Choosing My Standard

by Melissa J | More from this Blogger

15 Oct 2006 01:00 AM

This is the first part of a small group series I've been working in called, "Values that Last". Though I could probably write several blogs on this session alone, I am just going to focus on the specific areas that really hit home for me.

There seems to be a decay of truth in today's society. This is likely a result of three philosophies (among others) that have taken root in our society:

• Individualism: Personal independence, relying on yourself, the standard of your own life and what seems right to you.

  "In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes." (Judges 21:25)

• Secularism: That God is not necessary and does not need to be a part of the functioning of society.

  "...who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped the creature rather than the Creator..." (Romans 1:25)

• Relativism: There is no absolute truth except what each one believes in their own minds.

  "...having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness." (Ephesians 4:18-19)

We can see the devaluing and decay of truth in the following areas of our society:

• Politics: Power and control have been worshiped by many. We still see today people striving to make a name for themselves. Generally speaking, politics seem to have become less about the greater will and state of a nation, and more about people pleasing, approval ratings, greed, and moving ahead by whatever means necessary.

• Business: We see many of the concerns with politics in today's business world. We hear of business practices that are unethical. We are seeing more companies choosing to save a buck by cutting benefits of valued employees, outsourcing their jobs, as well as hiring people under the table. I'm not completely apposed to these things when done for legitimate reasons other than greed and when done legally.

• Entertainment: One person said you can find out what society puts value on by reading magazine covers. In church, our pastor listed off some of the hot topics on magazine cover ranging from lying to sex. Many entertainers and companies are drawing attention to themselves by using shocking behaviors or features to stun their audience. Entertainment through television and magazines especially seems to set a standard for the latest trends and what people perceive about society as "the norm".

• Education: There seems to be a double standard in many of our schools. As Satan works through his vessels to remove God from our schools, religions such as Secular Humanism, Liberalism, and Leftism are being fed to children as a "correct mindset". The theory of evolution is often being taught as fact and creation as just a story from the Bible.

• Religion: Many churches have decided to move from God-pleasing to people-pleasing. Perhaps this is about growing numbers of tithe payers in their congregation? But it is wrong to take the word of God and twist it or pull out scriptures to justify sin that the Bible so clearly states at such.

The definition of tolerance seems to have changed in recent years. To be tolerant was once about respecting others as people and treating them with dignity--even if we disagree. This is certainly the Christ-like thing to do. I cannot support the new definition of tolerance which seems to be that of relativism; believing every idea is true and ought to be respected.

When asked at the end of the lesson today what my standard will be, I answered truth. I don't want what this world says is true because that "truth" seems to change often to justify sin. God's truth is unchanging. He is stable.

"Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law." (Proverbs 29:18)

"Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20)

"If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?"(Psalm 11:3)

It's important that we as Christians not sit back and allow the enemy to seduce our society into believing his lies. We need to speak out the truth in God's word and bring a fresh perspective of hope to people's lives. We need others to know that God truly wants well for us and He has reasons for the commandments set forth in the Bible. By recognizing God in our society, we then have a moral standard to live by to rebuild our nation. We can acknowledge His blessing and His power with thanksgiving and humility.

Please visit an ongoing forum discussion we have going on at Families.com in the Christian-Evangelical section called: Values that Last: Weekly Group Discussion. We invite you to share your thoughts on discussion questions pertaining to this series.

All Scripture reference was quoted from the NKJV.

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Laura S (663) 22 Oct 2006 07:30 PM

I really like this series. I think I'm going to e-mail this one to my kids also. That way, they'll have both of them.