In our world there are three things that are at the forefront of what I call the “culture clash” of morality.  Abortion, homosexuality, and transgenderism dominate the differences in discussions of morality.  It boggles my mind that just one generation ago, all three would have been almost universally regarded as immoral or unnatural. What happened?

First and foremost, I believe, we allowed God to be taken out of the collective consciousness.  We are not allowed, in the workplace, recreational activity, or government, to claim our ideas and actions are based on scripture.  How that became the norm still baffles me. But I wasn’t surprised when a sitting congressman said that God did not belong in the work of the government.  Nor was I taken aback when a potential government appointee was asked if she could assure the committee that her religious beliefs wouldn’t factor into her actions. 

Proverbs 29:18 tells us exactly what happens when we remove God from the equation: “Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint…”. I would dare say that the world is casting off restraints like it is throwing confetti at a ticker-tape parade.  We don’t like being restrained, do we?  We are carnal-minded, self-seeking, beings who would love to act on any and every impulse we think will bring us a moment of pleasure.  Without the morality of God’s word, we rely solely on our own wants and desires, no matter how obviously warped and unnatural.

I used the word unnatural on purpose because there are a lot of folks who say that certain things are not unnatural because they happen in the animal kingdom. Two things are wrong with that statement. One, animals do a lot of things that are disgusting and we choose not to do them because they are gross.  The second thing is that I am not an animal; I am a grown human being with the ability, and I believe the responsibility, to make rational decisions for the good of all concerned…not just myself; to do what is morally right. I like how one man put it when he said: “Morality, in fact, is often the opposite of doing what comes naturally on this broken planet, and the ability to overcome natural impulses is one of the things that separates humans from animals”.

So…who sets the moral standard?  Mankind, apart from any guidance from the one true God, has historically failed in the morality department.  Why? Because “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs‬ 9‬:10‬ NIV‬‬).  Apart from God, there is no true morality.  Look around, it is pretty obvious, isn’t it?‬‬‬