1 P a g e In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes. Judges 17:6 (NASB) According to an ESPN poll last week, Tim Tebow is the most popular athlete in America. Picture of Tim Tebow In case you don t know who he is, he s a football player, a quarterback for the Denver Broncos. He led his team to the playoffs this year in his first year as a pro. In college at the Univ. of Florida he won the Heisman Trophy and led his team to 2 national titles. Around here, we don t like him too much. Why? Because he led the Broncos to beat the Steelers in a playoff game a couple weeks ago. Many of us do like him, though. Why? Because he is very outspoken about his faith in Christ, and often times he represents Jesus Christ very well. He famously bows and prays after touchdowns and before and after games. That has come to be known as? Tebowing. (Any teen want to demonstrate?) He also frequently wore Bible verse quotes in the eye black under his eyes in college. What verse is he most famous for wearing? John 3:16. Tim is also known for the story of how he was born. His parents were Christian missionaries in the Philippines in the 1980 s. While she was pregnant w/ Tim, his mother had a severe amoebic infection & ended up in a coma. The medicine she was given to bring her out of the coma, caused a placental abruption the placenta of the unborn fetus became detached from the uterine wall. In about 1 in 3 placental abruptions, the baby doesn t survive. So, the Tebows were advised that for 1. the mother s health, 2. and because the baby was likely to be still born or have birth defects, she should have an abortion to end her pregnancy. They were even told that the baby had become just a mass of tissue and was a tumor. But, because they believed that as Creator only God had the right to give or take life, they refused to have an abortion. Mom survived, was fine, and Tim was born healthy. Because of this experience, Tim and his mother have been advocates against abortion in America. So much so, that last year during the Super Bowl, Focus on the Family ran a pro-life advertisement that had Tim & his mom telling a little of this story. And it became controversial.
Here is a clip from a news cast from last year that spoke about the controversy. Show clip YouTube: Women s Groups Outraged By Tebow Ad 2 P a g e Black slide Women s group were repeatedly said to be outraged. At what? That a Christian group could be given ad time for a pro-life voice on public TV. But, the news report concluded While you may not agree with his message. But you do have to agree, he has the right to say it. That s the foolishness of our culture, right there in a nutshell. The reporter concluded with we all have to have our right to an opinion. But the report was about how outraged women s groups were a Christian group should get to promote their opinion on TV. We live in a culture that affords everyone the right to voice their opinion. Yet, secular culture is more and more outraged with Christian views on moral issues that do not accept or agree with secular culture. That s our world. And, here s the key, our culture has adopted the predominate view that 1. because we allow all moral views, 2. all moral views are therefore equally true and 3. all moral views must be accepting of all moral views as equally valid. Do you know where this comes from? Do you know that this is not the view of morality that the Bible teaches? Do you know that there is no way that this view even makes logical sense? Today is Sanctity of Life Sunday. It s a Sunday every year when churches across the world focus on advocating for righteousness issues that relate to how God is the creator of all life, therefore all life is sacred and should be respected and protected. Today, I want to talk about how when it comes to the life-protecting issue of abortion, one popular opinion in our culture is that: You might not be in favor of abortion, but you shouldn t tell others what is right for them. Everyone should be able to make their own choice. Is that God s view? Is that the best view? Is that the view a follower of Christ should hold? And how do you express your views in a culture that holds that view strongly? I need you to put your thinking caps on for a few minutes here. But this is worthwhile. This matters to your ability to see our world s view correctly for what it is. This matters for your ability to follow Christ and make moral decisions. I will make strong connections to the Bible as we progress.
The view that dominates our culture and classrooms is called... Moral relativism 3 P a g e Moral relativism says that morality is relative (related) to each person s values or beliefs. What is right or wrong for you is right for you, but it does not mean that it is right for me. And here s why: There are NO universal moral principles. Nothing is right or wrong for all. That s the principle that underlies popular American morality. It runs from the classroom to Congress. and from the evening news to MTV. Moral relativism says... every man does what is right in his own eyes. Judges 17:6 (NASB) Here s what moral relativism is based on. Cultural relativism Cultural relativism explains why people believe in moral relativism. Cultural relativism says what is moral for you is relative (related) to your culture, family, or group. This is an idea that became popular only in the late 19 th and early 20 th century. As anthropologists were discovering that various cultures had differing morality, they asserted that morality must be based on culture. One quick example is the primitive tribe in Paupau New Guinea that values treachery. Treachery, betraying someone, is a good thing, a moral thing, in this isolated rain forest tribe. If you can get your enemy to believe you are his friend, so you can stab him in the back and eat him, you are doing a good thing. And the logic of cultural relativism says, you can t judge that as wrong. Because in that culture that is right for them. Therefore, what is moral (what is right) for every person is based on their culture, goes the thinking. But who here would agree that even in that culture killing & eating an enemy is good & right? (I just wanted to know so I knew where not to go for dinner. :) Stick with me here, so you can understand the reasoning behind how our world wants you to think. Cultural relativism is based on two assumptions or propositions. One is true. The other is false. Cultural relativism derives from two principles: 1. Cultural diversity there are many different cultures in the world with many differing moral values.
4 P a g e That is true. clearly. Not all cultures are the same. And many different cultures have different values. The second principle or proposition that cultural relativism assumes is this: 2. Cultural dependency morality is dependent on and originates from culture. That is false. Morality, what we see as right and wrong, cannot be shown in a logical and necessary way to be dependent upon or to arise out of culture. And there are several reasons why we have to conclude this. This is the basis for the whole attitude that what is right for you is right for you, but you can t tell me what is right for me. But this basis is false. a. What about whole cultures that do clearly morally abhorrent acts? An example of this is Islam and Al Qaeda. It is a teaching in the Islamic holy book that if a non-muslim, an infidel, will not convert to Islam, Muslims may, even should, kill them. This is a moral good in the culture of Islam. The attack on 9/11 and all kinds of attacks in Iraq and Israel are examples of this morality. But, how could the attack and murder of 3,000 civilian men, women, and children be a moral act? Yet, Islam is a culture and it says in essence that act is morally good. Al Qaeda is a group, a cultural group in our world, and they say it was a righteous act. If morality depends upon a group or culture saying an act is right or good, then you have no basis for saying 9/11 or Al Queda was or is evil they doing what is right for them. If you want to live in a world where what is true for you is true for you, but what is true for me is true for me, then this is a necessary conclusion. It s the same with the Nazis and Hitler s killing of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust. Germany was a cultural group. In their group they determined a value, a belief, that hating Jews was right and good, and exterminating their race from the face of the earth was a righteous act, even a godly act. The German people, the Nazi s clearly constituted a cultural group. They had a value and a belief that they held strongly. If morality is only based on what culture you belong to and what are your shared values, then we have no basis to claim that killing 6million Jews was evil or morally wrong for them.
5 P a g e One more example, What about those in impoverished cultures today that sell their children, esp. daughters, as slaves. If this is a culturally accepted practice for the very poor in some cultures, it cannot be called wrong. But, tell the 9 year old girl enslaved in a brothel in South East Asia that it is not wrong or evil. What is moral cannot depend only on what is right for you whole cultures clearly get it wrong sometimes. Also, morality cannot depend on culture, because... b. How many do you need to have a culture? Who gets to decide what constitutes a culture? Is a nation? Is it a tribe? Is it a geographic boundary? Is it a thousand or is it three? Who gets to decide for the other where the line is drawn? Is a polygamist Mormon sect moral when it allows its leader to take 11yo girls as spiritual wives? Polygamist Mormon sects expressly assert they are a unique culture and claim to have a right to determine their own values and beliefs. Mormon cults use this cultural dependency as their defense. If morality depends only on culture, then the American gov t should have no claim to stop polygamy or marry children. What about heroin users. There is a whole subculture all around us of people who use heroin. They share values, beliefs, practices. They socialize. They raise children in their homes. Why can t they have their own protected rights? What about a gang in Los Angeles? They have a strong cultural system. Why aren t they a culture with respected and protected values? What if one man says he should be able to do some morally reprehensible act? Why is he not a culture unto himself? Why is one man not a culture unto himself? Who gets to decide what constitutes a culture? The Bible talks about several times when every man does what is right in his own eyes. It s in Judges as I ve said. It s also in Deuteronomy where God tells Moses and the Israelites. You are not to do as we do here today, everyone doing as they see fit. Deuteronomy 12:8
But if the world is right, if what is right for me is right for me, And that s because all morality is based on my culture, group, or family, why can t I just be my own culture and do what is right in my own eyes. In fact, that is what it is. 6 P a g e The problem with a moral system that says I do what is right for me and you do what is right for you, is that it clearly could not survive if that was the only moral system. It is flawed. If everyone could determine their own laws, their own ultimate right and wrong, then we would have no morality. So, I know what you might say prevents and protects against that. That s why we have laws. That s why we are part of a culture with shared values. But I would say, c. Democratic law does not ensure good morality. What happens when the majority in a culture chooses to kill all the Jews? What happens when the majority chooses to kill all the Americans? We ve already shown that laws and democracy are no guarantee of good morality. What happens when the leaders with power and wealth manipulate the laws they control? What happens when the law makers and judges become self-interested and corrupt or fearful? What happens when the majority get it wrong? What happens if they have bad information, or limited information, or they share a corrupt value? What happens when they have a dilemma like should a mother who faces serious complications be permitted an abortion or should we never kill a life that clearly begins at conception? What happens when others abuse a law that allows it and it is then used to kill unborn children by people who act irresponsibly and for the sake of minutes of pleasure conceive a life they do not want? Or who for economic reasons do not want to have to pay for another child and instead find an abortion to be less expensive than raising a child. Is that law then not immoral, even tho it is authorized by the democratic representatives of the people? Here s what I would conclude for us then. 1. What is right for you is right for you, but it is not right for me, doesn t work.
Ethical relativism does not work. It is a smoke screen. It is not true. It is invalid. If you follow it to many of its logical conclusions, it does not hold up. 7 P a g e It is a sham disguising a desire on the part of the world to excuse everyone Who wants to be permitted in good conscience to do whatever is right in their own eyes. Do not accept it. Do not surrender your right to hold beliefs and values about what is right and good, that others want to label as matters of opinion or intolerant. If it is not right to kill unborn babies, and it is being done, then it is right to renounce it and enter the public arena with a clear voice and action. If morality is not dependent upon me, my culture, or majority, where does it come from? 2. The best moral code comes from God. He is our creator. He is good. He gave us laws and commandments and they work. They are the foundation of much of modern law. They are universally good. If you follow his Ten Commandments, for example, you will be happy, and be blessed, and you will give others more happiness and cause less pain and suffering. Psalm 119:1-2 Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD. Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart. 3. Jesus taught universal moral principles. Jesus taught that we should Do unto others as we would have them do unto us. Matthew 7:12 Did Jesus mean that was only true for some of us? No, this is for all of us. His teachings are universally true and good and right. If you obey them, you will be blessed. If you violate them, you will suffer the consequences. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught many commandments that are universally true for all. Things like do not murder or hate. Do not commit adultery or lust. Do not divorce, lie, or be proud. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ He has a moral code for you to follow. It is not the way of a follower of Jesus Christ to do what is right in their own eyes.
4. One day, God will judge us according to his commandments. 8 P a g e One day, God will be the standard. We will not be able to stand before a holy God and say I thought I could whatever I thot was good. Proverbs 16:2 All a person s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD. God is the source and he is the end of all that is good and right. We live in a time when it is once again true, or more and more true, that everyone does what is right in their own eyes. Do not join them. See it for what it is, a false way to live. Choose to stand up and speak up for what is truly good and righteous. Choose to obey the Lord and his commandments. Choose to follow Jesus and his ways. And you will be blessed. And you will be a faithful follower who gives him glory.