Truth My Kids Will Know - Right And Wrong Are Absolute

 Lie #22 - What's Right Or Wrong Depends On Your Situation

This is a particularly dangerous lie circulating in our country right now. We're being told that some things are usually wrong, but can sometimes be right if the situation calls for it.

 - Usually lying is wrong...unless the truth would hurt someone's feelings.

 - Usually racism is wrong...unless it may benefit "underprivileged" ethnic groups.

 - Usually theft is wrong...unless we're talking about stealing from someone who has too much and giving to someone who doesn't have enough.

 - Usually violence against innocent people is wrong...unless it's the only way to "make your voice be heard."

And so, now we find ourselves in a culture where a person's actions mean less than than their situation or their motivation. Everyone is now left to define right and wrong for themselves. This is exactly what we see in Judges 17:6 (NLT) - "In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes." Tell me that's not what's happening now!

When right and wrong are not absolutes, people begin using their feelings to justify the most wicked things you can imagine. 

When Americans first started claiming that right and wrong were relative (i.e. conditional), at least they would add the caveat "as long as it doesn't hurt anyone." The popular idea used to be that sometimes you could steal, but only from people who would never notice the loss. You could lie, but only if it would keep someone from being hurt. You could define your own morality...live however you wanted!...but only if it didn't affect anyone else.

That's how it used to be. But now, even that pretense has gone away...

Just take a recent example (from May 5th) of a 77-year-old man being killed in Tampa Bay, Florida. He got into an argument at a coffee shop with a 27-year-old employee. During the argument, the older man used a (disgusting and very offensive) racial slur to insult the restaurant employee. This prompted the worker to get into the older man's face and challenge him to use the slur again. The man did so, and was punched in the face by the worker. When he was hit, the elderly man lost his balance and fell - suffering a serious head injury. The man never regained consciousness and then died in the hospital two days later.

The worker is rightly being charged with aggravated manslaughter for assaulting the older man. I say "rightly being charged" because this case should be used to show the public that individuals are responsible for their own actions. No one is excusing the horrible racial slur that was thrown out in this situation. But even with the heated argument, there was no legitimate excuse to strike the man.

Unfortunately, many people on social media have already decided that the worker was right to assault the older man. Twitter and Facebook filled up with posts claiming that, by using the slur, the older man "attacked the worker's humanity". The punch, they say, was only "self defense" because the older man's words were "violence". You see, because of the situation the worker was in, the normal rules no longer applied. He was being offended and attacked, and that meant he was right to lash out. Apparently, in those specific conditions, assault should no longer be called "wrong."

Right Is Always Right. Wrong Is Always Wrong

Listen to me, there ARE absolute standards for right and wrong. And whether your society holds those standards or not, you will ultimately be judged by them. God will not remain silent when His lines are crossed and His laws are broken.

Lying to someone isn't wrong because it could damage their trust in you. Many lies that have been told will never be discovered on this side of eternity. I'd be willing to bet we've all trusted someone who was lying to us - and never found out about it.

- The broken trust that comes from lying is not what make lying wrong.  

Theft isn't wrong because it hurts someone. That's not always true either. Many thefts (an employer's time, for example) never get noticed. There are wealthy people and companies that may never miss a small amount that was stolen from them.

 - The hurt caused by theft is not what makes theft wrong.

Sexual immorality was never wrong because it was cultural taboo. There have been many times in history when that was not the case. Many cultures throughout history have had common, rampant, and normalized sexual immorality...complete with every vice known to us today.

 - Cultural norms were never what made sexual immorality wrong.

No...what makes all of these sins wrong (along with any other sin) is the fact that God said they are wrong. The situations you're in, the immediate consequences of your actions, and the standards of the society around you do not decide if your actions are right or wrong. God does.

Even "Legal" Doesn't Mean "Right"

Obviously, we should obey the laws of man as much as we can. The scriptures tell us to submit to the governing authority (Romans 13). We're told to "fear God and honor the king" (1 Peter 2). So if it is at all possible for you to obey a man-made law while still obeying God, then that's what you must do. 

BUT...

Legal doesn't always equal right.

It's legal to look at Porn...but God calls that immoral.

It's legal to get drunk every night...but God calls that wickedness.

It's legal to abort a child in the womb...but God calls that shedding innocent blood.

There are times when we MUST oppose legal wickedness.

Exodus 23:2 - "You shall not follow a crowd to do evil..."

Acts 5:29 - "We must obey God rather than man."

Illegal doesn't always equal wrong.

When they say it's illegal for believers to gather together...we must obey God rather than man.

When they say it's illegal to speak against sin...we must obey God rather than man.

When they say it's illegal to preach the Gospel to the lost...we must obey God rather than man.

There are times when we MUST be illegally righteous.

Here's the bottom line:

When something is right, it's always right - that standard doesn't change over time.

When something is wrong, it's always wrong - regardless of the circumstances around you.

While the rest of the world is confused about what's right and what's wrong, my kids will know the truth: We will all be held accountable to God's eternal and unchanging standards.