"Situation Ethics versus Biblical Morality"

Two seeming straight lines which appear parallel that are even a millionth of a degree in difference, if followed far enough will eventually be miles and miles apart.  The same is true of what might appear to be simple and similar pathways as one makes life’s choices.  When such choices are pushed out to their logical end points where does one arrive?  Is that the place you want to be?  Fortunately, even if one finds themselves in such a situation there is hope!

The following is adapted from a post by a Russian Orthodox Abbott...

“Situation Ethics versus Biblical Morality”*

(In part)

“Situation ethics has become the norm for our times, having replaced the biblical ethics of past generations. In situation ethics as long as no one is hurt one can do as one pleases. Taking drugs, watching pornography and aborting the unborn child, all can come under the flag of situation ethics.

The (Church) Fathers knew that even the secret sins committed by people had an effect on the whole of the cosmos. The people who promote situation ethics would have us believe that nothing that is done in private hurts anyone. Biblical ethics tells us quite the opposite.

Love in Christ,

(Name withheld)

The Outcomes

Man is vested by God with the power to make choices but man is not vested with the power to control the outcomes.  Think for a moment about the consequences of the choices you’ve made in life. 

Some choices may have seemed slightly off track at the beginning and you knew they were wrong.  Perhaps it was, after all what is a little pleasure among friends, a small drink, a little peek, a moment of irresponsibility or any of a number of other decisions one makes.  Some seems quite innocent appearing yet were and are wrong.  Some who read this will nod in agreement that later outcomes have been most disappointing, troubling—even devastating.

Romans 1 tells the reader that God eventually is abandoned and abandons—that is God defers to a person’s choice to abandon Him.  Only God knows how many made some small choice but down range it ended in a major and catastrophic eternal failure. 

Choices!  Yet until one dies, there exists the opportunity for choosing a different pathway.  Jesus call is to all, “Come unto me all you who labor and are heavily laden and I will give you rest.”  God’s way or man’s way, at times it seems but a simple choice but the consequences are enormous and pushed out to their logical ends are eternities apart.

*Full article may be found at "Morning Offering" check blog list at right.  As well in most of my writings current cultural values are described by mores and morals as opposed to ethics which are eternal, transcendent, objective, etc. realities.

Man's Greatest Power - Part I

The Greatest Power Known to Man

There is a power that is greater than the mightiest river, the strongest ocean current, the most violent storm, the greatest tsunami, and/or the most rattling earthquake ever experienced.  It is the power to make choices.

That power is so great that it has shaped governments, enslaved people, liberated the oppressed, and done much to change the shape of humanity.  It can be durable and unstoppable or it can be fragile and at the mercy of situations.

Circumstances Come and Circumstances Go

No one can choose the difficulties which come from living in an imperfect world, among imperfect people, in imperfect bodies.  However, no matter how dire the circumstance, still one can do one thing—a person can make choices.

History is replete with the stories of people who were mistreated, enslaved, and abused but…

Those same people made the choice to not give in to the difficulties.

Those same people made the choice to do what they could to overcome their situation.

Those same people made the choice to live above what might be expected of one in such circumstances. 

Certainly there are the failures most of which are lost from the pages of history.  However there are those maybe did not soared above the storms but with right choices made it through.  It is those who provide examples, challenge, and inspire.

Such a man was Captain and Explorer Ernest Shackleton.  After his ship was trapped in the ice of Antarctica and against all odds he navigated hundreds of miles across the ocean in an open boat, then without winter clothing crossed over a mountain range, and in doing so saved his crew from certain death.

Character and Choice

It is one’s circumstance that provides the opportunities for such choices that will cause one man to fly and another to flounder. It is not some super-hero that has made the difference but an average man who through strength of character and right choices carried the day.

One’s character determines how those choices are made.  It is character which then will navigate one through the situations and circumstances of one’s life.  Good character leads to good outcomes, even in failure.   Poor character leads to poor outcomes even when there is a measure of success. 

It is not the circumstance in which one finds himself that decides a man’s future, indeed it is the choices that such a man makes.

Character

What then is the character that will carry the day?  Very simply it is doing what is right no matter the cost.  It is tenaciously staying the course, ever plowing toward that which is right. Oh, not in the big decisions of life, most handle those with relative ease but it is in the myriad of small decisions which on the surface would seem of little importance.

It is doing what is right according to ethical truth not according to some whimsical morality such as situational ethics (an oxymoron to be sure) which shifts with the druthers of culture.  It is doing the right according to those higher ideals that have prevailed year after year since the beginning of recorded time.

To be continued…

"Connections That Count"

Well there it is, my flip phone just chirped in a most annoying way to tell me that it was now out of power and going to shut down, go to sleep, stop performing its functions.

What can be the problem?

The phone shows some wear (don' we all) but overall it works.  It contains contact numbers, calendar information, Push To Talk contact data, and the list goes on.  Certainly that information should be enough to keep the phone going but it is not!

Ever notice how people have come to believe that if they just know enough, have enough connections, etc. they can overcome any and all situations?  Still my phone just does not work.

The last time the phone was charged, it accepted the charge until the battery was full.  Certainly that battery should be enough to keep the phone going but it is not!

How about people seeking to have some internal power based upon some inherent element of their lives and/or personalities?  Still life just does not work for them.  Something must be different but what?  No matter the personality and uniqueness of my phone it just does not want to work.

The transformer and power cord function just fine.  In fact there are two power cords, one for the car and the other that came with the phone.  Both are fine and are capable of charging the phone's battery.  Not too long ago they did so.  Yet, there is a problem--no power and thus no phone.

Ever notice how people have come to believe that if they attend church an hour a week and read their Bible once in a while, and maybe say grace at a meal now and then that their faith works for them.  Yet it does not because there is a faulty connection!  Then something goes wrong and they question, "God where are You?" or "Where did You go?"

You see that is the problem with the phone.  It is not the phone itself, nor is it the source of power.  Both are fine!  It is just that the connection does not work very well and so getting the power into the phone thus to recharge the battery just does not happen.  There is a connection problem or we might say problem connection.

So too with God.  He is there, all powerful, ever present, all knowing, and very interested in a solid relationship with each of us (that would be a solid connection).  Here we are with our bumps and blemishes and imperfections, but even at our lowest ebb, with enough capacity to establish and enjoy that connection.  The problem is in our side of the connection for we seek to dictate the terms thereof.

So it is with the phone.  If I am willing to hold the phone and the power cord in just the right attitude to one another it will take a charge.  There is a problem with the phone's side of the connection.  So too there is a problem with our connecting with God but it is not on His side, it is on ours. 

The connection between God and man and man and God is decided and designed by God.  If we are ever going to experience that connection to its fullness, then we are going to have to come on God's terms and in His ways not our own good ideas. Just because we have a good idea about this connection does not mean that it is reality.

So why doesn't faith work for me?  --It is a connection problem.
So why can't I feel God's love?  --It is a connection problem.
So why does this bad habit hang on to my life?  --It is a connection problem.
So why can't I feel God's presence? --It is a connection problem.
So why doesn't my prayer work?  --It is a connection problem.
So why can't I feel connected to other people?  --It is a connection problem.
So why doesn't the Bible make sense to me?  --It is a connection problem.
So why doesn't __________ work for me?  --It is a connection problem.

The reality is that the beginning place is the Lord, Jesus Christ and a relationship with Him.  It is from that initial start that one can have an unshakeable relationship (connection) with the Divine.  It is in that initial connection and as we grow in that relationship that we find power to do not just the day to day of life but even in those times when we are called upon to do the impossible.

"Consequences"

"God gives us the power to make choices but not to choose consequences"

Perhaps one might look at it this way.  Even though outcomes cannot be guaranteed, make choices with outcomes in mind.  As one prominent writer-speaker teaches, "Begin with the end in mind."

Another point to consider when making choices is this.  One cannot compound poor choices with poor choices and expect that good will come.  At some point the cycle of poor choices must be broken in order to disrupt the poor outcomes.

Poor outcomes that occasion further poor choices will only lead one in a downward spiral.  More than one pilot has made poor decisions to the point that he cannot recover his airplane and the outcome is an air incident.  Often with loss of life.  Almost all of those incidents would not have happened had correct choices been made early on in the progress of the incident.  So too with decisions, early correct choices avert dire outcomes!

So it is with life.  Poor choices beget poor choices and the outcome is dire.  It is therefore incumbent upon those who make choices (that would be all of us) to make wise choices.

Decision-making is not done in a vacuum but in one's community, that is those in one's small corner of the world.  That being so, one's decisions effect others either directly or tacitly.  Just in terms of the otherness of our lives we do well to exercise great caution in our decision-making for even our personal and private decisions often touch the lives of those around us.  Consider as well that those decisions are not without eternal consequences.

First and foremost it is wise to spend time in prayer and in doing so consult with the Heavenly Father.  More than once disaster has been averted when someone commits to praying his way through such decisions as are to be made and then in that same attitude of prayer, prays through possible outcomes.  

Still we might question, "How can we know that our choices are wise?"  There are a number of other ways that center around one.  The major task in any decision, great or small is for one to line up one's choices with the Bible.  Remember, God lives outside of time and space as we know it.  Thus He sees every moment of every person's life in the present.  That would include the present as Scripture was being written.

Therefore we can comfortably say, "God had every moment of your life in mind when He inspired the writing of His Word, the Bible." Thus we have the transcendent, unchanging, powerful Word of the Lord.

That Bible then is the center around which we find other ways to enhance our decision-making.  It is as we seek wise counsel of others, as we look carefully at situations and circumstances, as we look carefully at other authorities in our lives such as pastors, employers, etc., as we consider the words of faithful friends, that we find counsel that enhances our decision-making.

No one makes perfect decisions every time and so one must be willing to pull back from a decision, change course, and move forward.  That is exactly the way in which one breaks the poor decision cycle and moves in a right and correct decision.

It is, in most cases, not a major "earth shaking" decision but a small one that charts our course.  So it is that to change the course of one's life requires not some monumental decisions but a small quiet decision that leads to another small quiet decision and before long one will see change take place.