The Society Bible

I rarely have an original or profound thought, but this thought has been on my mind for a while, so I thought I'd blog about it. You may not agree with me on all - or any of my examples, but they are my examples - and I am in no means equating all of them - they are all areas where even people outside of the church held a standard of belief on that changed, and then the church for the most part has followed along.

Where do we get our basis for right and wrong? If you are a Christian, you would say the Bible and/or God. But do we really? It seems even the most conservative among us depend on society for what is right and wrong. Oh, for a while the church will take a stand, but eventually the church and Christians tag along or cave in. What am I talking about? Glad you asked! Here are my examples - and there are plenty more, but here are a few:

1) Language. There was a day not all that long ago when people were bleeped on the radio and/or TV for saying certain words. That list has shortened to just a few, and a lot of stations allow it all. Now, we have Christians using the same words people used to be bleeped out on. One of my pet peeves is Christian authors and publishers allowing curse words in Christian books. Whoever said it was ok to do that? It was wrong and would have been a major issue even 10 years ago. Society became more accepting of cursing and the church is following along. I have had Christians defend curse words in Christian books - that is beyond my level of understanding.

2) Clothing. There was a day in America where only one type of women dressed in extremely revealing outfits. It was considered indecency to dress in certain ways. Pants were a man's clothing. Christians and non-Christians alike adhered to standards of modesty. A woman who wore pants was looked on like I would be if I walked down the street in a dress - well, even that is accepted by some.

Now, people wear less clothing than the average underwear. There is no difference between what men and women wear. You're looked on with scorn by even most Christians if you think women should dress like women and men like men, and that there should be a limit on how much skin is shown. So who changed that? Society changed. Women's lib came in. They said they wanted to dress like men, have men's jobs, have men's haircuts, and the church followed along.

(Not a popular belief, but yeah - I believe women should wear skirts. I have heard all of the arguments, but still believe that way. I am not saying anyone has to agree - this was just an example - and I am not saying you are not a Christian if you are a woman and wear pants - so don't go there!)

3) Abortion. There was a day when abortion was considered wrong and murder of a baby - which it still is. But, women's lib and society changed that. Now even some Christians defend the murder of innocent babies and it is considered normal and ok by millions of people.

4) Sundays. The Blue Law. It used to be upheld in the US. Businesses were not allowed to be open on Sundays. Even people who didn't go to church didn't do much on Sundays.

Now, even Christians do everything on Sundays. It is like any other day, other than getting a little but of church in the morning. You even have Christian businesses forcing employees to work on Sunday. (i.e. Family Christian Stores)

5) Sex. A lot can be said here. Sex used to be whispered about. Now, it is shouted and we are bombarded daily with images and filth. TV shows things that would have been banned when I was a kid. There was a day when it was scandalous to show a couple in the same bed, fully clothed - look at what we have now.

There was a day that homosexuality was considered wrong and not normal. And there is such a thing as homophobia and persecuting someone for being gay, but now.... that lifestyle is heralded as great and and normal. It is shoved down people's throats and has become a political issue and tool. Even churches and denominations are accepting and defending it. Did the Bible change? Did God change His mind? No. Society accepted it.

There have been societies and civilizations in the past - and in the modern day - that accepted pedophilia as normal. Cannibalism. And other things we still find wrong and deplorable.

But what if those things become accepted in America. Not possible? Oh I wouldn't say that. There is a move on by some to normalize pedophilia - call it "minor-attracted people." They want to take it out of the list of abnormal behaviors.

There is an organization called NAMBLA - North American Man-Boy Love Association. Yeah. They are actually allowed to exist. Free speech and all that. Thing is, morality is a slippery slope.

The day will very likely come in America when the elderly and handicapped will be euthanized. Not possible here? Oh yes it is. Even the most conservative among us have become desensitized to abortion. All it will take is for the right people to be in the right place at the right time and euthanasia will begin.

And we Christians keep marching along, slowly being desensitized into accepting and then practicing the very things we used to believe were wrong according to the Bible.

There was a day when we took the Bible at face value. If it said - or inferred - that something was wrong, we didn't do it. But now, the world has changed so much, it approves of things that no one approved of years ago, so we Christians have changed our beliefs and lifestyles to blend in more. We try to get around verses in the Bible. Make excuses. "That was meant for back then." "That was just meant for the Romans, or that one church Paul was writing to."

Is there any limit to what the world and society will accept and do that the church will not do the same? I would have thought homosexuality would be one of those limits, but more and more churches are accepting it and promoting it - so are there any limits?

Christ said we were to be in the world but not of the world, but is there any difference anymore? We dress like the world, look like the world, listen to the same music, watch the same stuff, talk like them...... where is the separation?

I asked a simple question on facebook a while back, and wow... I got attacked by Christians for it. So much for peace and love! I simply said I had noticed a lot of Christians seem to listen to far more secular music than Christian, and wondered why that was - but that is another example.

And yeah, appearances aren't everything, but has the church in trying to not be too in-your-face, and in trying not to appear intolerant or hateful, have allowed too much, have just been a few steps behind the world in how we live and what we accept? I fear it is so.

Do we have true standards and beliefs of what is right and wrong, or do they depend on society and the world? Do they depend on how desensitized we become, or how many of our family and friends change their ideas and beliefs, or even on our church? If that is all our belief system is built on, we will change and tag along with the world, our family and friends, and church when they all change their beliefs.

There is a great song the group 4Him recorded some years ago, The Basics of Life. That is what we need to do. Take out the Bible and block out what people say verses mean or do not mean and seek what God has to say about it.

Feel free to comment - but don't attack me for my views on one of the examples - I won't publish your comment if you aren't nice. :-) I have tried my best to get across in words what I have been thinking, and hope I did a half-decent job of it.

And in closing, if something was wrong yesterday, why is it ok today? Who gets to make that decision?