I've been giving a lot of thought lately to quite a few of the changes in society that I have seen change in my lifetime. Granted, there are way too many of them to list them out, and so today, I want to look at it from the bigger picture perspective. I realize that this paints with a broad brush, and that there are always exceptions, but I do think that there is something to doing that every once in a while.
It seems that there are quite a few people who recognize that our western society has proceeded in directions that we didn't necessarily want to go down. So what has seemed to be the general approach to changing that direction? Pass more laws. There seems to be the thought that, if we make something illegal, people will stop doing it. Lawmakers do it as they try to pass laws on gun control, health care, and all sorts of other things. In the church, we tend to do it by emphasizing how we don't believe in certain things, like abortion, or divorce.
While I see that there is some value in this, there seems to be an idea out there that people will respond positively to laws. There's almost an assumption that people will do what lawmakers or church leaders tell them to do. And in my mind, while we can expect that to some degree, it tends to overlook the biblical reality that we are all born sinful, and that we tend to rebel against laws and rules. Even when those laws and rules are put in place for our good and for our protection, we still don't like to think that someone else is telling us what we can or cannot do.
I recognize the good of laws and rules. God gave us the Commandments to show what a perfect life would look like. Since we are now contaminated by the taint of sin, those laws aren't guides, but instead reflect back the worst in ourselves. So placing a higher emphasis on them seems likely to have a negative effect on us. Instead of driving home the point that these are meant to be good for us, it seems to make us resent them even more.
I won't pretend that I know a good solution. The fact of the matter is, we cannot avoid rules and laws, since they are in place for our good and protection. We can't disregard them simply because we may not like them. At the same time, we also cannot place too high of an importance on them, simply because we are sinful people who tend to rebel against them. Add in the fact that every person probably has a different balance that works for them, not just in general, but in respect to each law or rule, and the task simply seems to be too overwhelming.
In upcoming posts, I will express a few of my thoughts on how we can work at changing the culture and society that we are part of. As I think my way through this, I think you will see that it isn't an easy change, nor will it happen overnight. And yet, when has anything worth fighting for ever been easy?
It seems that there are quite a few people who recognize that our western society has proceeded in directions that we didn't necessarily want to go down. So what has seemed to be the general approach to changing that direction? Pass more laws. There seems to be the thought that, if we make something illegal, people will stop doing it. Lawmakers do it as they try to pass laws on gun control, health care, and all sorts of other things. In the church, we tend to do it by emphasizing how we don't believe in certain things, like abortion, or divorce.
While I see that there is some value in this, there seems to be an idea out there that people will respond positively to laws. There's almost an assumption that people will do what lawmakers or church leaders tell them to do. And in my mind, while we can expect that to some degree, it tends to overlook the biblical reality that we are all born sinful, and that we tend to rebel against laws and rules. Even when those laws and rules are put in place for our good and for our protection, we still don't like to think that someone else is telling us what we can or cannot do.
I recognize the good of laws and rules. God gave us the Commandments to show what a perfect life would look like. Since we are now contaminated by the taint of sin, those laws aren't guides, but instead reflect back the worst in ourselves. So placing a higher emphasis on them seems likely to have a negative effect on us. Instead of driving home the point that these are meant to be good for us, it seems to make us resent them even more.
I won't pretend that I know a good solution. The fact of the matter is, we cannot avoid rules and laws, since they are in place for our good and protection. We can't disregard them simply because we may not like them. At the same time, we also cannot place too high of an importance on them, simply because we are sinful people who tend to rebel against them. Add in the fact that every person probably has a different balance that works for them, not just in general, but in respect to each law or rule, and the task simply seems to be too overwhelming.
In upcoming posts, I will express a few of my thoughts on how we can work at changing the culture and society that we are part of. As I think my way through this, I think you will see that it isn't an easy change, nor will it happen overnight. And yet, when has anything worth fighting for ever been easy?
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