Do you have to believe in God to be moral?

According to the Pew Research Center, a growing share of Americans say it’s not necessary to believe in God to be moral. That is the headline, and I have to admit it grabbed my attention. So here is the data breakdown. From 2011 to 2017 there was a 7% (49% to 56%) increase in the percentage of people who say that belief in God is not necessary to be moral and have ethical values. During that same timeframe, there was a 6% drop in the percentage of people who say that belief in God is necessary to be moral and have good values.

Ahhhh, this has the makings of a great ethics, theological and philosophical debate all wrapped up in one.

So, let me start with the theological aspect, and there are two key parts. First, is the idea that we have all fallen from grace and need saving. A couple of verses just to show you how “good” and “moral” we all are. Isaiah 64:6: We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away. Romans 3:10-12: None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.

If we were able to BE ethical and moral, even with an ardent belief in God, we wouldn’t need saving grace. There are two things to take from the scripture I quoted. 1. None of us are moral or have good values according to God’s standards. 2. God’s standard is perfection, and we are not perfect.

Since none of us can be good/moral, let’s tackle the ethic’s aspect of it. Can a person, who doesn’t believe in God do something good? I for one don’t think that Christians have the market cornered on doing good. There are many philanthropists out there who do good works with their money, and a number of them are atheists. In the business world, some atheists are far more ethical than some who claim to be Christians. Many Christians struggle with the concept that an atheist can do good things, demonstrate virtue, or follow some of the ten commandments without any faith. This isn’t to say that they are good people (see above), but they are capable of acting, behaving, and demonstrating behavior that is talked about by Christ. Nevertheless, many atheists struggle with what ethical means, which takes me to the philosophical point.

What is good? What is ethical? To a Christian, right/ethical/moral are values derived from the Bible given by an absolute lawgiver. Strike that. Most Christians know that…well, maybe a few. Anyway, the world has ebbed and flowed over the very definition of good, and the idea that there is an absolute idea of what good is seems to be believed by few comparatively speaking. So when Pew asks a question about morals and good values, are they reference virtue ethics? Are they referencing ethics based on the greater good? Are they referencing a humanistic ethic (relativism)? Because they don’t define morals, we have no idea as to what those that answered the survey believe good to be.

So, what do we know? 1. No one can BE good. It implies a constant state of being, and no one IS good. Scripture and common sense make that clear. 2. All people are capable of doing some good things, but that does not make them good. 3. The definition of good, ethical and moral have been obfuscated by modern philosophy. The further away we get from an absolute moral law giver, the more confused good becomes.

So what does all of this mean? Well, lets start with the questions of the survey. Is it me or does anyone else notice two different questions in the one? Certainly, someone at Pew understands that there is a difference between BEING good and HAVING good values. This tells me that someone who doesn’t understand philosophical ethics, or the fundamental tenants of the Christian faith wrote the question.

What is the point of the survey then? I think what Pew is attempting to do is shape opinion by showing the world that the United States continues to become post-Christian. The data collected here is not indicative of anything other than to show the lack of ignorance on ethics and religion by Pew. There is so much ambiguity wrapped up in the question that there is no discernable way anyone, atheist or Christian, could answer it in any meaningful way.

THE lying liars and the lies they tell

Have you ever heard a lie that had small nuggets of truth associated with it?  It’s like a chocolate covered doughnut that has sprinkles on it.  The lie is the doughnut, and the sprinkles are the truth.  While the truth can be seen, it is barely noticeable when it is eaten.

Now that I have all of you salivating over this imaginary doughnut, I want to talk a little bit about our enemy.  So let me ask you an honest question, do you feel awkward bringing up his name in the midst of a conversation?  Do you find yourself looking for words like enemy, or our adversary?  I do.  It feels off to say the following sentence, Satan is influencing my thoughts today, please pray for me.  Or how about this sentence, You are under Satan’s influence, and you need to start praying for the Holy Spirit to guide you.

We live in a weird world today.  Paganism, and Satanism is on the rise, and getting its own monuments outside of public buildings.  There is a growing trend of Christians who believe that  Satan is not a real entity.  Many preachers teach that hell is not real.  And Bible believing Christians feel embarrassed to talk about the influence of Satan on theirs and others lives.

And it is all about influence, NOT demonic possession.  Everything in the current media is focused on exorcising demons and the increase of exorcisms.  Nothing focuses on the day to day influence that a demon, or Satan can have on you.  What kind of influence?  Anything that could change or alter your behavior towards God, or towards sin.

So when I say THE lying liars and the lies they tell, I am referring to Satan and his demons working overtime to give you the doughnut, with enough sprinkles on it to get past your truth meter, or to trick you.

To use myself as an example.  I have been in the process of writing several books over the last year, and just completed my first one.  All of these books are related to being a Christian.  Throughout the process I have had a nagging feeling that no one will read the book, and at times I have had to force myself to continue work on them.  This became so regular that I wrote on the potential influences that our adversary can have on our lives, through influence alone.

The name of the book is The Interview and it is now available for purchase through Amazon on the Kindle, and through paperback.  If you want to see numerous examples of how THE lying liars and the lies they tell can impact your life, read this book.

Buy it now for the Kindle for $3.99 or in Paperback for $6.99

Two major stories today

Well despite publishing the post on rethinking missions, I am sure most everyone is going to be focused on two significant stories, Manafort being indicted, and Kevin Spacey. Two quick comments on both of these stories.
First, on Kevin Spacey. Kevin Spacey has come out as being gay after Anthony Rapp released a statement of being harassed as a child by Spacey. I like many others have enjoyed many of the films that Spacey has acted in. However, this comment by Rapp seems to be following the trend of sexual harassment and worse from Hollywood. This provides further evidence that there is a significant gap between the lives that the rich and famous live on the coasts, and the lives the normal people live everywhere else. I agree with Cory Feldman in believing that these accusations are the tip of the iceberg, and the culture of the business of Hollywood has become morally, and ethically bankrupt. However, this should have been and could have been predicted when the culture continues to shun any idea of an absolute morality or ethics. Virtue is absent, and has been replaced with a humanistic ethic of no right or wrong other than ones “pleasure.”
Likewise, Manafort’s indictment demonstrates the allure of a different kind of ethic or lack thereof. Like many of those in business, Manafort appears to have manipulated the law to gain power, influence and wealth at the expense of any virtue, or ethics. Again, this behavior is commonplace in a world that rewards skirting the law, or sometimes breaking it, to attain wealth and power. While the story of Hollywood has been breaking over the last month, the tale of a business person manipulating, bending the law, and people, to attain wealth is as old as the Bible.
While there are many points in scripture that can address these issues, the one that immediately came to mind for me was Matthew 6:22-24: “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
When you read the news on both Manafort and Spacey can you see the masters that they serve? For Manafort, his master was money. And how true of Christ’s words in this case? While I am sure that all of Manafort’s actions did not rise to the level of criminality, I would be willing to bet that his eyes were unhealthy, which opened his heart to be full of darkness. Spacey’s master appears to be different and more subtle. I believe that Spacey’s master was…himself. His actions seem to indicate that he was driven more by emotion, and his pleasure. While the parable Jesus is speaking of in this part of Matthew was focused on money, I believe that the principle is the same. Spacey cannot serve both himself, in the humanistic sense, and God.

Resistance Is Futile

So here we are again. We have found the next thing that will ultimately run God out of our universe…finally. I came across an article on Yahoo talking about Dan Brown and his latest book. If the name Dan Brown sounds familiar it should because he is the author of The Da Vinci Code. If you are like me, you lost track of Robert Langdon, soon after he cracked the code, but apparently, this is the 5th book in the series. Who knew? Well, my wife tells me that only a few people knew….maybe millions. Whatever.

So, Brown says this book is inspired by the question “Will God survive science?” I’ll respond to that epically awesome problem later on. The title of the article is what caught my attention, collective consciousness to replace God.

I have to admit that my head exploded with different ideas. The easiest is the whole collective consciousness. Anytime I hear the word collective I think of one thing…the Borg. Remember those people/robots from Star Trek who were assimilated into the collective way of thinking? But, if I recall correctly, even the collective had a leader and if the collective will replace God, then who is the new leader? Well according to Brown…WE ARE!

The other piece of my small aneurysm is wondering who will define the collective norm? With the Borg, it was the queen, at least in the movie. But would the collective norms be determined by a small group of individuals or the collective culture? Alas, Brown thinks that artificial intelligence that will define the collective consciousness. But who determines the artificial intelligence? And thus the circle is complete.

There is nothing worse in this world than failed ethics. Humanistic ethics is the most extreme version of this. At its worst, humanistic ethics promotes the idea that each of us defines our good. From an ethics position, this is untenable, and philosophically this argument was destroyed by Aristotle. The humanistic notion of ethics is so wrong that there is no “at its best.” Humanistic ethics lead to Enron. Humanistic ethics lead to the housing crisis. Dare I say…humanistic ethics leads to Harvey Weinstein. Here is an interesting question about collective consciousness. Does anyone question whether the horrid sexual harassment culture in Hollywood, was approved by the collective consciousness of its culture? I don’t. And keep in mind, approval comes in many forms, implicitly or explicitly. Something that pervasive, accepted by the collective powers that be, creating a culture that knowingly allows harassment as part of routine behavior. Sounds like a collective Borg-like mentality to me.

This is a culture that publically denies any form of virtuous ethic, and at the same time demands it from those that violate all sorts of virtue. In other words, they turn their back on the moral law giver (God), publically state that humanity is the ultimate arbiter of ethics, and then fall back on the moral laws given by God when they feel like they have been wronged.

It is astonishing that humanity, after thousands of years, is still trying to replace God with something at their fingertips, or by something they have or create. There is nothing new here, and the Bible is littered with the stories of thousands of “Dan Brown’s” who believed that humanity could replace God. You name it, and mankind has tried it when it comes to replacing God. But, everything comes back to one severe deficiency, humanity cannot get it right, as they are unqualified to be God. You remember that one time when these two folks thought they could be like God and ended up wrecking everything? Yeah, how did that work out for them?

As to the question of whether God can survive science. Well, considering that God has managed to survive the root science that has allowed humanity to develop the current science, somehow I think he will manage just fine. Besides, do you know how many major scientific discoveries there have been since the 4th century BC? About 190. That is equal to about one significant scientific discovery every 11 years. And through it all God has been magnified not diminished.

Forget the Technicolor Dream Coat… What do we REALLY learn from Joseph?

If you’ve ever been to Sunday school or if you’re an Andrew Lloyd Weber fan, you are probably familiar with the Old Testament story of Joseph… You know, the favorite

Just a musical? Think again

son of Jacob, who at age 17 flaunted that he’d dreamed that his family would bow down to him one day. The one with the awesome (Technicolor) tunic… The one who had brothers that wanted to kill, but sold him into slavery to Egypt instead.  And when he got to Egypt, his master found out that he was quite a good administrator (because he was favored by God)… BUT he was thrown into prison because he rejected his master’s wife’s “advances” and she lied about who assaulted who… Then in prison, his administrative skills shine through again and he is placed in charge of the whole facility and then, one day, interpreted the dreams of Pharaoh’s baker and butler (one with good news – the other with bad), only to be forgotten by his new-found “friend”.  But when Pharaoh dreamed a couple of “funky” dreams, Joseph is called upon to interpret them… The news:  That the region was going to have 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of devastating famine and that Pharaoh needed to get ready… Well, Pharaoh did get ready by placing Joseph in charge of the preparations and making him second in command over all of Egypt.  When the famine hit they were able to sustain the lives of everyone around including the treacherous brothers who came calling for food, but didn’t recognize their dear bro, Joe… Well, after a series of tests Joseph reveals himself to his family, reunites with them (including dear old dad) and sets them up for prosperity for the foreseeable future, by getting them jobs and homes in the lushest part of the land…

If you are unfamiliar with the story, let me encourage you to watch the musical (one of my personal favorites), or better yet read all about it in Genesis 37, 39-50.

But simply recounting the story isn’t my goal here (nor was it my goal when I preached on this yesterday).  Instead, let’s briefly look at what can be learned from this amazing story.

The way I (and others before me) see it, there are three basic over-arching lessons we can learn from the life of Joseph… Depending on their particular theological bent (Calvinist or Arminian), most protestants will find themselves gravitating toward either the first or the third of these lessons… But I believe that the truth lies somewhere between these two extreme positions and it is the second lesson that brings balance to the issue… I think it’s so cool how God has chosen to demonstrate this truth at the very beginning of the Bible – I wish more of us would recognize that and bring more balance to our theological grids and be more gracious and loving and cooperative with each other (but that, perhaps, is an argument for another day).

The first lesson we see in Joseph’s life is that God is in Control – at ALL Times & in ALL Circumstances (cf. Genesis 45:5 and 50:20). This is true even when things make little to no sense to us… When you’re brothers beat you up and sell you into slavery… When you’re boss’ wife makes passes at you and then cries “rape” when you reject her advances… When you are forgotten and rejected by the one to whom you did that huge favor… When you don’t know how you’re going to take care of your family… When you’re company down sizes… When you have to tolerate a boss that is unreasonable… When you unexpectedly lose a loved one… When disease strikes your family… When the national and global economy seems to be swirling down the drain… When you’re surfing and get your left arm bitten off by a shark!!! 100% of the time God is in control, He is sovereign. His ultimate plans will not be overthrown – He already is the victor over sin, death, Satan and demons and anything else that would dare to rebel against Him.  What’s awesome about this is that if we are His child then we too have been made more than conquerors with Him!

Why are we able to share in His victory and rest in His sovereignty?  Because of the second and most pivotal lesson:  He really does Love us – and always will no matter what it looks like (cf. John 3:16, 1 John 3:1 and Romans 8:37-39).  God cares for us not only as friends, but as His children… and He is NOT a dead-beat dad or disengaged father! He loves us immeasurably and perfectly and wants what’s best for us (even if that creates a great amount of pain and anguish for a season).  He wants to see us grow and He wants us to reflect His glory and share in His Kingdom, but to do that, we’ve got to be with Him in the fight!

That brings us to our third lesson: Our Choices Matter – Because God wants to use us (cf. Joshua 24:15; Romans 12:1-2). Because of the personal cost, many don’t want to join with God or be a part of His family, others who are on His team try to stay on the side-lines as much as they can… They’d rather bop along doing their own thing while giving deference and “worship” to Him once a week (or less) and the rest of their lives they act as if there is no God… This is much the same as was the case with Joseph’s family and this path has devastating consequences.  I told my church yesterday that because of God’s love and faithfulness, He was going to get Joseph (or someone else) down to Egypt to preserve the family (so that He could keep His promise to Abraham), but because of the horrible choices on everybody’s part (Joseph’s early arrogance, the brother’s jealousy and deceitfulness, Jacob’s favoritism, Potiphar’s wife’s lust, Potiphar’s indiscretion and lack of justice, etc.) Joseph was forced to travel just about the most painful road possible to save many lives and preserve God’s promise.  There are several points in the story where Joseph’s suffering could have been short-circuited had someone made a better choice, but they never did until the end.

You might be thinking, well, that stinks for Joseph, and those are nice lessons, but how do I apply them today?  First and foremost, we must Love Him and Trust Him with our whole lives (Past, Present and Future – Heart, Mind,  Body, Soul) (cf. Mark 12:30 and Proverbs 3:5-6)! Much like Bethany Hamilton did when faced with horrific tragedy (her wonderful story of faith and purpose is retold in the new movie Soul Surfer).

We then demonstrate our Love for Him through making right choices (unlike much of Joseph’s family and “friends”).  Of course, the first right choice, after we have trusted Jesus with our lives, is to choose to obey Him (cf. 1 John 5:2-4)! The next choice is also a matter of obedience to Him and that is to love other people (even the ones who are hard to love) (cf. Mark 12:29-31 & 1 John 4:7-8, 20-21)… and part of loving them is to forgive them when they fail you (even if that has massively painful consequences for you – cf. Colossians 3:13) – We see this played out beautifully in Joseph’s life when he forgave his brothers and chose to continue to walk in that forgiveness even after their father had died… I know that is no easy task.  In fact, CS Lewis once said “There is no use in talking as if forgiveness were easy… For we find that the work of forgiveness has to be done over and over again. We forgive, we mortify our resentment; a week later some chain of thought carries us back to the original offense and we discover the old resentment blazing away as if nothing had been done about it at all. We need to forgive our brother seventy times seven not only for 490 offenses but for one.”

It’s never easy, but desperately needed because when we get on board with God’s program things far more amazing than a Technicolor Dream Coat happen!  Like, He will work out all circumstances for our good and for His Glory (cf. Romans 8:28)! Also, our hearts will start to change from unfulfilling selfishness to a life that overflows with our hearts’ desires… IF what we most love is Him and what we most desire is what He loves and desires (cf. 1 John 3:21-24)!

So, I guess what both stories (Joseph and Bethany Hamilton) boil down to is this: Because of His sovereignty and love, God is worthy of our trust and our Praise and our adoration, even when things don’t make any sense, and we get to choose to give it to Him!

There are no absolute truths…except that one

The previous post stirred Kevin and I to begin to look at the issue of moral relativism.  This is an issue that, not only permeates society at large, but also has reared its head more and more in the church.  Many in the church have fallen prey to the idea that some things are okay.  This is due to the acceptance of some things that are glorified or deemed acceptable to society.  To stand up against these immoral values requires courage, and faith.   Many Christians are afraid to take that stance, while others take their stance to an extreme.  We touch on this topic in the very first post of this blog (No Shame + No Fear = No Apologizing). 

As Christians, we are called to believe in an absolute moral authority and live by it.  This

Inside the mind of a moral relativist...

 means that there is an ABSOLUTE right, and an ABSOLUTE wrong.  Kevin and I understand the position that this creates.  You might be saying “How can you say (insert moral value) is wrong?”   My response…would be to ask you the exact same question you asked me.

24 Series Finale

So Kevin was encouraging me to write about the 24 series finale.  I’m not sure exactly what I can say.  24 burst onto the scene in 2000.  The second season followed the September 11 attacks with controversy.  The show pushed the limits, and brought something new to the screen…real time.  I picked up 24 during the 4^th season.  Promptly went back and watched the first three, and was blown away.  There are a number of things you can take away from 24.  All of them are emotions that fans would have experienced while watching the show.

Jack Bauer

Disbelief – I, like many of you, was in utter disbelief as the good guys and the bad guys got wrapped up in some lie.  More specifically I really got frustrated when it was the good guys.  Some are willing to sacrifice things they believed in for a lie.  Or willing to lie for the “greater good”.  While the situations in our own daily lives are not to the extreme as the show…we are all faced with these kinds of decisions.  Everyday.  How do you know you are making the right decision?  Prayer, faith.  I tie this in with a conversation I had with my wife.  As Christians we can’t afford to get caught up in a dogmatic sense of prayer.  What I mean by that is that we need to be in prayer constantly.  As we walk, at work, a quiet moment at home, before a meeting… it doesn’t matter where.  Don’t get caught up in being so traditional in praying on your knee’s only at night before bed that you forget to pray at all.  Look at 1 Thessalonians 5:17… pray continually.  Do you think that President Taylor makes the decisions she made this season if she were in prayer constantly?  I don’t know?  But I do know that if the word of God was on her heart and mind… it would have been more difficult.

Virtue – Jack Bauer was a lot of things… did a lot of things.  No matter all of the bad things Jack did (primarily the murder, death, kills) he was honest, had integrity, cared for his family, and for his country.  Jack protected the things he cared about at all costs.  These values (many would say) are passed down by your parents.  I would agree partially.  God’s word has been planted in every human being’s heart.  It is up to us to follow through. 

Shock – What can you say about the character Jack Bauer?  The name has entered the lexicon status.  Jack Bauer and Chuck Norris are now in the same league.  While we all would cheer for Jack to stop the bad guys no matter the cost, there was a certain level of shock that came to me every time.  How can a man of such virtue have the appearance of so little morals?  What I mean by that is… here is a guy who hardly lied, stood for good, willing to defend it all costs… including the use of vengeance.  The last 6 or 7 episodes of the series focused on retribution.  Here was a man who, having lost someone he loved sought vengeance.  Every person who has a family would think about the very same thing.  If it were my family… I would want vengeance as well.  In Romans 12:19 Paul tells us to never avenge ourselves, and that vengeance is the Lord’s.  While all of us may have the natural instinct to seek retribution… know that God will have his judgment upon them.  

Here I have to be honest… to what extreme can one go to protect the larger good from evil?  This is the question that 24 ultimately left you with in every episode.  As we watched Jack torture people to get answers (and you know he is going to get them) you have to wonder… should that happen?  Not in the political sense that these things always end up in, but in the Biblical sense.  How far is too far according to God?  We know about the turn the other cheek verse and love your enemy verse (often quoted, or thrown in the face of Christians who support self defense).  This very long and complicated answer deserves its own blog.  But it is important to research and think about it on your own.

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