Views: 2<\/p>
[Note: <\/strong>This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles\u20132<\/strong> page.]<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>Without intending to be pessimistic, it appears to me that our world has suffered by the large scale \u201cretreat from excellence\u201d in recent years.\u00a0 Those who are experts in the language arts fields are alarmed at the unconcern for grammatical correctness by our song writers, playwrights, speakers, and statesmen. It appears that somewhere we have abandoned the honored concept once generally held to strive for excellence and correctness in our speech habits It is bad enough that such expressions as \u201cain\u2019t,\u201d \u201cthat\u2019s where it\u2019s at,\u201d etc., and the common use of double negatives (\u201cI don\u2019t have none\u201d) abound. It is much worse to consider how crude and profane the speech of the man and woman on the street has become. It seems a rule in the TV industry that unless a program is spiced with a half-dozen \u201chells\u201d or \u201cdamns\u201d every half hour it just doesn\u2019t stand a chance in the ratings.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The same principle is observed in clothing, doubtless growing out of the dropped-out, drug-crazed Hippie sub-culture of several years ago. It seems ridiculous enough that clothing which would have been appropriate only for a hobo a few years ago, now commands top dollar at the major department stores. But this retreat from excellence also spawned such outrageous styles as the miniskirt, hotpants, and \u201csee-through\u201d fashions.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The principle could be illustrated in many other areas of our lives (surely there has been such a retreat in the field of popular music!). But I want to specify one other field, and it is the most important of all. In the realm of religion, there has been a wholesale retreat from excellence. Only one generation before mine was marked by an atmosphere that generally accepted the fact of the existence of God and considered the Bible to be the Word of God. Lamentably, our world has now been so duped by Satan that it has cast off these excellent concepts. Materialism and secularism describe the common frame of reference of the present. Even in the church, some are leading a retreat from God\u2019s excellent plan. Paul urges us to \u201c\u2026approve the things that are excellent\u2026\u201d) Phi. 1:10.<\/span><\/p>\n [Note:<\/strong> I wrote this article for, and it was published in the December 4, 1975, edition of the Granbury Gospel, <\/em>weekly bulletin of the Granbury Church of Christ, Granbury, Texas, of which I was editor.<\/span><\/p>\n Attribution:<\/strong> From thescripturecache.com<\/em>; Dub McClish, owner and administrator.<\/span><\/p>\n \n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Views: 2[Note: This MS is available in larger font on our Brief Articles\u20132 page.] \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Without intending to be pessimistic, it appears to me that our world has suffered by the large scale \u201cretreat from excellence\u201d in recent years.\u00a0 Those who are experts in the…<\/p>\n