Global Moral Confusion

When we look at the news headlines any given week in America there is good reason to be concerned about the present state and future of our nation.  Where are we headed?  However, the concern does not stop just at our borders.  When we look at worldwide events the concern is the same. 

The Pew Research Center conducted the survey, Global Views on Morality.  They selected eight topics deemed to be moral issues and asked people from 40 nations what they thought.  The survey was telling.  When the response categories “Approve” and “Not a Moral Issue” were combined, between 17% and 75% of the world’s population does not seem to have a problem with divorce, adultery, birth control and many other moral issues.   

What makes this alarming is what scientists call the “critical mass”.  According to scientific data, it is believed that if 10% or more of a population strongly holds to an idea or belief it stands a chance at spreading to the majority. Since many moral issues have critical mass acceptance, the momentum of our moral trajectory for the future of the world is of legitimate concern.

  

Generally speaking, people may agree we are in a moral crisis.  However, when we drill down into the details, division surfaces.  One group believes the cultural acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle is a moral victory while another calls it a moral catastrophe.  And so it goes for other issues too.  Perhaps we are not so much dealing with a moral crisis as moral confusion. 

The world has always faced this, but perhaps the scale and depth of depravity in our generation is like no other time. This rising tide of moral unrest and clarity can lead people to desperately search in random directions for inner peace, a cultural savior and answers to their deepest fears.  This can lead to troubling solutions making the situation even more distressing. 

What we need is a true north on our global moral compass.  What is true north?  What should be our standard for right and wrong?  Where should we go to find meaning and purpose for our life?  Jesus!  He once said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).  In Him is found everything.  When we abandon doing life our way and seek Him with a desperate heart we will find all we are searching for.  Jesus is what our world needs now more than ever.