The Danger of Morality Creep

Reference: Leviticus 18:1-4 Then the Lord said to Moses, 2 “Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. I am the Lord your God. 3 So do not act like the people in Egypt, where you used to live, or like the people of Canaan, where I am taking you. You must not imitate their way of life. 4 You must obey all my regulations and be careful to obey my decrees, for I am the Lord your God." 

Observation: There are Christian denominations who are now battling over the ordaining of practicing homosexuals. Some have accepted that it is quite normal and natural for couples to have sex before marriage. The church, in parts, has become hugely materialistic.

Why is this happening in the church today? Because we have not done what God commanded in this scripture. We have become just like the world we live in (same divorce rate, same porn addictions, same materialism).
We have taken on their practices instead of obeying what God has told us. God knew how easy it is to conform to those who are around us. What is the average becomes what is normal becomes what is practiced.
It was not just the Children of Israel, it is hard for us to live against our societies’ norm. God has not given us the option of removing all the evil doers in our world. Yet, we are called to live beyond the average, to His standards not theirs. It is a challenging way to live, but as verse 5 tells us, it brings life. 

Application/Confession: Bright lights, big city! I find myself being seduced, at times, by the mentality of this world’s standards. Certainly I don’t adopt them whole cloth, I hate so much of it, but I do find myself slowing allowing more sensuality into what I view, read or listen to. You can call it “morals creep”, a slow erosion of standards.

I can justify it by reminding myself that there is a lot that I don’t allow, and there is. The problem is, as the world gets worse and worse, the line I draw keeps getting dragged toward the dark side. The line is still far from the edge of evil, but it is been pulled in that direction. If I allow myself 50% of what the world accepts as OK, my 50% is not where it was 10 years ago. Society has changed and, sadly, so have I.

I have to remind myself that God is not looking for relative holiness. He is not asking me to simply be better than this world, He is asking me to be holy--to let Him set the standard. 

PRAYER: Lord convict me when I compromise on the holiness You have called me to. You have a right to determine what I listen to, what I say and how I live. Please give me the strength to say “no” to the norm and "yes" to Your way of life.