Why does our society seem to have such self-contradictory ideas about what is right and wrong?

For example:

• Many people seem to be more outraged over the killing of a lion than over possibility that the dissection and selling of human baby organs is occurring.
• If a man in the office tells a 32 year old woman she looks nice in a particular dress, he has engaged in “workplace sexual harassment”, yet in some states a sixteen year old boy can have complete access to a girls’ high school locker room if he happens to feel like a girl that day.
• We are supposed to celebrate both Muslims and homosexuals and their rights, yet wherever Sharia law takes over, the homosexuals are all slaughtered.
• We celebrate Women’s Rights and Women’s Liberation movements and yet it seems that more and more girls are being forced into sexual relationships at younger and younger ages while far too many boys are viewing the sex that occurs in pornography as being the normal standard for sexual experiences.

How has our society gotten into this mess?

It all started in the garden of Eden…

Satan came to Eve and asked her, “Did God really say?” Eve responded by questioning God in her heart. After all, she could reason quite well. Maybe God’s way wasn’t completely best. Maybe it would be O.K. to ignore His direction in this one area.

And so, Eve decided to reject God’s authority in her life and to write her own moral code. She didn’t consciously decide to introduce untold evil, pain, and misery into the world and to all future generations of humanity. She just questioned God and wondered if she didn’t know better how to live her own life.

Isn’t that the same thing that we are doing today? We question the Bible on areas where our culture contradicts the Bible. We question, “Did God really say that…?”

• “Did God really say that sex was to be confined only to marriage? After all, everybody has premarital sex. And my friends are going to get married eventually. They are really great people. Is it really that wrong?” (Hebrews 13:4)
• “Did God really say that it is wrong to lie? Surely my “little white lies” aren’t that big of  a deal?” (Exodus 20:16, John 8:44)
• “Did God really say that I need to keep my mind pure? After all, everybody else in my church is watching that show. I don’t think that my entertainment choices are really that important to God.” (Philippians 4:8, Ephesians 5:3-21)
• “Did God really say that it is wrong to lose my temper in that situation? Everybody would have lost their temper in those circumstances. Its not really sin, is it?” (Matthew 5:21-24)
• “Did God really say….?”

We make exceptions for our own sins. We write our own moral codes and reject God’s standards in the Bible.

We argue that the Bible doesn’t really say what it seems to say about certain sins. After all, when the Bible addressed that sin (you fill in the blank), it was written just for that culture. Our culture is so much more advanced now. We understand that that sin is not really a sin at all. In fact, maybe sin is not even sin any more?

In our pride, we reject God’s authority in certain areas of our lives and decide that we know better. And, when we know better than God, we are left with moral confusion and ambiguity. We judge things based on how they feel to us. And we get ourselves into A MESS. “Common Sense” or wisdom flies out of the window and A LOT of people get hurt in the process – just as we got burned by Adam and Eve’s decision.

I am so thankful for a God Who is always just, always righteous, always perfectly good, and always faithful to Himself. He never changes. What He determined to be right and wrong at the foundation of the world is still right and wrong. We just have to accept it. Maybe, just maybe, God knows better than we do. And maybe, just maybe, God actually meant what He said in the Bible. And maybe, just maybe, we are all sinners, flawed in our own ideas of what is right and wrong, and desperately in need of a God to save us from ourselves.

Has Satan been whispering in your ear, encouraging you to question God? Run to God! Confess your confusion to Him and ask Him to teach you what is truly right and wrong. Immerse yourself in His Word and ask the Holy Spirit to allow it to penetrate your heart and to convict you of what is truly right and what is truly wrong, in your own life and in your culture.