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.
