Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

BY TONY HOSS
For decades, our nation has been sliding down a slippery slope of immorality. Men of morals have often boasted that they didn’t care what others thought of them as long as they were morally correct in the eyes of God. The moral correctness of such individuals came not from their own lustful desires, but from a study and thus an understanding of God’s own moral compass, the Bible. But it is obvious that the day has long since passed, when the morally correct effectively stand, and with their moral compass, the Bible, guide the nation in which we live. There is no doubt that God’s moral compass, as it has always been, is correct in all matters of morality. We would do well to remember that morality is defined as principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior.
There is no doubt about it, our nation has reached the point where national polls have far more to do with what legislation is passed than any consideration as to whether it is moral or right. Of even greater concern is that moral issues, many of them having eternal consequences, are being decided by what our peers are thinking. It is often the case that the majority does not agree with how moral issues are being decided, but they are a silent majority. Therefore, in many cases it is the more vocal minority that gets its way when issues of morality come before our legislators and the courts of our nation.
On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court of the United States of America voted and legalized abortion nationwide. There are fundamental and hard to control problems with Roe v. Wade. While there are many, I will mention only a few. First, the Supreme Court abused the Constitution to usurp the authority of the people by imposing an unjust policy with morally disastrous results. Second, the Supreme Court assumed the role of legislature in much of their decision concerning the case. Third, the court decided that abortion was a fundamental right which is simply untrue and unfounded in the historicity of the United States. And finally, it is my opinion that the 1973 Supreme Court decision infringes on the state’s right to govern, but more importantly it infringes on the moral code given by God. In short, I feel that the decision was unjust, unconstitutional, undemocratic, and last but not least ungodly.
For decades we as a nation have had to deal with court decisions concerning abortion and its many parts. Decisions concerning when life begins, does life begin at conception, and is it right to abort a child in the last trimester of pregnancy are just a few. Recently a draft opinion concerning Roe vs. Wade was leaked and has caused a great amount of controversy. Those in support of the court’s 1973 decision are in an outrage while those in support of pro-life solutions are optimistic that the court’s decision will be reversed, and the matter will return to the individual states. What is important to this article is the fact that polling and peer pressure no doubt brought about the decision in 1973.
The same is true of the Supreme Court’s overturning of the Defense of Marriage Act signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996. That law recognized that marriage was between one man and one woman. This was something that God decided thousands of years ago. The overturning of the law by the Supreme Court in 2015 has opened the door for what God’s Word defines as immorality. In short, it led to homosexual marriages. What started out as one state in 2004 led to all 50 states recognizing same sex marriages by 2015. Many in America rejoiced when the Supreme Court decision was handed down. They didn’t rejoice because of the moral issues involved, but because it is “politically correct.” In the minds of many, it was a decision that showed how kind and open-minded we have become as a nation. They rejoiced regardless of the moral implications of such a decision.
The question is how are moral issues determined, what is the standard of right and wrong? As we consider this question, we next must determine what the definition of holiness is and where it comes from. One thing is apparent, we cannot sit idly by and allow others, whether they be the minority or the majority to redefine what is and is not moral. God has already made that decision for us, and we should be seeking to follow His pattern for moral living.
There are lessons to learn from the past. In the days of Noah, his actions would no doubt be seen as politically incorrect. None the less, Noah stood firm. When it came to Sodom and Gomorrah, there is no doubt that the majority of those inhabitants were in favor of their immoral lifestyles. When Jesus was living on earth it is likely that He would have never won a popular opinion poll. Remember when the end came for Jesus, the Son of God, the majority shouted, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!” If Ananias and Sapphira were living today, their lying would not have been that big of a deal, in fact the majority would have given them a pass. Regardless of what the issues are or will be, when it comes to morality, polls, and the feelings of men have never and should never determine righteousness!
To show the danger consider the fact that polls show that most of the world’s population has no belief in God. But as all Christians know, God does exist and He is the moral standard in our lives and no poll will ever change that because it is truth and truth never changes. Never allow the polls to determine what is right or wrong in your life. Only allow God to lead and guide because in the end His is the only opinion poll that will matter.
(Tony Hoss is minister of the Centerview Church of Christ, Elizabethton)