Rock The Boat! Series

Dr. Stephen L. Anderson, a professor in Ontario, Canada, had what he called a moment of “startling clarity” a little over 10 years ago. He was teaching a section on ethics in his senior philosophy class, and he needed an “attention-getter”—something to shock his students and force them to take an ethical stand. He hoped that this would form a “baseline” from which they could evaluate other ethical decisions.

So he decided to open by simply displaying, without comment, the photo of Bibi Aisha. Aisha was the Afghani teenager who was forced into an abusive marriage with a Taliban fighter. He abused her and kept her with his animals. When she attempted to flee, her family caught her, hacked off her nose and ears, and left her for dead in the mountains… Dr. Anderson felt quite sure that his students, seeing the suffering of this poor girl of their own age, would have a clear ethical reaction…

As you can see, the picture is horrific. Aisha's beautiful eyes stare hauntingly back at you above the mangled hole that was once her nose. Some of Dr. Anderson’s students kept their eyes down to avoid looking at it. He could see that they were experiencing deep emotions.

But he was not prepared for their reaction. He had expected strong aversion, but that's not what he got. Instead, his students became confused. They seemed not to know what to think. They spoke timidly, afraid to make any moral judgment at all. They were unwilling to criticize any situation originating in a different culture. They said, “Well, we might not like it, but maybe over there it's okay.” Another said, “It's just wrong to judge other cultures.”

Dr. Anderson wondered, "How can kids who have been so thoroughly basted in the language of minority rights be so numb to a clear moral offense?” …. No matter how he prodded they did not leave their nonjudgmental position. Dr. Anderson left that class shaking his head. His students had been thoroughly brainwashed to accept all things at all costs, a concept called “moral relativism.” For them, the overriding message is “never judge, never criticize, never take a position” (Dr. Stephen L. Anderson, "Moments of Startling Clarity," Education Forum, Fall 2011; www.PreachingToday.com).

After more than a half a century of brainwashing through our public schools, the entertainment industry, and liberal politics, our culture has swallowed this lie of moral relativism hook, line, and sinker. They love to quote the Bible out of context, where it says, “Judge not that you be not judged” (Matthew 7:1). So anything goes today: killing babies in the womb; homosexual behavior; and even pedophiles, who some now describe as “minor attracted people,” because “it’s less stigmatizing” (Jessica Nolte, “ODU assistant professor who resigned amid backlash from pedophilia research has a new job at Johns Hopkins,” The Virginian-Pilot, 5-15-2022).

“Judge not” has become the mantra of our morally relativistic culture, so much so that it has infiltrated the church. When a preacher dares to call sin “sin,” church people often say, “Who are we to judge?”

In one of my previous churches, the elders and I had to ask a man to step down from leadership, because he was abusing his wife. Later, we also had to ask a woman to resign her position as an officer in the church, because she was sleeping with a man she was not married to. In each case, people said, “Who are we to judge,” and some left the church. Today, I’m glad to report that the woman later repented of her sin and was welcomed back into the fellowship of the church, which she now serves as the head of their care ministry.

Restoration is possible, but only if the church sets aside the moral relativism that has invaded our culture and dares to address sin among its members appropriately.

Ken Sande is the founder and director of Peacemaker Ministries, which works with scores of churches in trouble every year. He says, “Unfortunately most churches don't employ formal discipline until offenses are so terrible, relationships so shattered, and patterns so ingrained, that the chances of restoring someone are very small” (Ken Sande, Peacemaker Ministries, Leadership Journal; www.PreachingToday.com).

So what can the church do to deal with sin in such a way that really helps people and restores relationships? What can the church do when one of its members chooses to live in open rebellion against God? What can the church do save that member from utter and complete spiritual ruin and to save itself from irreparable damage? Well, if you have your Bibles, I invite you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 5, 1 Corinthians 5, where God’s Word tells us what to do.

1 Corinthians 5:1-2 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father’s wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you (ESV).