A Counselor Reflects on Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
“I need only ask the reader to think what a totally different morality would mean. Think of a country where people were admired for running away in battle, or where a man felt proud of double-crossing all the people who had been kindest to him. You might as well try to imagine a country where two and two made five… It seems, then, we are forced to believe in a real Right and Wrong. People may be sometimes mistaken about them, just as people sometimes get their sums wrong; but they are not a matter of mere taste and opinion any more than the multiplication table (p.6-7).” Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Very few, if any of us, radically disagree with God. We honestly believe that God’s way is best and is the way everyone else should live towards us. We believe that no one should lie to us, steal from us, cheat with our spouse, or end our life.
The problem is not that we want to create a totally new morality; we just want to be the lone exception to the morality we inherently agree with. If too many people begin to operate based upon the loophole we have “found” (and their actions begin to negatively effect us), then we try to rationalize that our circumstance was different.
In order to let this truth sink in, try to take up Lewis’ challenge and that of a community that operated on (and taught) a morality that was not at all rooted in the moral teaching of Scripture.
- Things were said to be more important than people
- Selfishness was encouraged over sacrifice
- Deception was taught instead of logic
- The end always justified the means
- Power was more valued than love
- Laziness was preferred to hard work
While there may be elements of our culture that resemble these values, no one wishes these things for their kids or prays they can find these things in a spouse. The point is that a totally new morality is an irrational endeavor. If it were spelled out propositionally no one would take it seriously.
The problem is that we try to make this “new morality private deal” with God daily. We do it on the minute scale of an individual life and so we never consider the logic of our request. We think, “Surely if God was reasonable He would see this is an acceptable exception.”
In the end we must see that our minor “improvements” would (and have) result in massive destruction.
If this post was beneficial for you, then considering reading other blogs from my “Favorite Posts on Character” post which address other facets of this subject.
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