Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness: Part 5

Embracing unrighteousness in our culture

Here in America, our country is in the midst of a fierce cultural war. The moral and cultural standards upon which our country was build are daily coming under attack. Each day, there are more and more factions seeking to bring change in our culture, seeking to alter the culture to fit their particular view of how we should behave, both individually and corporately as a society. For example, there is a concerted push to change the traditional definition of marriage from one man and one woman to include any two (or more) consenting adults, even adults of the same sex. Another example is the effort to replace personal responsibility and self-sufficiency with dependency on the government. There are those in our culture who see government as the solution to all our problems. If there is a problem, then government must do something about it. If I loose my job, then it’s the government’s responsibility to do something and either get me a job or to provide for me while I’m unemployed. If I have needs, it’s not my responsibility to better myself but the government’s role to provide for me and to somehow better my life. A final example of this cultural war is the advancement of relativism. There are those in our society who are espousing a philosophy that there are no absolutes, that everything is relevant. There is nothing of which you can say that it is right or wrong. Right and wrong are determined by a person’s own private morals and the situation at hand. What may be wrong in one situation, or for one person, may not be wrong in another situation or for another person. The absolutes of the Judeo-Christian ethics are being replaced with individual morals that are conditional on the present circumstances.

In this midst of this Cultural Revolution, great confusion has arisen over how love should respond to such pressures to change. There are many who misunderstand the nature and the character of love. For many, they believe that 1 Corinthians 13:7-8 should be rewritten to say “Love accepts all things, love accommodates all things, and love embraces all things. Love never judges.” But is this a realistic and true expression of love?

When the children of Israel were about to receive their inheritance in the land of Canaan, God was very clear about how they should behave relative to how the people who formerly occupied their land used to behave. “Beware that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?’ You shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations.” (Deuteronomy 12:30-31, 18:9) Culture is important and our moral and ethical inheritance is not to be rejected just to make others fit in or feel more comfortable in their sin and unrighteousness. We hear a lot about the importance of “tolerance” but often what is really desired is “accommodation”. There is nothing wrong with being tolerant of people who are different than us, but it is wrong to compromise our morals and ethics to accommodate another’s sin. So what is the loving response to those who are different from us, to those who desire to be part of our society and culture? This is what God commanded those of the new nation of Israel, “When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your God. There shall be one standard for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the LORD your God.” (Lev 19:33-34, 24:22) Love responds to those who are different by receiving them into our culture, by allowing them to become a part of who we are, by sharing with them the benefits and blessings of our country, society, and culture. Love does not feel compelled to change our standards or morals just to make others feel more comfortable, but love does warmly receive all who desire to embrace them and are willing to live in a culture that is defined by them. Love stands with open arms and invites all to come and enjoy the blessings we have found.

David Robison