author labels as theft, since they force others to bear burdens for someone else’s benefit. No “good cause,” he insists, can justify taking what rightfully belongs to another. Citing Scripture and the Westminster Larger Catechism, he argues that Christian institutions are obligated to uphold justice, fairness, and a commitment to preserving the well-being of others. When churches and schools themselves engage in theft, they contribute to the moral decay of society. True exaltation of a nation—or any community—comes only through righteousness: faith and obedience to God’s law.

This episode highlights Paul’s strong and often overlooked condemnation of covetousness, which he ranks alongside sexual immorality, idolatry, theft, and drunkenness, even instructing believers not to associate or eat with a professing Christian marked by this sin. Covetousness—envy in action—is widely tolerated today and even encouraged through politics, advertising, and social attitudes that punish the successful and legitimize resentment. Scripture, however, consistently views envy as a mark of a reprobate mind and a form of idolatry, because it places personal desire above God’s will. Paul regards it as a dangerous poison that breeds hatred, disturbs church unity, and destroys brotherly love. Ultimately, the author warns that covetousness is most destructive not when we see it in others but when it secretly thrives within us.