Darker impulses lurk at the door. Sorry to be bearer of bad news, but facts are facts. Every one of us has to be held in check. Otherwise, left to our own impulses, we run amuck. Sure as water flows to the sea, so character descends downhill. Ever seen a child reared without guidance and boundaries? What starts out cute, quickly annoys as they move beyond being a brat to becoming delinquent. Potential destination: criminal. They were allowed to be a law unto themselves.
How can I write such things? Because I know me. I am a descendent of Adam and his race. Biblically, due to inherited depravity, the diagnosis is gruesome and the prognosis grim. Left to my own devices, I am wired for chaos and self-destruction. Nature inescapably follows the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Which, in a nutshell observes that things left to themselves relentlessly slide toward entropy. In a word: decay. Need proof? How’s your health… as you age? Like I said, I know myself.
Now to the salient point of this treatise. Given our innate bent toward mayhem, people like you and me must be either inwardly constrained or outwardly restrained. Checked by intrinsic virtue or extrinsic fences. Illustration: repeated scenes in our nation when order breaks down. Hoards roam and riot. When opportunity arises to shatter windows and snatch a wide-screen TV; a motivating factor becomes operative. Either some form of personal conscience tells you to stop, or you join the chorus of the throngs. Smash and grab!
Hence, remove God from the home, schools, and public life, and something else must fill the vacuum. Somehow, order must be maintained. (Therefore, our society has created an estimated 5,000 Federal Criminal Laws, with between 10,000-300,000 Federal Regulations enforced with criminal penalty.* Not to mention sundry State and local prohibitions.) People are governed either by internal principles or external parameters.** More Preachers or Police. Faith or force. Take your pick: God or guns. {Yes, I admit my bias. I am directly inferring morality from spirituality.}
If you are still reading, and resisting the urge to revolt, let me end on a hopeful note. Scripture proclaims a superior lifestyle in II Corinthians 5:14-21. It unabashedly offers transformed identity in Christ. We affirm the endearing declaration in verse 17, and it’s Divine agency in verse 21. (Sly attempt to get you to read, believe, and embody them.) For purposes of this article, I highlight the opening verse 14, “For the love of Christ constrains us”.
Hmmm: fueled by faith, checked by choice, locked in love. Meaningful motivation.
* Wall Street Journal
** Repeated citations of Founding Fathers: George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, & Benjamin Franklin buttress this thesis.* Wall Street Journal