5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame."
7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone..."
Strong, reliable, unchanging - those are some words that come to mind for me when I consider Jesus as our cornerstone. He provides indisputable truth that we can trust in no matter what circumstances or cultural shifts we may encounter. When we are weak, He is strong. When we are tempted, we can be steadfast in Him. He provides the total authority for our lives, and His truth is absolute truth, not determined by human knowledge or ingenuity, but by the breath of God.
In Psalm 18, we read the words of David, who wrote about God, who was his rock even in shifting circumstances:
(1b) I will love You, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.
Last week, on Survey Thursday, I cited a Gallup survey in which respondents indicated they thought that the nation's moral values were declining. In relation to that, I questioned how moral values are determined.
A new Barna Group survey sheds some light into questions of morality and absolute truth. In this survey, 8-in-10 people overall expressed concern about the nation's moral condition, including 3/4 of Millennials.
This survey dug a bit deeper with respect to the source of morality. For over half (57%) of these American adults, according to the survey summary, "knowing what is right or wrong is a matter of personal experience. This view is much more prevalent among younger generations than among older adults. Three-quarters of Millennials (74%) agree strongly or somewhat with the statement, 'Whatever is right for your life or works best for you is the only truth you can know,' compared to only 38 percent of Elders."
And, 41% of practicing Christians agree that knowing what is right and wrong is a matter of personal experience, 59% disagree.
About two-thirds of those surveyed agreed either strongly or somewhat that “every culture must determine what is acceptable morality for its people.”
With respect to the role of the Bible in determining morality, 59% of respondents agree that “the Bible provides us with absolute moral truths which are the same for all people in all situations, without exception." 83% of practicing Christians agree.
35% of those surveyed believe that moral truth is absolute - and 59% of practicing Christians state that belief.
The summary quotes Barna Group President David Kinnaman, writes in the book, Good Faith: Being a Christian When Society Thinks You’re Irrelevant and Extreme: “There is a tremendous amount of individualism in today’s society, and that’s reflected in the church too. Millions of Christians have grafted New Age dogma onto their spiritual person. When we peel back the layers, we find that many Christians are using the way of Jesus to pursue the way of self. . . . While we wring our hands about secularism spreading through culture, a majority of churchgoing Christians have embraced corrupt, me-centered theology."
He also writes, "So, there appears to be a dichotomy at work among practicing Christians in America," adding, "Most believe that the Bible is the source of moral norms that transcend a person’s culture, and that those moral truths are absolute rather than relative to circumstances. Yet, at the same time, solid majorities ascribe to five of the six tenets of the new moral code."
Kinnaman says that this dichotomy "represents an opportunity for leaders and mentors who are prepared to coach people—especially young people—toward deeper wisdom and greater discernment."
The summary opens by saying, "Christian morality is being ushered out of American social structures and off the cultural main stage, leaving a vacuum in its place—and the broader culture is attempting to fill the void."
Self-determined morality - that is what we're talking about here. It is dangerous - and all too common. The takeaways from this story are all too obvious. While Christians seemingly like to say, "I believe the Bible" - you can also add, "cover-to-cover," truth is that many have bought into the whims of the culture and are embracing moral values that are determined not by what God's Word says, but what they think and feel.
So, we get back to the question about what determines our values. If our lives are built on the foundation of Biblical truth, then we can be convinced that those bedrock principles will not change no matter what circumstances we encounter or what cultural shifts we observe. And, there will be change, no doubt - we have to determine how we will navigate it - we can be challenged to hold on to those reliable truths that the Lord has taught us or to buy in to the philosophy of self that is unreliable. And, we do well to pre-determine, as best we can, how we will respond in the face of influences that will attempt to counter or at least alter our deeply held Christian beliefs.
+++++
In Psalm 18, we read the words of David, who wrote about God, who was his rock even in shifting circumstances:
(1b) I will love You, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
3 I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; So shall I be saved from my enemies.
Last week, on Survey Thursday, I cited a Gallup survey in which respondents indicated they thought that the nation's moral values were declining. In relation to that, I questioned how moral values are determined.
A new Barna Group survey sheds some light into questions of morality and absolute truth. In this survey, 8-in-10 people overall expressed concern about the nation's moral condition, including 3/4 of Millennials.
This survey dug a bit deeper with respect to the source of morality. For over half (57%) of these American adults, according to the survey summary, "knowing what is right or wrong is a matter of personal experience. This view is much more prevalent among younger generations than among older adults. Three-quarters of Millennials (74%) agree strongly or somewhat with the statement, 'Whatever is right for your life or works best for you is the only truth you can know,' compared to only 38 percent of Elders."
And, 41% of practicing Christians agree that knowing what is right and wrong is a matter of personal experience, 59% disagree.
About two-thirds of those surveyed agreed either strongly or somewhat that “every culture must determine what is acceptable morality for its people.”
With respect to the role of the Bible in determining morality, 59% of respondents agree that “the Bible provides us with absolute moral truths which are the same for all people in all situations, without exception." 83% of practicing Christians agree.
35% of those surveyed believe that moral truth is absolute - and 59% of practicing Christians state that belief.
The summary quotes Barna Group President David Kinnaman, writes in the book, Good Faith: Being a Christian When Society Thinks You’re Irrelevant and Extreme: “There is a tremendous amount of individualism in today’s society, and that’s reflected in the church too. Millions of Christians have grafted New Age dogma onto their spiritual person. When we peel back the layers, we find that many Christians are using the way of Jesus to pursue the way of self. . . . While we wring our hands about secularism spreading through culture, a majority of churchgoing Christians have embraced corrupt, me-centered theology."
He also writes, "So, there appears to be a dichotomy at work among practicing Christians in America," adding, "Most believe that the Bible is the source of moral norms that transcend a person’s culture, and that those moral truths are absolute rather than relative to circumstances. Yet, at the same time, solid majorities ascribe to five of the six tenets of the new moral code."
Kinnaman says that this dichotomy "represents an opportunity for leaders and mentors who are prepared to coach people—especially young people—toward deeper wisdom and greater discernment."
The summary opens by saying, "Christian morality is being ushered out of American social structures and off the cultural main stage, leaving a vacuum in its place—and the broader culture is attempting to fill the void."
Self-determined morality - that is what we're talking about here. It is dangerous - and all too common. The takeaways from this story are all too obvious. While Christians seemingly like to say, "I believe the Bible" - you can also add, "cover-to-cover," truth is that many have bought into the whims of the culture and are embracing moral values that are determined not by what God's Word says, but what they think and feel.
So, we get back to the question about what determines our values. If our lives are built on the foundation of Biblical truth, then we can be convinced that those bedrock principles will not change no matter what circumstances we encounter or what cultural shifts we observe. And, there will be change, no doubt - we have to determine how we will navigate it - we can be challenged to hold on to those reliable truths that the Lord has taught us or to buy in to the philosophy of self that is unreliable. And, we do well to pre-determine, as best we can, how we will respond in the face of influences that will attempt to counter or at least alter our deeply held Christian beliefs.
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