From Common Sense to Nonsense
Common sense has never been universally common, but it sure seems less common now than at any time I can remember. As I survey the current scene, it appears to me that we have gone from common sense to nonsense.
Item: A six-year-old boy in Lexington, NC was suspended for a day, banned from attending an ice cream party, and sent home. His crime? Sexual harassment. He kissed a female classmate on the cheek.
Item: A six-year-old boy in California was red-carded for playing tag during recess. The explanation? Tag involves touching and that is clearly groping and foreplay.
Item: A sixty-two year old grandma in Cincinnati committed an act of random kindness by feeding money into parking meters to save a motorist she never met from getting a ticket. She was charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction of official business. She was arraigned and released on $1500 bail.
You have heard of these kinds of goings on. What is going on? We have lost our moral compass. True right and wrong are in line with God’s plumb line. Once right and wrong were set in stone. Even when the standard drifted into man-made mandates, right was still right, wrong was still wrong, and everyone knew where the line was.
Not any more. We have replaced right and wrong with legal and illegal, divine morality with political correctness. The consequences have been devastating.
In our desire to perform acceptably (and avoid litigation), we no longer have reasonable judgment by reasoning individuals. We pursue rules and correctness. We have abandoned personal responsibility and have become moral cowards. As someone has so well said, “It takes guts to make decisions that stray from the black and white of rigid written rules into the gray of judgment calls,” as seen in the above items. We’ve lost courage. We’re cowards who hide behind correctness, conformity, and comfort.
Without a moral compass, we don’t know where we are and we don’t know which way to turn. Recently, a lady whose compass needle is broken came to see me. She told me exactly what she intended to do and it was all wrong. Soo …. I gently, but firmly and plainly told her what was the Biblical thing to do. She looked puzzled, deeply disturbed, and finally said, “Now I’m totally confused.” I thought to myself, “How could you possibly be confused? I just told you precisely what God Himself, told you to do.” The truth was, she was really confused! When your compass is broken, you are confused.
We need a moral compass so we can be “sensible.” There is a Greek word in the New Testament that means “sane, sensible, self-controlled.” Elders must have it (cf. “sober-minded” in Tit. 1:8). Older men should have it (“temperate” in Tit. 2:2). Older women should use it (“admonish” in Tit. 2:4). Younger women (“discreet” in Tit. 2:5), younger men (“sober-minded” in Tit. 2:6), and everybody (“soberly” in Tit. 2:12) needs it!
© G. Michael Cocoris, 1/27/2001
Item: A six-year-old boy in Lexington, NC was suspended for a day, banned from attending an ice cream party, and sent home. His crime? Sexual harassment. He kissed a female classmate on the cheek.
Item: A six-year-old boy in California was red-carded for playing tag during recess. The explanation? Tag involves touching and that is clearly groping and foreplay.
Item: A sixty-two year old grandma in Cincinnati committed an act of random kindness by feeding money into parking meters to save a motorist she never met from getting a ticket. She was charged with disorderly conduct and obstruction of official business. She was arraigned and released on $1500 bail.
You have heard of these kinds of goings on. What is going on? We have lost our moral compass. True right and wrong are in line with God’s plumb line. Once right and wrong were set in stone. Even when the standard drifted into man-made mandates, right was still right, wrong was still wrong, and everyone knew where the line was.
Not any more. We have replaced right and wrong with legal and illegal, divine morality with political correctness. The consequences have been devastating.
In our desire to perform acceptably (and avoid litigation), we no longer have reasonable judgment by reasoning individuals. We pursue rules and correctness. We have abandoned personal responsibility and have become moral cowards. As someone has so well said, “It takes guts to make decisions that stray from the black and white of rigid written rules into the gray of judgment calls,” as seen in the above items. We’ve lost courage. We’re cowards who hide behind correctness, conformity, and comfort.
Without a moral compass, we don’t know where we are and we don’t know which way to turn. Recently, a lady whose compass needle is broken came to see me. She told me exactly what she intended to do and it was all wrong. Soo …. I gently, but firmly and plainly told her what was the Biblical thing to do. She looked puzzled, deeply disturbed, and finally said, “Now I’m totally confused.” I thought to myself, “How could you possibly be confused? I just told you precisely what God Himself, told you to do.” The truth was, she was really confused! When your compass is broken, you are confused.
We need a moral compass so we can be “sensible.” There is a Greek word in the New Testament that means “sane, sensible, self-controlled.” Elders must have it (cf. “sober-minded” in Tit. 1:8). Older men should have it (“temperate” in Tit. 2:2). Older women should use it (“admonish” in Tit. 2:4). Younger women (“discreet” in Tit. 2:5), younger men (“sober-minded” in Tit. 2:6), and everybody (“soberly” in Tit. 2:12) needs it!
© G. Michael Cocoris, 1/27/2001