Is Satan Winning?
There is an issue that has concerned me greatly for more than twenty years: Situational Ethics. I probably first encountered it while working with teens as a youth pastor. There I was holding notes from a well-prepared bible study on the Ten Commandments and I was shocked beyond belief that I could not get a simple “yes” or “no” answer to a question that should have been a no-brainer: “Is murder wrong?”
The all basically said that it depends. The answers that this group of teens gave showed that they had given this some thought. One felt that if someone threatened your life it was acceptable to kill him or her. We ruled that out as self-defense, not murder. Others said that if someone killed or raped your sister, murder was okay. One person brought up how if we could know in advance that the person was going to do something evil, such as Hitler, that it would be fine to kill them. But God said, “You shall not murder” (Exodus 20:13)
I discovered that they had all discussed such “situations” in their public school as part of a multicultural study. The purpose of the study was to blur the lines of what we consider right or wrong because our reason for thinking that way might not fit in with the way people of other cultures think and believe. I realized that even I had heard many of these same arguments in public school, but things were much less blatant only 10-15 years earlier.
Situational Ethics have taught our society that stealing is okay if the person is starving to death. God said, “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20: 15). Situational Ethics have taught our children that it is acceptable to go back on your word in certain circumstances. God said, “Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one” (Matthew 5:37). Situational ethics tells us that a woman has the right to choose. God said that He knew us even before He formed us in the womb (Jeremiah 1:5).
In light of recent events with shootings in schools, religious institutions, and movie theaters, and the newest discussions on rape and abortion, I want to be very sensitive to the emotional impact that is involved with this issue. Sadly politicians have done everything they can to erase all moral codes from society and then demand laws to force stricter control on everyone for the actions of a few. This reminds me of grade school when the entire class had to write lines because one person did something wrong. And when certain laws are seen as too strict, these same politicians do whatever they can to remove the moral compass from our laws. They tell us that these laws such as those for protecting life or immigration, would be too difficult to enforce and would bring more harm because the government just cannot control what people do in back alleys. This is similar to a parent telling their child to just do whatever you want because you are going to do it anyway.Situational Ethics have succeeded in removing our moral compass, God’s Word, from the schools, the courthouses, the White House, scientific studies, the natural discourse of human debates, and more. Society has not only removed God’s Word, but it has become apparent that it has decreed an all out war against Christianity through the collusion of the media, Hollywood, and our current political administration. It is easy for believers to wonder if Satan is winning the battle.
But we have a hope that goes beyond the current state of affairs. We have been given God’s Word as our guide. God told us that things would become more immoral in the end times, and we can see that happening all around us. He warned that societies would long for the lifestyles of Sodom and Gomorrah once again, and we have witnessed states trying to condone it legally. Yet God is still in control and His Word has already told us the outcome: “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).
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