Culture Shock - What Ever Happened to Right and Wrong?, Part 2

Let me ask you what ever happened to write wrong when and how did moral absolutes like sexual fidelity, honesty, sacrificial love. Give way to safe sex, adultery and cheating and living together why and how has the world's values infiltrated the church and neutralize the message of Christ. That's today welcome to this Monday edition of living all the shipping thing on the edges of international discipleship ministry featuring the Bible teaching today. Chip continues her serious culture shock by asking and answering the question, perhaps the right and wrong. In the span of a few decades we've become a society characterized phrase right must be right for whatever works for you. Chip unpacks what's behind this kind of thinking and the logical consequences words got now here's Chip with part two of his message. Whatever happened to right and wrong. The first 1200 years of the church truth was defined by revelation. In other words, God has spoken. He spoke into his word, Old Testament and New Testament. But most people didn't have a Bible there wasn't a printing press. The only people that had the truth were quote the clergy after 1200 years actually have about 500 or so, we saw that the church was saying what the Bible actually taught was corruption just like this corruption in the church today so little by little by little the church began to teach things that the Bible would say that the church would say this. It's called the dark or Middle Ages. People didn't know much lot of things were said in the name of God at work, contrary to God. Contrary to his will and religion got used in mixed up with the state. Then we saw the big breakthrough in the big breakthrough happened in the 13 to 1500s, call the Renaissance and the Renaissance. In essence, the word means rebirth and rebirth happened into streams one stream in the secular world was going back to the classics to Greek literature to Plato to the Arctic David to statutes and pretty soon, instead of man being this worm and this person has no value or nobility. The Renaissance was the birth of humanism. It's that man has value in nobility and given enough time and energy. We can change the world to make the world what it is to the classics and apartments change.

The other stream was among Christians, and there was a return to historic Christianity to the original text, and so people like Martin Luther began to actually study the Bible for themselves in the original autographs.

The Hebrew and the Greek Latin Vulgate and they begin to do things and said realize you what the church is saying this, but the book of Galatians in the book of Romans says this and I gave birth to the Reformation was a calling back to truth. The calling back to what does God say and so the Reformation occurred and you had Zwingli and Luther and Calvin Melanchthon on this return to truth in this return to what does the Bible say in the authority of Scripture and had a revolution occur overlapping that was then the Enlightenment in the 16 to 1700s was called the age of reason Rousseau would say that man is basically good, but what we need is we had all these difficult, painful things that happened in history, but man is basically good with enough time with enough education.

We can produce a utopia Emanuel, with follow-up that and you had what was called the rationalist and people that thought reason instead of Revelation out it's man's thinking man is the center man is the measure in our thinking and our reasoning is the authority when it what we think is different than what God says.

Reason champions and see had the birth of the Enlightenment after the Enlightenment again crossing over was the Industrial Revolution of the 17, 1800s more inventions in that period of time happened and probably the last 2000 years amazing inventions. Inventions and begin to change the world and prosperity occurred in industry occurred in things were just multiplying. So now man is the center reason is the authority and the self-sufficiency we can actually change the world will make the world what we wanted to be in the midst of that in the 17th and 1800s.

Charles Darwin wrote a book. Did you know he was a theology student 1859 he wrote a book called origin. The species that know what you need to understand is that it had little or no scientific impact.

No one bought into it whatsoever. But at the end of the 19th century became a buzzword evolution and was the software the social sciences that picked up on evolution as it is a way of thinking in relationships and it begin to become how people begin to think not. That was scientific credibility behind at the same time, another young man.

The theory of relativity would be burst by Albert Einstein. Einstein never thought truth was relative what he was talking about was a new way of looking at the world a new paradigm instead of just one in reference point.

He said no no no, you can look at reality through more than one reference point in but the buzzword in the early 20th century was about this idea of relativity. Now the philosophers and got a hold of this German philosophers first and then those German philosophers begin to extend through Europe and from Europe across the channel and as I said then to America so that gave birth to what's called the age of modernity or modern thought 1890 to about 1930.

You had people in ways like never before saying you know what truth is absolute it's it's relative and says they came through all the seasons in history, a group like Jasper.

Later would be Kierkegaard and Danish and then later across the channel and in France. John Paul Sartre and pretty soon Nietzsche and in the God is dead movement and all this was like way out there, weird intellectuals, and then it came across to America and Huxley was a biologist picks this up and believes that Spencer was a philosopher picks it up and then they began to teach this in the universities and begin to make its way early in the seminaries of the major denominations do. We then in the early part of the 20th century would would say you know something. The real issue isn't what's right or what's wrong.

The real issue is what works in pragmatism with birth and basically the whole educational system rather than the classics, and this is true and what we know and God being the authority get Samantha center are reason trumps everything. Truth is something that is a matter of perspective and then it moved because sunset doesn't work that reality doesn't work in real life. Look at it minute that then what happened, people begin to experience despair. So Kierkegaard would say from a sort of religious perspective you need to take a leap of faith to find meaning jaspers would say you need a final experience and so pretty soon the only way to authenticate truth is your experience excess naturalism. So if it feels good do it. This would give birth to situational ethics and so I still remember is about a 10-year-old. My mom's a guidance counselor and William Kaufman's loan William Sloane coffin. Excuse me, wrote the book and all of our public schools. We begin to teach situational ethics and it was taught by giving these people, these impossible dilemmas.

You know, what would you do if there's five people back in the room. Would you live in order to protect them and no sense of.

Yes, there are competing values and so are all of our public schools would begin to teach. There is no absolute right or wrong. There is no moral fabric and so you get the birth of the 60s in the 60s as a throwing off all moral constraint in the 70s as the age of experimentation. The 80s becomes the new generation. It's not just what works. But what works for me and greed is paramount in the 90s we have the kids of the parents of the 60s who grow up without any sense of absolutes and so now were surprised because the divorce rate goes from single digits over 50%.

What used to say the question in life isn't what's right it's not what's wrong. It's what works. In fact, it's what works for you. Do your own thing that's true for you but not true for me to get it. Here's what you got understand all of what I just shared philosophically and historically is why when your kids go to trade school or college or hang out in your high schools at 16 or 17 and say I believe in Jesus and people start asking them questions 1 to 3 and four that they don't have any good answers and that's why by the way inside the church. The problem may be as big or as difficult research right now in the people under 20 and 30's in Bible teaching church is now would say that living together is morally acceptable with about 1/3 of our teenagers would say homosexuality or loving another person of the same sex is morally acceptable. This is in the church and when you say things like this is right and this is wrong. Your Pega some sort of old-fashioned don't you get it, you have no idea where they got that when a guy hoist the beer and says life is meaningless and kill someone indiscriminately. What is understand if that's what John Parsa John Parsa exactly there is no meaning there is no rhyme if were from chaos, random chance. This is just the logical flow of what's happened in the church is wake up and by the way of this interest. Some of you, and I certainly hope it does.

Schaefer's work is a good place to start and what Schaefer will do is give you the flow of philosophy and philosophers and what happens is it's it's the philosophers and the intellectual elites. It starts there, and so is all that's kooky that's out there. No one will ever believe that and then usually filters into the arts. Think about it. If you go back to Byzantine art and the pictures of ardent pictures of God and symbols and now you think of modern art. If life doesn't have meaning if there's not a right. If there's not a wrong. And there's not an order, you can take paint and throated a campus and see and where you can be like John Cage, who went into a jazz place and just begin to pound on the piano indiscriminately and then stopped what what what you say.

The music simply represents your worldview and soak us in the arts. Most of the music and it goes to the general culture. If you think I'm exaggerating a bit.

Let me read a article from a high school student high school student.

I don't want you to listen for some of the buzzwords in the keywords. This is a high school student just a few years ago want to think about absolute versus relative truth ought to think about the shift and what you think about the implications in terms of not just morals but at the core thinking he wrote this in his high school paper. It's entitled God there too many things in Christian dogma that I can access the first of which is the universal idea of truth good and evil.

I can't rationalize all that all religion is based on subjective views of the universe wondering got that all views are based on innocent.

So authoritative objective views of the universe even gets it down.

I can say well actually only about the last 50 years here at odds against thousands of years of human history.

He goes on. He says my problem is that in your opinion, God made the universe and other people's opinion. Someone else did. So so on and on it goes. I do believe that everyone is entitled to their own subjective reality relative truth, you're entitled to your own subjective rest and there is no truth there is no real reality but your entitled to your little dotted line to perceive it anyway you want because I just can't see how one opinion is right in one opinion is wrong. The high school junior senior what he saying is pluralism, but he has no idea where this came from. I believe that all religions are right for particular groups but there's no one religion is right for everyone. My God is not a God of love, but not a reason. When we got that anything that can be explained with Maxon charge seems reasonable to me. I worship notice will worship something.

I worship the idea that nothing is intangible but man can explain anything, given enough time, and given enough data. My God is not a person or being he is an idea I'm coming I can just literally trace the philosophers and the thinking that got him there. The tragedy is life and work that way. How do you explain love how you explain personality. How do you explain the reason for being here how you explain the longing in your heart when you're lonely how you explain the particulars and the beauty of life. The just randomly came while here's his explanation says would live in a mechanical universe your God doesn't exist here. We don't have any equation for love. You know what happens when you die in a mechanical universe. You brought no clouds, no angels, no free candy bars. You rot and I wrought think of the moral implications of this type of thinking for this person when he choose to be married or when he goes to work for you or when he has a decision to make about putting someone ahead of himself might have a need not only no remorse.

There's no reason logically.

He finishes by saying why do I create such a world, why do I make this place into machine functioning on random chance and chaos.

Why do I make it like that is for the same reason that you make life about the kingdom of God.

It's just my opinion. Reality if you don't start turning your brain cells on and if the church doesn't start turning our brain cells on and start learning how to think, not moralize not just don't do that honey, don't do that honey that's wrong. That's why, why, and on what basis we get off our tablets get off our Google searches and read some things with substance and content. In reality, and teach our kids to think and understand where we are in world history and how we got here and where were going and what is in effect a change because what happened is this Justin crouched on the church. The church still a pragmatist will worship him. Should you have, whatever works. What you do in your marriage. What you do with your job, whatever works for me. What we do is we just ate and Jesus will help me get whatever works for me to become sort of like a cosmic vending machine make my life for Jesus.

For me my way as I perceive it. So that's why member a discipling in the young man came to Christ and six or nine months into it was growing rapidly and a member. One morning we met and he just turns and goes.

I made a decision that was that. He said this relationship with Jesus is very real. It's very helpful. It's really transfer my life but I decided all the issues that regard to no premarital sex and sexual content. I'm just not going to obey this. I just don't. Those aren't for me. Those don't fit in my life. So what to say think I'm God I choose what's best for me. I call the shots. The ultimate authority and center is man what he doesn't understand is he's next is existential relative truth into his new experience is that you need understand this painful consequences so you don't have to believe in gravity to jump off a three-story building. You have to believe what God says about truth. You have to believe what he says about human sexuality. You have to believe what he says about homosexuality. You have to believe what he says about debt or lack of debt you have to believe anything the Bible says about wisdom, but when you violate it because it is absolute and it is true there are devastating consequence.

Painful ones, and here's what you need to hear and what we need to share breaks God's heart breaks God's heart. My children perish for lack of knowledge. The old prophet would say how is this relative truth is absolute truth house. It played out daily.

Here's the interesting part. The public rhetoric in our day and now in the church is all right pluralism and tolerance. Truth is relative, the private reaction, however, is my rights, justice and fairness. Truth is absolute. In other words, I can be as existential as I want Christian or non-Christian. I can say everyone has a right you have your truth, I might have my truth then I'm driving on the freeway as I drive on the freeway someone cuts in front. What are you doing why are you angry. Who are you to say that that's placed in front of you should be yours for someone gets promoted ahead of you will. Who are you to judge how your supervisor decides before they get a raise and you don't course, someone leaves you that you love for another person they betray you, and you get free and frustrated. It's not fair fair. Who are you, that truth is okay for them.

This truth is okay for you see, here's what you had understand everyone draw the line somewhere. You can verbalize or publicly say your truth for you. My truth for me. Everyone 100% of the population draw the line and you have an absolute and when you're absolute is violated, you get hurt and wounded and angry and when someone you care about gets a quote role deal.

How can there be a role deal. There is no truth, there are no absolutes itches random to no one's consistent you get it in one of the ways we help those inside the church and outside the church when their lives are falling apart and when things are working is to gently help them understand there is absolute truth. And when you violated there's a price to pay, but you have a heavenly father who loves and cares about you and he wants you to understand what it is and cooperate with how he's created life. Galatians chapter 6 verses seven and eight says don't be deceived, God cannot be mocked.

A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that sinful nature will reconstruction and the one who sows to please a spirit from the spirit will reap eternal life. Absolute truth is absolute truth and we see score soaring divorce rates, breakups, communicable diseases, people in debt at levels that turned their world and their life upside down. People that have addictions that they can't shake trying to fill the gaps in the holes that the world doesn't fill you reap what you sow.

Know what I want to do so to step back and think about what it means for you think what you can do with what we what you learned how much time you are just keep asking and answering the question on by your mouth or your words but by your behavior that basically is a Christian says what works for me. What works for my family. How much energy is going to keep going on to. I gotta make more my getting my kids in the right schools. We gotta do this, we gotta do that we gotta do that they have to be involved in all the sports, so that they so that so that when that we can so that when the last time you sat around the table and had some deep discussions when and where and how are you modeling truth.

How is your life different. How do you think differently and here's the thing. I asked myself how much of this because it's in the air and the water in the culture so subtly is squeezing me into its mold without me even knowing turned the back pages.

I want to give you what Jesus said he was the most tolerant person who ever lived. He was the kindest person who ever lived, but he made outrageous claims he said he never sinned, and no one could prove that he ever sent Natalie said he never sinned, but he said some even more outrageous things Jesus outrageous claim about himself.

John 14 six follow along. He said on the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except by me. That is a very intolerant non-existential statement, but in space-time history. He lived it out perfectly and rose from the grave and there is an absolute truth that when you're down when you're hurting and when this life is over. There is a future and it's real.

Whether you won't believe it or experience it or not in the right now notices outrageous claim about his word.

John 1717. Sanctify them this last prayer on earth, sanctify them by your word. Your word is truth. There's an infinite reference point. There's something you can bank on this is Jesus, the one who rose from the dead. He said this is true doesn't change doesn't shift doesn't pen on circumstances and after his outrageous claims notices outrageous concern for you, you say this to a woman who been married five times with living with someone and instead abated shame on you. What's wrong with you.

He said to her, you're missing out on life and after a little bit of a religious discussion. He says here's what I want you know John 423 says I want you to know that you're coming a day and is now when your heavenly father is seeking or pursuing those who will worship and follow him in spirit and in truth and truth. God has a concern for you, a concern for me. A concern for your kids.

A concern for your neighbors and he's pursuing people. He longs for relationship and connection to its real and absolute and all the things we talked about don't change and then finally out of its concern in John 832.

He says you know the truth and the truth of what set you free.

Want to be free, free of guilt free of anxiety free of overwhelming debt free of addictions free of pleasing people free of codependency. He wants you to be free, but you'll never be free with all that's good for you that's good for me. If it feels good do it. It feels good do it and you pay later. Here's my challenge is become a people who think clearly. Truthfully, when simile, no bashing of anyone. What's true, let's look at the evidence and then let's go into our homes and go to our neighborhoods and go tour workplaces as thinking people understand truth and where and how we got where we are, so that we can make a difference right back. If you've just joined this you're listening to living on the image with shipping chips message today. Whatever happened to right and wrong is from his series culture shock in this bold series trip addresses fundamental yet controversial cultural issues from a winsome biblical point of view. Parents help equip your children to know the truth about these important topics and consider using this series as a devotional study with your teens and preteens. Culture shock is also a popular study for Sunday schools, youth groups or neighborhood Bible studies. Chip does the teaching and brings the issues to the table in a way that promotes discussion versus debate like versus heat the small group study is currently discounted. So take advantage of this opportunity and order your studies today. Just give us a call at 1-888-333-6003 or visit us online at http://livingontheedge.org will chip before you come back and talk about today's message you are really passionate about the subject of truth about why is this so important to will.

It's not just important to me. It's important to God. It's important to his church and whether people know it or not it's dramatically important to them because what you believe to be true drives everything and when I say what you believe to be true. I don't mean what you intellectually assent to be true. I mean what you believe, that comes out in your behavior to be true and nonnegotiable. Everybody has absolutes, but we live in a day where we were being taught the last 20 or 30 years. It started in the universities and as you heard the teaching today.

It's down into where the everyday person thinks you know it's your truth might truth you have years I have mine that brings death and destruction and so the truth matters. Jesus said I am the way and the truth and the life. And so this entire series is about. What's the truth about homosexuality and abortion and politics and the environment.

The things that shape people's whole future and what I want you to know is that you know when people do this in the small group DVD or they get the book are the different ways that we get this truth to people. What a lot of people need to understand is there is no way in the world that we could ever offer these things if it wasn't for financial partners, and so I want to stop today and thank those people who believe in truth, to the point that they have financially partnered with us. They have prayed with us in people's lives are changing here and around the world on these controversial issues because of their financial gifts and if you happen to be one of those people who say what you know I haven't done that yet, but I really believe what you're doing. Could I ask you to join with us. Thanks for your help but strip to send a gift to Living on the Edge today. Visit us online at http://livingontheedge.org if you prefer to talk with someone directly, call us at 1-888-333-6003, on behalf of chip and the team here at Living on the Edge. Thank you for your generosity without her strip with some final thoughts from today's talk. As we close today's program and enclose this sort of philosophical view of how we got where we are. You know sometimes we just think that the way life is today. It's been that way forever and ever and ever, and in many ways what's ironic is the values of today. The things that people are saying or okay there's no problem really are all relatively new in the concept of absolute truth was the airtight way that mankind has thought for thousands of years up until the last you know, 60 or 70 years, and so I would encourage you if you look around and you see a lot of chaos and you wonder why a lot of marriages are making it and a lot of people that seem like great people but when their kids go away to college or they move out of the house at 18 or 19 or her, cashing in the faith and walking away. Here's what you need understand Jesus is the truth. The world is bombarding. It is so influence the church and Christians in our thinking that you know were like that frog in the kettle that little by little by little, as you heat up the water on the stove and you that frog is in that cattle or that pan and it won't jump out many of us just don't understand how different were living and thinking years from what's really true and can I just make a very practical and simple suggestion but one that I'm realizing more and more people don't do. Jesus said he was the truth, but he said your word is truth sanctified them or set people apart or change them, transform them by your word, and here's my experience most Christians don't read the Bible. I mean, that sounds crazy, but I don't mean a little here and little there but I mean 88 a Bible reading program not where you're checking a box and saying that I read to the Bible in a year, but I mean reading the Bible as a personal love letter from God to say God change my thinking informed me I want to know you your truth. Your word I want wisdom on what you guide me in every relationship, every decision every purchase. When you are in God's word. He will allow you to see what's true and he'll protect you when I meet people with really big problems who really love God were very sincere. What I find.

Over and over and over is there's no grounding in the truth.

The greatest thing you could do is say, oh God, I want to know what's true and I want to follow it and get in God's word on a regular basis. So let me encourage you to get into God's word to get into the truth and you know what today just tell God I'm going to read to the book of John of the book of Mark or I'm going to start in first Corinthians, and just get on your knees for 15 minutes and open your Bible, or shut your door at the office or take a break there at the job site and for 15 or 20 minutes say I am going to get into God's word.

Please speak to me and see if he doesn't know a great way to stay engaged and connected to chip and Living on the Edge is with the Chip Ingram app will be getting all these culture shock messages, chips, free message notes and much more. Not only that, but it couldn't be easier to order resources or give us a call right from the app to download the Chip Ingram app. Just go to Google play or the app store will tomorrow on Living on the Edge will continue our current series should make plans to join us for now. This is the saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge