Safe Sin

Our nation has fallen prey to the Athenian spirit, always seeking "something new." As result, people drift from social fad to social fad in hopes of stumbling upon that which will satisfy their cravings―always hungry but never filled. We live in a culture that has abandoned the certainty of God's revealed truth for the empty promises of self-proclaimed leaders. "Professing to be wise they became fools and exchanged the truth of God for a lie" (Rom. 1:22). Ethical matters in our society, having no plumb line as a standard, are left to be determined by the latest public opinion poll. Truth is constantly put to the popular vote and whim of the ever-shifting majority. Elected officials and judges at all levels trim their ethical sails to catch the prevailing winds. No standard that rises above all men is allowed; how old fashion and naive. We live in more enlightened times. Those old standards put too many restraints on us. Surely we can have our cake and eat it too.

The sexual revolution provides a vivid illustration of this cultural dilemma. The Bible was unrealistic when it demanded chastity and monogamous marital relationships; how repressive. Christianity simply doesn't take into account human sexuality and its need to express itself. There's nothing wrong with free sex and multiple partners of the opposite or same sex. Freedom from this bondage is demanded. Well, like a train freed from the bondage of its tracks, this sexual ethic soon bogs down under its own weight. Freed from God's repressive law, new social problems emerge. As we may not violate the law of gravity with immunity, neither may God's moral laws be violated without sever results. (There have always been individuals who violate such laws, but we're speaking now of an entire social shift of ethical standards). This new freedom brings with it a harsh task master that demands a price for such liberty. Broken marriages, unwanted pregnancies, abused and aborted children, diseases, and an increased burden on the social fabric are but a few of the personal and social costs for this enlightened ethic.

Having failed so dismally, we might expect a social shift back to those less costly standards found in the Scriptures. However, being wiser than God, men still seek ways to violate God's laws without having to pay the high price for their actions. Education in "safe sex," public distribution of condoms (even to children), abortion on demand, and increased welfare benefits should enable us to sin against God a little longer without facing the consequences for those sins. We'll show God that we can circumvent His law. No one can tell us what to do. Give us more time and we 'll develop a program to make all sin safe.