No 22

(Let’s Face the Issues)

In our Post-modernism society with its permissive and promiscuous behavior, a question begs to be answered – Who sets the rules for human conduct? We will hear several answers; such as: “I set my own rules” and then there is “I set my own rules, but I always consider the greater good” or how about “I set my own rules but I consider the situation and always do the loving thing” ; these are all humanistic answers. A fourth answer to the question is simply this : “God sets the rules in the Bible and I try to obey them as best I can”.

Here are some of the major issues that we face in today’s society – abortion, euthanasia, abolition of capital punishment, suicide, gay rights and the list goes on ad infinitum, ad nauseam. The Bible and true Christianity flies in the face of all these issues which is why we must share the Gospel with as many as we can while the Lord tarries “…behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Corinthians 6:2b). Should Christians walk in protest of abortion? Should Christians sign petitions against the abolition of capital punishment? Should Christians oppose euthanasia? My answer to all these questions is yes but lest we forget that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” (Jer 17:9). The government cannot legislate this type of human behavior – it must come from the heart. All right then, should Christians get involved in politics; should they run as candidates in elections? Again I say yes, most assuredly so but keeping in mind that true Christian politicians have been openly ridiculed in the past and have had very little influence on the major issues of our time. No, I sincerely believe that our energy and time must be spent in spreading the Gospel.