If you have such a negative view of our social past in this country, then all I can say is that you see what you want to see to justify your choices. If you can't see the moral decay in the past few decades then you are blind, indeed. Of course there was immorality taking place....but not to the degree that it is now! Not even close!
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I'm not sure if you're telling another one of those bad political jokes or if you're serious!! If you're serious, your blindfold is firmly attached. Do you REALLY hold up Thomas Jefferson, JFK, J. Edgar Hoover, Roosevelt and his women, the Confederacy, slavery, segregation, on and on and on.....as some sort of finely tuned moral machine? You can't be serious!!! The stories that are among us currently are the same as they've always been. Humanity has been prone to disorder since the fall of Adam & Eve. Do you have any facts or data to support your hypothesis that humanity is worse off than it once was? For thousands of years, people have always believed that things were much worse than they once were. You can find these statements recorded throughout history. Socrates, in 400 B.C, wrote a scathing review of the children of his present culture and how awful they were compared to when he was a child. It's an old song you're singing, just a different verse.
From my viewpoint, all I can say is that it appears that discipline and self-control, which are biblical hallmarks of the Christian life (not perfection) are not high on your priority list.
••Well, maybe it appears that way to you but if you'd ever want to try the eating regimen I've embraced, I'd like to see if you could handle it. Self-control in our eating habits certainly IS biblical, while use of slang is NOT.
That's your prerogative. I am certainly not a legalist, but nothing ever comes from a lack of discipline and self-control. Is it difficult? Absolutely! Do we fall along the way? Certainly! Yet in all of that, Jesus still told the woman caught in adultery to go and sin no more. In other words, exercise self-discipline to do what is right and don't excuse sin with "humanity."
••I suggested a lack of self-control? When did I do that? Do you REALLY think my decision to unconditionally love, accept, and embrace Tiger is an excuse for his sin?
I also find it liberating, joyful and energetic to know that I don't have to be dominated by unrighteousness and habits that used to rule me. I can be more than a conqueror, but it is not easy. Winning never is...and if you want to win, you have to pay the price.
••Are you speaking paying the price for the overcoming of sin? If so, I would disagree with you. I pay no price. Jesus paid the price and his sacrifice allows me to live free from the burdens of habitual sins.
That is also the way it is when it comes to family. If you can do one, you can do the other! Salvation is free, but a Christlike character costs everything. And no one achieves that with someone telling them that they're OK where they are. We are to strive and that takes discipline! I am secure in my salvation and my works don't secure that. However, my works/striving/discipline etc, (only with God's help) develop my character.
••I'm glad for your works/striving/discipline. But Galatians 5:16 offers another strategy, which is, when you walk in the Holy Spirit, you will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.
I also find it energizing when I encourage/coach someone to reach for their best in Jesus Christ. We can all do better and we need people around us to encourage us to do so and who believe in us. I always encourage them in their victories and there are always victories to encourage.
••We agree.
I would not expect ANYONE in the church I pastor to think it acceptable for me to use profanity even once. Self-control is a worthy goal and one that is not an option when it comes to Christianity!
••Well, your "profanities" are another man's "Descriptive words". Mark Driscoll frequently uses words in his sermons that would curl your ears up. But that's him and his personality. I don't think your standard for others on this is biblical and I don't think you should use it as a label for others. You're free to your own personal convictions. That being said, I don't talk like that and I would never say those things in the presence of people I pastor.
I'm sure none of Tiger's coaches ever told him that it was OK to always be 10 over! That's not what we strive for.
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