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For
Goodness Sake...
Last
month the American Humanist Association unveiled a
$40,000 holiday ad campaign to promote its ideals to
others. The
AHA has produced ads that are currently appearing on
Washington D.C. buses proclaiming,
“Why
believe in a god? Just be good for goodness’
sake.”
Many
will recognize some of these words (“be good for
goodness’ sake”) as those from the song, “Santa
Claus is Coming to Town.”
The campaign is designed to counteract the
association of the Christmas holidays with traditional
religion. Fred
Edwords, spokesman for the humanist group, explained
their intentions saying, “We are trying to plant a
seed of rational thought and critical thinking and
questioning in people’s minds.”
Speaking
of rational thought and critical thinking, consider
the following question:
“From
where does morality originate?”
The
answer is that morality either comes from matter, man,
or God....
Morality
cannot come from MATTER.
What can a rock teach us about good and evil?
Obviously, nothing!
The
AHA and others suggest that morality must come from
MAN. The
AHA defines humanism as “a progressive philosophy of
life that, without theism, affirms our responsibility
to lead ethical lives of value to self and
humanity.”
But
still there are the issues of “What is ethical?”
and “What is moral?”
It
is undisputed that man has a sense of “ought.”
Every person has a conscience that operates
based upon the standard that he/she has accepted for
one’s conduct.
From where did this capacity for what one
“ought” and “ought not” to do originate?
Friends,
our sense of “ought,” our consciences, are
evidence that we were created by a Moral Creator.
This Creator the Bible calls, “God.”
As American Family Association President Tim
Wildmon has stated, “God in His Word, the Bible,
tells us what’s GOOD and BAD; RIGHT and WRONG.
If we are each ourselves defining what’s
good, it’s going to be a crazy world.”
God
has given us not only the capacity to know what’s
right and wrong, He has also given us the Standard of
Morality: His Word (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
As
we compare ourselves with THE Standard of Morality
which reflects the holiness of God Himself, we come to
a painful realization: we
are not good!
"There is none righteous, no, not one …
There is none who does good, no, not one.
For ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God” (Romans 3:10, 12, 23).
But
God is Good AND Loving.
He sent His Son to die on the cross as payment
for our sins (Ephesians 1:7).
He is ready and willing to forgive our sins if
we will believe
in and trust His Son (Acts 16:30-31), turn from our
sins in repentance
(Acts 17:30-31), confess
Him before men (Romans 10:9-10), and be baptized
(immersed) into Christ for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38). Then, out of gratitude for what He has done for us through
Christ, God wants us to go about doing GOOD, as He has
defined it (Ephesians 2:10).
Trust
and obey Christ for your soul’s sake.
Then be good, for God’s sake!
--
David
A. Sargent, Minister
Church
of Christ at Creekwood
1901
Schillinger Rd. S.
Mobile, Alabama 36695
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