Changing Values

Dealing with Changing Values In Today's World"

2 Timothy 3:1-3 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good..."

There are many issues that are relevant to the changing times in which we live.  How do we as Christians deal with the changing values that our

culture is going through?

It's time to focus on the importance of adhering to and remaining firm to Biblical values and convictions in a world whose values are constantly changing.  Because we live in a world whose values are constantly changing makes it a more difficult and complex world in which to live our lives in harmony with God’s plan and purpose.

Aside from all of these areas, we are also living in an era when evil is being called good and good is being called evil.  Sin is running rampant in our culture and society, which is why the values and morality of our culture are deteriorating before our eyes.

Isaiah 5:20 "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"

As we can see, our cultural values have changed over the years.  They have been eroding steadily and will probably continue to do so.  The question is – How do we as Christians contend with these changing values?  How do we keep from becoming desensitized?  How do we keep our values simple and Biblical in today’s complex world? How do we overcome in a world that has gone awry?

-Is Christianity still the champion of purity and godly values or are we being swept along in the tide of cultural change as well?

Does Christianity still have the punch that it had twenty to twenty-five years ago in the realm of purity and values?  It’s not that Christianity has begun to lose its punch over the past 20-25 years; it’s that more and more Christians (it seems) are now either compromising or opting for lower standards when confronted with the choice of living in a moral purity as set forth in the Scriptures.

The battle of choices is not new. Two sections of the New Testament, written in the first century describe the internal warfare quite vividly.

Romans 6:6 "...knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin."

Romans 6:12, 13 "Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God."

Galatians 5:17 "For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish."

Yes, Christianity is still the champion of purity and morality, but the challenges and attacks against purity and morality have never been greater, and this complicates the problem and makes it more complex for us.

How then do we make it as Christians in a world that is constantly changing its values?

-We must believe the values given in God’s Word are still relevant in today’s culture.

Psalms 119:105 "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

2 Timothy 3:16 "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness..."

There are those who say, “The Bible and its values and standards are outdated.  We live in a progressive culture, the Bible is no longer relevant to the society in which we live.”  The answer to that response is simple.  As the writer of Ecclesiastes said, “There is nothing new under the sun.”  There have been ancient cultures that have been just as corrupt as our culture.  It was in the midst of some of these cultures that God’s word came forth.