Most people don't think they are evil. I can't remember where that quote came from, but I find it to be true. Usually a thief will have some reason he steals, that is he justifies himself by saying that he has no choice, or he needs what he takes, or something of that nature. Likewise with almost anyone who commits a crime, and likewise with us too. We find plenty of reasons to excuse our actions, our thoughts, and our attitudes, after all, we're only human, right?
I worry that this generation seems to be even worse than previous generations at justifying nearly every act imaginable. I know that every generation seems to be the worst generation ever. I'm sure that 1500 years ago someone somewhere was making comments about how the kids don't respect their parents any more, hanging upside down half-naked from the pear trees in the yard instead of dutifully doing the chores they were assigned. But, we really do seem to have a moral disconnect in this generation, where people just don't understand that there are such things as good and evil. If I'm right, then that poses a certain difficulty for the church, because now we have to train people not only in Christian behavior, but in thinking about morality in general.
Don't get me wrong, this generation, the one I belong to and the one right after mine (I shudder sometimes when I realize that I am now old enough to note that there is a generation after mine, I suppose it is the inevitable result of the passing of time, but one does not think of that in youth) aren't complete moral anarchists. We still understand that stealing is wrong, usually. We still understand sleeping with another person's spouse is wicked, most of the time. We still get the fact that there are others around us and we should be considerate of them, with exceptions. I guess the real problem is that we've learned (wrongly) that nothing is really absolute, and so everything becomes relative, even morality.
Living in such an age isn't an entirely bad thing though. The truth is that for Christians we live in perhaps a better time than our parents grew up in, because of immorality. When we live and act according to the way Christ has commanded us, we really can be radically different. That doesn't mean that there are no good people left in the world, that only Christians have ethics, but that our ethic is distinct in this time and age. Our ethic is different because it calls upon us to consider others as better than ourselves, it requires us to be sacrificial in how we treat those we do not know. We live in a great age to demonstrate the difference between Christ and the god of this world.
I know some will ask, "What commands are you talking about?" Christ makes clear that love is the defining principle behind all the law and prophets. He says, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, and and with all your soul,' this is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" He also says, "Whatever you would have someone do for you, do that for them. Upon this hangs all the law and the prophets." (Pardon if I messed up a word there, I'm quoting off the top of my head and I get my translations mixed up, sometimes combining them.)
But, I want to make clear my affirmation to what Paul says also, Christians are not under the law, we are under grace. We do not have to serve the law of love as though it will somehow make us righteous, rather because we are under the grace of Christ how we act ought to show that the law of love flows from us. We are no longer children, enslaved under the law so that love is a burden and a challenge, we are the children of God, coming to maturity in Christ, so that love is a gift given to us by our holy and righteous Savior. Why should we slave under the law, finding it a burden and a challenge, when we can embrace with great joy the opportunity to fellowship with the Spirit of God in doing good works?
Remember, we do those works which God has prepared for us to do, which he does through us. We are not struggling to be moral, we are righteous and forgiven, therefore how can we act in any way but that which is moral? To be immoral is to turn back to the flesh from which we were redeemed. Why should we now be enslaved again under that which we have been freed from by the awesome power of God?
We have an opportunity to live lives that really do set us apart from others. We can love like no one else. We can put others before ourselves and serve to the glory of God. We will be taken advantage of, we will be mocked and insulted, but we will also reach some who have been forgotten by a generation that no longer remembers how to think about morality. But, we need to think about what would do, we need to bring our minds under the control of the Spirit, that we might see how we can serve others, we need to be a people to whom morality matters.
If we would be a moral people, we cannot excuse ourselves or justify ourselves for anything, but we must acknowledge our failings. We have to reflect upon the fact that we do not always act morally, so that we can learn from our mistakes. Paul commands us to be not conformed any longer to this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Unless we reflect upon our own thoughts and our own deeds, we can never fully reflect the glory of Christ as he would have us to do.
We are justified in Christ, so we have no need to condemn ourselves for our actions, but we also have no need to excuse our actions. We can face our immorality because we are forgiven. We can acknowledge our evil before God and pray that he will change us, so that an unjust generation might know the justification we have experienced. We can love because we are loved, and we must love or we make our God a liar. Let us contemplate in each action and in every situation, what does love look like in this situation; let us be consistent in loving God and loving our neighbor, not under the enslavement of law, but because we are free.
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