Views: 86
[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles 2 page.]
A bountiful, but bitter harvest of dishonor, immorality, profanity, drug and drink addiction and uncaring secularism have become commonplace in our beautiful America. They extend from the powerless and poor through all intermediate levels to the wealthy and most powerful in government and business. A growing acceptance of homosexuality, merciless abortion, and the nothing-left-to-the-imagination pornography that stares one in the face at almost every turn are a part of this corrupt reaping.
But the harvest is never reaped without the seed-sowing before it. To change the figure for a moment, the amorality of modern America is only the symptom. The symptoms can never be cured without finding and destroying their cause. The important thing to discover is the seed that has produced such a putrid harvest.
Some of the “grass roots” philosophies of the 1960’s need to be mentioned at this point. “If it feels good, do it” and “Do your own thing” are two of them. Rather than being the seed, I judge them to be part of the harvest. The seed behind all of this is much older. It is so old and has been repeated so many times that I am sure its origin has been utterly obscured. It doubtless started in reference to religion. It has been used for generations untold to defend division within Protestantism and to play down the importance of strict adherence to New Testament doctrine. It usually runs, “It makes no difference what you believe as long as you’re sincere.” If this were true in religious doctrine (and it most assuredly is not), then it is but a small step to apply it to moral laws. By this very rule “situation ethics” determines that adultery and fornication are not wrong as long as “true love” (sincerity) is present. If it makes no difference what one believes, then, just as logically, it makes no difference what one does, as long as he is sincere, of course.
By such a dictum our world has come to call “good” evil and “evil” good (Isa. 5:20). The distinction between Truth and error, right and wrong is destroyed by following this principle. It teaches that wrong is made right and error is made Truth if one is only sincere in believing it. But try as one might, being sincere does not make 2 + 2 = 5. Neither does it purify immorality or turn religious error into Truth.
[Note: I wrote this article for and it was published in the August 1, 1976, edition of Granbury Gospel, weekly bulletin of the Church of Christ, Granbury, Texas, of which I was editor.]
Attribution: From thescripturecache.com; Dub McClish, owner and administrator.
