TRINITY CHRISTIAN CENTER CHURCH MISSIVE

Vol. 7:–No: 20(May 22, 2016)

Adult life today is more complex than when I was a young adult. People in my parents’ generation said the same thing. As time marches on, knowledge keeps increasing and new technologies keep emerging. The need to use these tools also escalates. We hope wisdom keeps pace with responsibility.

There have been moral and ethical dilemmas throughout history. What would we have done if we had lived in Nazi Germany and we were forced to either lie to save our Jewish neighbors or tell the truth and watch them being led away to prison? We often discuss theoretical problems such as, do we save the drowning baby or the five drowning adults in a sinking boat? The likelihood that this will ever happen is very small, but we do face other ethical dilemmas. Should I lie to spare the feelings of my close friend who has been struggling with depression and thoughts of suicide? Perhaps that answer is not so well-defined.

Although most of us move past the simple ethical rules we learn in childhood, we still try to keep moral reasoning manageable by framing it in terms of principles, goals, virtues, rights, etc. Although each of these has its merits, none is perfect.

How do Christians ‘do’ ethics? By drawing from scripture, reason, tradition, experience, and last, but not least, guidance from our Heavenly Father. Do biblical studies help? They certainly do not hinder. Do we feel overwhelmed? Perhaps a little, but with God’s guidance and direction, all seems to always fall into its proper slot in the grand scheme of things.

People who want to grow spiritually can. Think about this: most of a garden’s growth occurs when the gardener is not there, yet the growth could not take place without the gardener’s hard work. Some cultivate the soil, some sow the seed, some water and tend to the plants, and others reap the harvest. It’s God who gives the increase.