There are two basic philosophies of ethics from which we choose:

· One adheres to an objective standard of right and wrong. These may be the principles one encounters in the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, the wise proverbs of Ben Franklin, or other principles of living.

· The other views right and wrong as fluid and changing depending on the situation and the desired outcome. This is the philosophy of much of "post-modern" society.

It is vital that we understand these two ethical positions and the consequences that have come about because they do affect our way of life. Views of morality affect our health and safety, they affect crime, they affect business, they affect government, they affect our future. Our public schools are probably not teaching objective moral standards. You will not observe objective moral standards on network TV programs. It is vitally important that our families and our religious institutions pick up the slack and re-establish basic objective moral principles among our people.

In lieu of accepting objective moral standards, what has the Western World adopted? In one word, PRAGMATISM! Pragmatism may be defined and/or described as a philosophy in which the consequences of actions determine the moral goodness or badness of the causing actions. Since the beginning of the 20^th century pragmatism has been the prevailing philosophy in America. Much of today's society is "results driven." For them, only the results are important. For pragmatists, there are no objective standards that can evaluate actions up front.

For pragmatists, Darwin (evolution) has replaced God. There is no longer an authoritarian, exalted ruler of the universe who has established for all time. The God above has been replaced by the god within, pantheism or monism (the New Age). So, in the absence of objective truth, how should pragmatists decide which of many alternative choices is best?

Pragmatists say that life is a process of discovering the truths of how our actions work for us. Their question is not so much "What is true?" or "What ought we to believe?" Instead they ask "What, if we believe it, will work best for us?"

Contrast that philosophy with the philosophy of a Christian who is serious about their walk with God. First of all, let me say that there definitely is an element of truth in pragmatism. Why would anyone want to embrace something that doesn't work & yield results! But I like to use the illustration of the "seesaw". It is hard to enjoy being on the "seesaw" when the weight is not equally distributed! Only embracing pragmatism as a standard of morality puts all the weight on one end! Then how, someone asks, does one go about establishing equilibrium? The answer is relatively simple: STOP BEING SO COTTON-PICK'N ARROGANT AND ACCEPT THE PREMISE THAT MAYBE THERE IS SOMEONE GREATER THAN OURSELVES WHO HAS GIVEN US A SET OF PRINCIPLES!

Examples of such principles include Honesty, Integrity, Justice, Righteousness, Respect, Loyalty, Bravery, Faithfulness, Unity, Trust, Honour, Civility, Humility, Love, Compassion, Generosity, Mercy to name just a few! These are the principles with which a Christian can decide if an act is right or wrong, moral or immoral. They become our compass!

So now we have the situation that the two 'players' sitting at opposite ends of the seesaw balance each other. One we will call Principles & the other the Pragmatic person. Both are needed! Micah, the prophet of God, puts it in these terms:

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God"
(Micah 6:8).

Throughout our lifetime we will be asked to make choices/decisions! We will need to "act", to "love", to "walk humbly". And these decisions we make will need to yield results. But those results will be tempered and modified as we filter the results through the principles that God has established for humanity! What a challenge! Wow!