Myth-taken Morality
02/29/04 AM
Reading: Psalms 19:7-11
INTRODUCTION
I doubt there is anyone gathered here this morning that is not aware of the acts of civil disobedience taking place in the city of San Francisco where elected city officials are granting marriage licenses and often conducting marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples. You may also be aware that this practice is spreading, no doubt encouraged by the complacency of our judicial system. The city of New York is issuing licenses and a city in New Mexico attempted to join the act but was prevented by that state’s Attorney General.
It’s a mess and far from resolution but what we are witnessing is the latest event in a steady decline in the moral fabric of American society. Today we are openly exposed to some of the most immoral actions of men ever committed. This exposure is from every segment of our everyday lives; movies, television, radio, newspapers, magazines, even from people we meet each day.
We have become de-sensitized. By repeated exposure, we are no longer shocked by it. Our senses have become dulled over time. We oppose it less and less. It is a truth that the further the boundaries are pushed the less we are shocked by the previous immoral things.
Rather than dealing with specific deeds, I want us today to examine the moral myths which are the false foundations laid to justify unethical and immoral behavior.
I. Reasons for immoral conduct.
A. One reason for why sinful conduct exists lies in human nature.
1. Jeremiah said: “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” Jeremiah 17:9
2. Paul Romans 7:18-20
3. Even of some who believed when they beheld the miracles of Jesus, John wrote, “But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.” John 2:24-25
B. Another reason is found in the human intellect.
1. Sin affects the mind as well as the body. Sin can cause us to reason foolishly. Man in sin is cunning and devious in ways to justify his conduct.
2. If we reject the righteousness of God, we can never be said to be wise. We will become as fools. Romans 1:18-32
3. In fact, man can only be wise if he seeks after the will of God.
[So let us examine some moral myths, some of the ways immoral behavior is rationalized in the thinking of men.]
II. The Myth of Neutrality
A. This myth consists in the belief that it is best to take a value-neutral stance.
1. Some will say, “It doesn’t affect me, it’s really none of my business. Who am I to judge?”
a. Matthew 7:1-5 (Judge not…)
b. “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned. “Give, and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.” Luke 6:37-38
c. “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me John 5:30
d. “If anyone hears My sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. “He who rejects Me and does not receive My sayings has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. John 12:47-48
e. Hebrews 5:12-14
f. Moral questions are dealt with directly in Christianity. The light in which Christians are called to walk demands honesty in dealing with sin, otherwise we walk in darkness. Many specific deeds are not named in Scripture. We determine their rightness by exercising our minds in righteousness.
2. Some parents will surprisingly avoid the responsibility and privilege of answering questions about religion. Some say that they will just allow their children to decide for themselves.
a. It is true that each person must decide how he or she will live. But that does not mean that we shirk from stating what is right. We should in fact be teachers and promoters of what is good and right. Likewise, we should condemn what is wrong.
b. Admittedly, there are some issues that are difficult to determine with certainty. While we should be cautious or even neutral about these, the majority of moral questions are not difficult to ascertain with the guidance of Scripture. Even children can correctly answer basic questions about right and wrong.
3. God is not neutral towards immorality! Romans 1:18-28
a. Neither should God’s children be neutral. We should seek to convince and persuade others, especially our own children, concerning right and wrong. If we are unsure ourselves, then we need to stop and consider what we should do. Some parents may be neutral because they do not know what the Bible says.
B. Neutrality as a moral stance is simply permissive in nature.
1. It allows us to go ahead with the natural impulses of the flesh.
2. Good things do not just naturally happen. A garden with vegetables does not grow on its own. The weeds must be cut; and the good plants must be nurtured. If we leave the garden to itself, the weeds will take over.
III. The Myth of the Majority
A. If the majority rules, it must be right.
1. Do not be overly moved by what the majority thinks about moral issues.
a. Remember what Moses commanded, “You shall not follow the masses in doing evil,” Exodus 23:2a
b. Jesus said: “…for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. Matthew 7:13b
2. Many do not consider carefully how they should live without the influence of the crowd.
3. Young people especially are more easily persuaded by the majority. It takes some experience living to know that the majority often goes the way of the flesh.
4. Some just assume that what the majority say or believe is the standard of right and wrong.
5. In any group or sub-group there are only a few leaders and the rest often content follow without question. Fads are often introduced by the few and are accepted by the masses.
B. Jesus never asked the multitudes what he should teach.
1. Rather, He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. John 14:6
2. Those who would follow Jesus must be determined to do what is right without first consulting or considering what others are doing. Paul said, “…let God be found true, though every man be found a liar.” Romans 3:4
IV. The Myth of Individual Freedom
A. I have the right to do as I please.
1. Americans have so championed individual rights that people think that they can do whatever they wish, especially if it does not harm anyone else.
a. This is a myth and very misleading. Can you really think of something that you can do that does not affect anyone else??
2. Look down the list of the works of the flesh and think how each one affects others. “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these,” Galatians 5:19-21
a. All these sins affect others; it is not just an individual matter. Paul wrote, “For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.” Romans 14:7-8.
b. Paul’s argument was that there are some things that we have a right to make a judgment about, but we should be careful how that decision affects others.
c. As Christians we have an obligation to others: “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.” Colossians 4:5-6
3. Our thoughts, deeds, moods, our simple acts of living affect in some ways the lives of others. Even if what we did was so private and individual that others were not affected, yet that alone does not give us the right to do it. The action alone without its influence on others is moral or immoral, righteous or unrighteous, before God.
V. The Myth of Morality and Law
A. If it is legal it must not be immoral.
1. There are some immoral deeds which are also against the laws of the land, but there are many which are not considered illegal.
a. There is a line between morals and law.
b. To say that something is wrong is not necessarily to demand that offenders be punished or treated as criminals. If so, everyone would spend some time in jail.
c. Whether something is morally right or wrong is a separate question from the issue of legality or criminality.
d. The laws of the land will allow a person to contract a second, third, fourth marriage. This does not make it morally right.
2. Our government deals with these questions all the time.
a. Some examples are the question of legalizing liquor, gambling, drugs, and prostitution. Just because the government may legalize some activity does not mean that it is morally right to do it.
b. The closer the laws of the land parallel morality the better the government.
c. It also keeps people from assuming that there is nothing wrong with their immoral behavior.
3. When it comes to morality it is God’s law that matters.
e. Anytime man’s law contradicts God’s law we must choose to follow God.
f. “But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge” Acts 4:19
g. Jesus said: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.”
h. “Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.” Romans 13:7
Conclusion
The above theories are dangerous because they invariably leave God out of our thinking and behavior. The efforts to form an ethical footing without God are all doomed to fail. Man is a fallen creature and needs more than human help to live righteously. We need the power and wisdom that comes from God.
INVITATION
