The
Impact of a Godless Society
Notes
from Pastor Keiffer Bent’s Sermon on 3/3/2013
Interested in learning what God says about how we should live? Then meet us at Berwyn Baptist Church, 4720 Cherokee Street in College Park, MD on Sundays at 11am.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
When we put God out of the public
discourse (remove Him from schools, courts and our community, etc.) we suffer
the consequences in a number of different ways.
1.
Ethics
collapse.
·
Business men don’t ask what’s the right thing to
do. Social conduct begins to breakdown.
·
Interpersonal Ethics change. We are no longer
committed to one wife. You can be committed to every wife in the county.
·
Politics. Every corner of society begins to
crumble. Think of Babylon, China and Greece.
·
The Moral Center Won’t Hold. When moral
standards decline and absolute truth is abandoned, the moral center won’t hold.
2.
Increase
in Crime.
·
Prisons are built faster than schools.
·
Parents no longer teach children right from
wrong, they teach what is expedient. Parents surrender their role – they should
be the first line to teach right from wrong not the schools. The culture
infects them with what’s right or wrong and since the Bible has already been
removed from the schools, the culture dictates the moral standards. Many times
the culture is at odds with the Bible in its understanding of how to teach
right from wrong in the areas of:
o How
to dress
o How
to speak
o How
to act
If there is no God then there is
no absolute truth. All things are
permissible. Therefore crime is
inevitable.
Chuck Colson spoke with a man who
fought hard to get the 10 commandments out of the school system since he felt
that we shouldn’t offend people. He told the man, that the Christians are not offended by the 10
Commandments. Neither are the Muslims since that is part of their system and
neither are the Jews since it’s also part of their system. Then he asked him, how many Budhists do
you have in your community? The man was
still unwilling to reverse his position.
When the man complained about the increase in crime in the schools,
Chuck suggested that the school put up a sign that read, “Thou Shalt Not Steal”
[this is one of the 10 commandments’] but the gentleman declined.
You can’t stop crime without
having a standard. If God is removed
from the discourse, there is no absolute truth.
3. Politics are impossible to practice
because there is no baseline to which we must all agree to function. Therefore, people take bribes, lie and cheat.
4. There is no basis to extend compassion. What
makes us want to help others? In the last century, America was the most
generous, giving nation financially and with other resources. No other country has that reputation. This
was not the result of our leaders wisdom, business mens surplus or forward
looking. This was the result of God’s influence upon our society.
As we continue to lose truth and
put God out of our public arena, greed becomes the hallmark of the nation and
we implement unfair business practices. People are left to their evil instincts
and evil hearts.
5.
Law
Breaks down because law is built upon the Ultimate Truth and Ultimate Law Giver
– God.
·
The law becomes frustrating to people because
they’re not sure how the law is playing. The law becomes a tool for the
culturally elite and powerful. There’s no longer a standard or abiding force to
which the law hinges, no root.
6. When truth is out of the picture,
Christians become marginalized. They are seen as bigots. The standard
by which we can judge leaders and the state becomes unhinged. When we step away
from God’s standards, the consequences are not ours to change. God sets the
consequences of broken rules – we can’t change them, they remain intact and are
reserved for the Lord.
7. Education/School’s Die and Collapse.
You can’t teach right from wrong but you can teach
Science. Corporate and
personal achievement go out of the window. Then we ask, why aren’t
our kids
achieving? Twenty percent of the students in DC drop out of school. There’s nothing
for
them to reach for – no top spot. So how do we measure achievement? Not by
lowering the
standards. This leads to
cultural collapse.
So what can we do?
We can preach the gospel and challenge evil men. Hold them accountable for
lies. God won’t understand if you live by evil standards. The consequences are
still His to lay at your feet in His timing. You must change your actions to
match His Word. Evil is living your life based upon a lie. You stating that God doesn’t exist
doesn’t mean He doesn’t exist.
For the Word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 1:18
