Vince Deagler

have you ever heard the old phrase…if it walks like a duck, if it quacks like a duck, if it looks like a duck, it’s a duck?  i would describe that as common sense.  unfortunately. common sense is not a value we embrace any longer in our culture.  it has been replaced by things like moral relativism, tolerance, and political correctness.

now, i will warn you, this blog will be more of a rant.  the reason i say that is because it will point out a number of inconsistencies and problems.  however, the solutions that are available to us, are no longer welcome.  hence, the frustration, hence the rant.  so if you keep reading, remember, you have been warned.

lets start with scripture.  this week we will be looking at 1 john 1:8-10.  in this passage the subject of sin is front and center.  but sin is not a concept we are comfortable with as a culture.  by definition sin is missing the mark of god.  it is anything that does not conform to god and his will.  it may be a behavior, an attitude, or a state of being, but it is always contrary to god’s norm.  john writes if we deny a sinful nature, the basis of total depravity, we are self deluded and separated from the truth.  he adds if we deny sinful behavior, sinful activity, sinful lifestyles, we are making god to be a liar and his word has no place in our life.  before we consider verse 9, let me point out how similar verse 8 and 10 are to our present culture.  is this not moral relativism?  i don’t know how you could come to any other conclusion.  john makes it clear, there is such a thing as sin.  to deny it is to deny reality (that is the basic definition of truth), to delude self, and reject god and his word.  in other words, you cannot embrace moral relativism, tolerance, political correctness and god at the same time.  they mutually exclude each other.  as jesus said, you cannot serve 2 masters, you’ll have to choose a side.  our culture has chosen a side…unfortunately, it is the anti-god side.  that is why i say the only solutions available to us have already been rejected.  so our cultural problems have no practical answers, because the only real answers will not even be considered.

here is what i mean.  look at verse 9.  here john describes a template that will answer the problem of sin.  if we stop denying, and instead confess our sin.  confess means to agree with god.  literally to say the same word.  if we agree with god about sin.  that there is such a thing as sin.  that there are moral absolutes.  that god has defined certain things to be right and other things to be wrong.  we cannot agree with god until we accept that absolutes are a reality.  it is then possible to look at the specifics.  but in a world that rejects absolutes, that embraces everything as acceptable, you have no basis of agreement with god.  god embraces absolutes, to agree with him means to embrace absolutes.  if we reject absolutes, well you cannot confess…agree with god.  but without confession, the work of god john goes on to describe cannot take effect.

john writes that god is faithful, he is just, he will forgive, and cleanse us, any of us from our sin.  but only if we first agree with him about it.  if i do not feel i need his forgiveness, if i do not see anything through the lens of right and wrong, the whole process is stymied.  in my estimation, this is exactly where we are as a culture.

look at the recent events at fort hood.  a muslim shouts allah akbar(not sure of that spelling) and begins shooting.  when the shooting stops, i believe 13 are dead and over 30 are wounded.  it is later discovered that the shooter has been in contact with radical clerics, has spoken publicly of his loyalty to islam over america repeatedly, has called for the military to change its policy regarding muslims because it is a violation of the muslim faith for a muslim to be at war with fellow muslims, has tried to contact al queda, and warned of such a tragedy as immanent.  what does that sound like to you?  i’m gonna apply the old looks like, walks like, sounds like a duck approach.  it is common sense.  the events at fort hood look like, sounds like, acts like terrorism.  so i will call it terrorism.  but i have heard repeatedly from our president and members of his administration that we should not jump to any conclusions…after all islam is a religion of peace. 

sorry, that doesn’t pass the duck test.  and like the many other problems we face as a culture, until we are willing to deal with reality, and that starts with agreeing with god, all our answers will not be answers.  to resolve any problem, as a follower of jesus, i can only suggest 1 path.  start with god.  what does he have to say about the issue, whatever issue it may be.  do what he says.  period, end of discussion…and end of the problem.  but as i said earlier, we have rejected that idea.  so, we will continue to have problems.  we will continue to have people who lead us totally baffled by these problems.  and we will continue to have ridiculous answers suggested to solve our problems.  in another of his writings john says …even so come, lord jesus.  from where i’m sitting, that is about the only thing left.

thanks for reading, give me some feedback, blessings to each of you.  vince