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Who's to Blame for Society's Moral Deficiency? By DANIEL
OVERDORF
The city council in Jackson, Mississippi, faced an embarrassing dilemma. The council president and another councilman were arrested for making shady deals with a strip club. The remaining council members convened a panel of area pastors and civic leaders to discuss the moral problems that plagued the council and the surrounding community. "Whose fault is all this?" demanded the lady moderating the panel. At first, no one responded. I know what I'd have said: "What a ridiculous question! Laws are clear. Morals are absolute. The council president trampled both. If we're looking for somebody to blame, it's him. Him!" Before anyone aired such thoughts, however, John Perkins spoke up. John is a relatively well-known Christian writer and speaker. He responded to the moderator, "It's my fault." All heads turned his way. "I've lived in this community for decades as a Bible teacher. I should have been able to create an environment where what our council president did would have been unthinkable. You want someone to blame? I'll take the blame. All of it." Who's to blame? If we see declining morals, diminishing integrity, and decreasing ethics, whose fault is it? Maybe we should blame the liberals. Or the conservatives. Perhaps the political parties, the ACLU, or social action committees. How 'bout the church? Maybe John Perkins was on to something. Gallup reports that 84 million Americans claim to have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ about one-third of our population. Yet, somehow, America ranks as one of the most immoral societies in the history of the world. Where are all the Christians? Why aren't 84 million of us making a greater impact? Perhaps it's time we Christians shoulder the responsibility Jesus mandated for us: "You are the salt of the earth." In Jesus' day salt was primarily used as a preservative. The presence of Christians in the world, Jesus taught, should prevent the world from going rotten or rancid. Or, stated positively, the world should be more pure simply because Christians exist in it. America should be more pure because 84 million Christians walk it streets, turn on its television sets, attend its movies, and surf its internet. Fayette County should be more pure because thousands of Christians live in its neighborhoods, own its businesses, vote in its elections, and attend and work in its schools. So what's the problem? Jesus went on to explain, "If salt loses its saltinessit is no longer good for anything." Chemists explain that salt is a stable compound it's impossible for salt to "lose its saltiness." However the salt used in Palestine of Jesus' day was drawn from the Dead Sea. Sometimes this salt became so full of impurities that it actually lost its ability to preserve meat. Hmm. Salt full of impurity loses its effectiveness. Perhaps our problem is that 84 million professing Christians doesn't equal 84 million practicing Christians. Imagine if every professing believer lived as Jesus taught. Imagine if one-third of the American population practiced the morals, integrity, honesty, and purity exemplified and commanded by Jesus. What would the impact be? Well, it would be likesalt. John Stott, one of the great Christian minds of the last century, preached, "If meat goes bad, there is no sense in blaming the meat. That is what happens when the bacteria are allowed to breed unchecked. The question to ask is, 'Where is the salt?' If society becomes corrupt, there's no sense in blaming society. That's what happens when fallen human society is left to itself and human evil is unrestrained and unchecked. The question to ask is 'Where is the church?'"
Daniel Overdorf is the Sr. Minister of Fayetteville Christian Church, located at New Hope and Hickory Roads in Fayetteville. He may be heard each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. as a part of the church's weekly worship. Daniel may be contacted at the church office770-461-8763, or at fayettevillechristian@juno.com
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