Why Values Matter

Over the last 40 years there has been a steady decline in accepted standards of behavior, as "anything goes" has become "everything goes". In step with this decline in actual behavior has been a closing of the collective mind to the idea of standards. Indeed, modern political correctness demands that we be tolerant of anyone except an advocate for strict moral standards, who is dismissed as judgmental.

The long-term effects to society of such thinking are now becoming clear, as outlined by Amy Wax in an excellent op-ed piece in today's Wall Street Journal. (wsj.com for subscribers) Out-of-wedlock birthrates among women with no more than high-school education are soaring while the rates for college graduates remains quite low. Divorce rates are climbing among the unskilled but falling among the well-off. Why the difference? Ms. Wax explains (ellipsis added):

"The well-heeled don't defend the 1950s, but they haven't left them entirely behind...Foresight and capacity for self-governance are qualities that make for economic success. They also make orderly families."

The biggest difference between family life for the well-off and for the unskilled is the behavior of men, says Ms. Wax. Less educated men have adopted infidelity as a way of life; better-educated men often honor monogamy and strive for sexual fidelity. The result is stable families, with better-balanced and ultimately more successful children. Low-income women have few such men from which to pick, yet still want to have children; thus the rise in out-of wedlock births.

So it turns out that all those pesky rules might be good for you after all. It has been fashionable to bash the strict rules and supposed moral high-handedness of the past, and I certainly wouldn't want to return to the stuffy formality of those times. But those rules were not without value: everyone more or less knew his or her role in society and the family, and the higher expectations of the times led in many cases to higher performance, at least for many men in the role of husband and father. Now, there are no rules, and far too many men--and sadly, mostly unskilled and poor men--are taking advantage of that to shirk all responsibility. This is the unfortunate result of the long-lasting tolerance crusade.

So, have contemporary leaders recognized these issues and backed off of the attacks on moral conscience? Listen to Ms. Wax:

"Opinion leaders, meanwhile, continue to tout irresponsible sexual behavior as a mere lifestyle choice and disparage firm standards of conduct. They embrace a misplaced "tolerance" that sees family forms as equivalent and refuses to condemn variants as dysfunctional. The privileged have weathered the moral confusion and protected their children from the worst."

Yet another variation of "the rich get richer." Those of us who advocate traditional moral values--whether Bible-derived or philosophically-based--often feel lonely, old-fashioned, and slightly outcast. Yet not only is living by moral values the right thing to do, but increasingly evidence from real life supports the notion that some rules are better than no rules. We owe it to our own families to live right and to inspire others through our example to do the same.

The Golden Rule

Sitting on a plane during a travel delay today (weather in Atlanta!) I read a comment by Carolyn Leusing, Atlanta's etiquette expert: "The basis of all politeness is The Golden Rule." True, and there's no better way to test your politeness than to spend a day navigating America's air travel system.

It strikes me that Christian behavior and civil behavior are closely related in many ways. The essence of civility is thinking of the other person first; that's a good summary of Christian living too (allowing that a Christian puts God above others and self). A plane journey presents lots of opportunities to put the other person first.

Letting someone out of the row ahead of you; helping a small person get a bag into the overhead bin; standing aside for the hurried traveler with a close connection--all of these are small manifestations of the Golden Rule. The challenge for me is that the entire air travel experience is often dreadful enough that I lose focus on anything except: GET ME OUT OF HERE! And so I focus on me, not the other person, and how can I most quickly get on/off this plane, into/out of this terminal, and ON MY WAY! Multiply that attitude by the hundreds of people you pass in the airport, and you have the answer for why no one smiles on planes anymore. (No one, that is, except the two colleagues, one seated across the aisle to my right, the other two seats to my left, who entertained themselves with an animated conversation across our row for most of a nearly three-hour flight today!)

My point is not just to vent after a frustrating travel day, but to point out that pleasant society is not built by grand gestures but by the accumulation of many little kindnesses done by people thinking of others ahead of themselves. It isn't hard to do, and it doesn't really cost anything, but it does seem a challenge in modern life to remember the other person. So wherever you go tomorrow--your office, your school, a plane, the mall--spare a thought for the people you see and look out for ways to help them have a good day. The Golden Rule could restore a lot of smiles to our hectic lives.

BIBLE ECONOMICS

In today's Financial Times, the Economist columnist has a look at the parable of the talents from the theoretical economics perspective, pointing out that in the capital-constrained economy of Judea at the time of Christ, doubling your money was feasible once you got the capital. (A talent was a measure of weight, used to weigh silver or gold. One talent was equivalent to over $1000 today.) In today's capital-rich global economy, such returns are much harder to come by: perhaps 10% is a more reasonable expectation for an employer entrusting money to his employees.

A good economics lesson: as the supply of capital goes up, the expected return on capital goes down. But let's think about it from the spiritual side. Contemporary readings of the parable focus on more than monetary talents; they also point out that God has entrusted each of us with talents (that is, abilities or interests) that we should put to use for good. Are you?

Some people are lucky: their talent is marketable, so they get to earn a living doing just the thing that God has gifted them with. Others of us have to make a living doing something that we perhaps are good at, but isn't the thing that we really enjoy or that we know God has gifted us with. For example, I like to write, but I don't get to write for a living. So, I do my best to develop and put to good use my interest and talent in writing by blogging, writing Sunday School lessons, and writing letters. The parable of the talents is a motivator for me to keep that up even when my real job is taxing my time.

I used to worry that I needed to quit my job to pursue writing in order to fully serve God. But I've come to realize that God doesn't necessarily care about my vocation. He is concerned with whether I am seeking to multiply my talents for the good of His world. If I do, then like the master in the story, He will be pleased with my efforts.

What could you be doing to use your God-given talent for the benefit of the world?

OUR PHILOSOPHY

I told a friend that I wanted to blog about living a Christian life in the modern world. His immediate response: "But the Bible says Christians are to be IN the world, not OF the world!" That got me thinking, so I went to my Bible, and guess what: nowhere does the Bible say to be in the world but not of it! In the book of John (John 17), Jesus prays for his disciples and observes to God that they are no longer of this world--they now have God's protection--but he also specifically prays that God will NOT take them out of the world. The apostle Paul writes (1 Cor. 9:22) that "I have become all things to all people"--that is, he seeks to use the culture he finds to advance the Gospel.

Our premise is that a Christian life is not to be a monastic life. We are not to withdraw from society; we are to embrace it and use it to advance the Gospel. We need the prayer of Jesus recorded in John--to protect us from evil in the world--so that we don't embrace the world's ways INSTEAD of God's ways. But like two gears locking together to turn the hands of a clock, so can our lives be interlocked with the world around us to advance the Gospel in our communities.

It is challenging to engage in modern life and not let our characters and moral fiber get worn down by the prevailing ethos of materialism, selfishness, and cynicism. But try we must, for God has blessed us with a marvelous world of wonders that we are free to enjoy. Join us as we observe, analyze, and comment on that world and the challenges that come along with the blessings. Meditate with us as we seek to strengthen our faith to endure our engagement with the world. Join us as we seek TO LIVE THE FULLEST LIFE FOR THE HIGHEST PURPOSE.