A report in the New York Post last Saturday documented the “judge not” philosophy that has permeated American society. Titled “A massive, silent cultural revolution has changed America,” the report describes a “mass departure of moral judgment from public life.” The author observes that “we don’t want to judge others for anything, even if what they’re doing is destructive.” He offers statistics to prove that in contrast with a decade ago a majority of Americans no longer condemn marijuana use, out-of-wedlock child bearing, homosexuality, and homosexual “marriage.” The article is wrong, though, about when this happened and how. It begins with the words, “It happened without a Summer of Love...” In fact, the seeds of today’s morally relativistic, non-judgmental society were sown in the 1960s and even earlier, and it has taken a generation for the fruit to be evident. The major fault lies at the footsteps of America’s churches. Instead of being salt and light in society, the majority of churches have followed in lockstep with the world’s pop culture. How many churches preach plainly against the world’s music, sensual dancing, immodesty, the corrupt dating culture, and the filthiness coming out of Hollywood and Nashville? Even if you go back to the 1950s, the number of churches obeying biblical commands such as Ephesians 5:11 and 1 John 2:15-17 in a clear and unequivocal manner were few and far between. Such obedience wasn’t evident in the Southern Baptist churches in which I grew up, and in those days Southern Baptist churches were the most conservative of the churches. The independent Baptist movement of the 1960s and 1970s did result in a movement of biblical separatism, but it was often polluted by biblical shallowness, man centeredness, and legalism, and today the average independent Baptist church is no different from a Southern Baptist church in spiritual character and separation. This is usually evident when you examine the youth department. Christians who don’t reprove the Beatles or Beyonce won’t reprove DeGeneres or Jenner. American Idol, with its vanity and moral sensuality, had as much support from supposed Bible-believing churches as from “the world.” (Friday Church News Notes, June 12, 2015, www.wayoflife.org, [email protected], 866-295-4143) Comments are closed.
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