Tossing out the taboo

 I read a post on Facebook this week that got me thinking. It said "The mindset seems to have changed dramatically from: "I'm a Christian, how can I be a good testimony and witness for Christ" to "I'm a Christian, I have freedom to do whatever I want, don't judge me."

  I have been thinking about this, and how there is so little difference in the world and the Christian anymore. If the world is doing it today, Christians will be doing it in 5-10 years.

  Now I know churches and Christians can get too bound up in what we should wear, what we should or shouldn't watch, and put too much focus on that stuff and not enough focus on the heart and on a relationship with God.

  But the fact remains that Christians are not to be like the world. And too many are. And a lot like the world. There has been,  and will continue to be much debate and argument on such things, and I am not here to debate, but to toss out some thoughts on this subject. And I shall start by posing a question:

What should our basis for morality and beliefs be?

  If you are a good Christian, your answer should be God and His Word. Which basically boils down to God. And God and His Word never changes.

  So why does our morality and beliefs constantly change? And what causes us to change them?

  Society. The world.

 Nothing is really wrong anymore. Society will eventually accept it, and the church will follow and anyone who doesn't change is looked down on and scoffed at. Even by other Christians who have moved on.

  Think about this: There are things which the world once considered wrong. There were things that were taboo to even the world, and now not only does the world accept and outright defend and promote it, but so do Christians. 

  There was a day that if you dressed a certain way, it was public indecency and you could get fined. Or people assumed you were a prostitute. Now even professing Christians dress that way and highly defend it. So was it wrong back then or not? And if so, why isn't it wrong now?

  There was a day that nice people didn't use certain words. Now even Christians use them, and Christian authors use them in books they write, and if you dare speak up, you're judgmental and looked down on.

  There was a day that nice people didn't put tattoos all over their bodies. But now its the big thing, even for Christians, and if you disagree, you are judgmental and not with the times.

  There was a day earrings on guys were taboo, and then only gay guys wore them.... now Christian guys do. 

 There was a day that if a woman dressed like a man, they were just about tarred and feathered... now they can dress like a man, have a man's haircut, and its all good.

  There was a day Christians took a stand against alcohol, along with much of the world. Now if you don't drink, you're weird and out of touch. After all, Jesus turned the water into wine.....

  And the list could go on. Things that even the world looked down on at one time, and now Christians do it and you had better not tell them they shouldn't. Christians doing what was once taboo to even the world.

  Do we really stand for anything anymore? If all it takes is the world becoming more accepting of something, that we cave and do it a few years later? Are they really beliefs if we toss them out the window so easily, or were they just preferences, and our way of going with the flow, and when the flow changes, we change too?

  For the record, I have friends who are Christians and do things I mentioned, and that is between them and God,  and I have confidence in them. But the question still remains: if something is taboo to even the world, if the world changes and accepts it, does that make it OK for Christians? Is it not dangerous to one's soul to get your morality and beliefs from the world?

  Being a Christian and being different from the world involves a lot more than how we look, what we do and where we go, but all of that should be influenced by God and His Word. Not by the world.

  Think about it. What is still taboo today - if there is anything - will be done by Christians 10-20 years from now, or more. But it will be done.

  There is so much talk about not letting man dictate our beliefs, yet the same people who utter that refrain are doing just that: letting the world dictate their beliefs.

  One can go too far with the outward, as the Amish prove so well, but the reverse is also true: One can go too far the other way. May we get our morality and belief system from God, not from the world.