How Did We Become Like This?

by Stephen Bastin

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My plan was to write concerning Jesus as Lord.  But events of the past days has convinced me that something else needs to be said.

The signs of a moral decline in America are all about us.  Vulgar language, routine taking of the Lord’s name in vain, public nudity, drinking, drugs, sexual standards, divorce and many other types of conduct are all public evidence of a departure from the moral standards of a previous generation.

It is not as though any of these things are new.  It is the flagrant flaunting of these things in the public view that has changed.  What was once practiced away from public scrutiny is now routinely acknowledged in full view.  What was once acknowledged by most to be shameful conduct is now accepted as “just the way things are.”

Let me give one man’s view of how these changes came about.  In stating my view, there is also implicitly a solution.  Sin is not going to be eradicated in America.  There will always be sin.  What needs to be changed is the conception of what sin is.  There will be no one who turns from sin until there is first of all an acknowledgement that the conduct is sinful and an offense against God.

Let me begin with Charles Darwin.  I do not begin with Darwin because he set forth anything that was radically new.  It was just that he said it much better and presented evidence that seemed to justify his views. For those reasons, I will begin with Darwin.

The idea of evolution has been around since before the time of Christ.  It offered an alternative to the view that God created the world. Some did not want to believe that God made Adam and Eve.  Evolution is another choice.

If Darwin was right then the Biblical account of creation, found in Genesis, chapters one and two, cannot be literal truth.  It must be understood in some figurative way.

With that beginning, critics of the Bible soon moved on to other Bible stories.  It was soon after, that such stories as Jonah and the whale, Daniel and the lion’s den, Noah and the flood and many more were likewise deemed to be figurative.  They were classified as myths, fables or legends. They were no longer understood literally.

The stories of Jesus soon came under fire.  Jesus did not walk on water, there were stones submerged just beneath the surface of the water on which he walked.  He did not feed the multitudes with five loaves and two fish, but the generosity of the small boy led the gathered assembly to produce food that they had hidden away lest there not be enough for them.  The dead whom Jesus raised were not really dead and Jesus, himself, did not die on the cross, he only swooned.  His “resurrection” on the third day was then a simple matter of recovery.

In such manner did the theologians and the “Reverends” deal with the Bible.  And this was just the beginning.

It was decided that Moses did not write the first five books of the Bible, the apostles did not write any part of the New Testament, Isaiah did not write most of Isaiah and much more.  The search began for the “historic” Jesus.  The “search” continues.

All evidence in support of the miracles in the Bible was rejected because “miracles are not scientific, therefore they are impossible.”  The Bible simply became another book.  It was no more inspired by God than were the writings of Shakespeare.

Having come this far, “modern” man was now free to reject the morals of the Bible.  Right and wrong were no longer a matter of God’s decree, but were simply the current manners of corrupt people.  Right and wrong are now determined by such things as:  “Does it give me pleasure?”  “Does it hurt the other person?”  “Do the majority (or in some cases a very vocal minority) approve?”

When someone today dares to take a stand upon a “Thus saith the Lord,” the response is to label such a person as anti-social, hurl abuse on them, call them names, threaten them, fire them from their job, dismiss them from school or in some other way seek to silence their voice.  After all, we live in an “enlightened” age.  We are not to be encumbered with the moral standards of a world we have left behind.

It does not matter that the United States Constitution contains guarantees of freedom of speech.  Christians must be silenced.   Thus, depending on circumstances, anything  may become the right thing to do and Christians are not “allowed” to interfere!

And all of this began with a book describing finches in the Galapagos Islands.  (I know that is an oversimplification of Darwins’s book.)  Little did the people of the 18th century dream of what had been sown.  As the Bible says, “Those who sow the wind shall reap the whirlwind.”

What is a Christian to do?  The problem is not new.  The Roman Empire presented a similar array of immoral choices to Roman citizens.  Paul wrote, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.  We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.”  (2 Cor 10:3-5)

The weapons the world offers are picketing, legislation, constitutional amendments, intimidation, threats, etc.  Paul says we do not use the weapons of the flesh.  We use the weapons given to us by God.

God’s way in the Old Testament, when Israel strayed from God’s law, was to send a prophet.  Sometimes he sent more than one.  Sometimes the prophets were told to go home.  Sometimes they were imprisoned.  Sometimes they were just ignored.

When the prophets called people back to God’s way, sometimes they were successful.  Other times their preaching had no effect.

Sometimes God acted by sending heathen armies to punish his people.  Sometimes God was patient and waited for people to change.

Paul describes the Christians approach to confronting the problems of this world in Ephesians 6:10-18.  He first describes the way in which the Christian is protected.  His protection lies in “truth, righteousness, the gospel, faith and salvation.”  His weapon is the “Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Evidence abounds that the Bible is the Word of God.  It is not myth, fable and allegories.  It is literal truth.  Moses did write the first five books of the Bible.  Jesus did walk on water.  Powerful deeds were done by those whom God empowered to be His witnesses.  Exhibitions of God’s power convinced people that apostles and prophets spoke for God.

The story of Jesus is a powerful story.  It is powerful because of what happened.  It is powerful because of what it means.  It is powerful because of what it proves about God.

Conduct is always a matter of choice.  God tells us what choices to make.  Our choices determine our fate in the final day of judgment.

In this world, laws may be flaunted and no penalty paid.  Judges are guilty of misconduct, jurors are swayed by their feelings instead of the evidence.

In the end, Jesus will judge each of us according to the evidence he has compiled.  What will the verdict be for you?