Words like insensitive, intolerant, ignorant, unloving, haters and judgmental are thrown around very carelessly in our world today. Quickly these words are hurled when questions are raised when issues of morality, behaviors, and decisions being made have lingering consequences that would rather be ignored than addressed.
Because no one wants to be thought as insensitive, intolerant, ignorant, unloving, a hater or as judgmental, debate is restrained and what was once unacceptable becomes the norm and the what used to be right is now wrong and what used to be wrong is now right.
Absolutes – do they exist anymore? We’re told what might be right for you and may not be right for me. We are told that no one has the right to tell anyone what’s right or wrong. What I find in that thought process is confusion, chaos, and a lack of civil order.
I’m reminded of the statement that history repeats itself and the only thing we learn from history is that we do not learn from history. When I hear it said that everyone should decide for themselves what’s right or wrong, I think of the words from the Old Testament book of Judges where is written in Chapter 17:6 all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. Another phrase that you’ll find repeated in the Old Testament book of Judges is, the people did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
If there is a creator God, is He to be taken seriously? Are there things that we’ve decided that are okay that He’s said are off limits? Are things so blurred today that it’s difficult to decide or even remember the difference between right and wrong?
In his book, Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis writes, “Progress means getting nearer to the place you want to be. And if you have taken a wrong turn, then to go forward does not get you any nearer. If you are on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; and in that case the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive man.”
For the all hopes of a better and loving world, the further a culture moves down the road of being self-absorbed, self-indulged, and self-gratified rather than being selfless and self-abandoned, the further down the dead end path they travel.
It’s time to turn around and walk back to the right road and begin to travel that road Jesus referenced as the one that leads to life. It’s time to try to bring the blurred back into focus. You will find in the New Testament letter that Paul wrote to the followers of Jesus in Corinth that he teaches us that God is not the author of confusion. Creation reminds us that it was God that spoke the chaos into order and provides us with boundaries for a well ordered life.
I hope you’ll join us in January for a message series I decided to call, Blurred – A Vague Remembrance of Right and Wrong. You might know someone that’s struggling with issues of what’s right and wrong and who determines that. This might create a great opportunity for you to invite them to explore God’s thought on this subject.
Pastor Randy Mitchell
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