Presenting ...
... a weekly letter of encouragement.
Singapore
5 June, 1966
Good Morning!
ETHICS - INTEGRITY
Recently I had lunch with a businessman who is struggling to return
to Christ after a 10 year hiatus. In returning, one of his major
conflicts centers on his claim that during that period he encountered
professing Christian businessmen, but none who actually lived
out a Biblical ethic.
KEEPING IN MIND OUR DAILY STRUGGLE WITH ETHICS AND INTEGRITY,
LET ME MAKE THREE OBSERVATIONS+:
#1 All people believe in absolute truth:
Years ago in California, a drifter picked up a hitchhiking teen-age
girl, raped her and cut off her arms. Throughout the region,
irrespective of religious or philosophical persuasions, there
was a universal sense of rage as this rift raft received
a relatively light sentence for the crime. The word of God
tells us the source of that rage:
"When the Gentiles (non-believers), who do not have
the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a
law for themselves...since they show that the requirements
of the law are written in their hearts, their consciences
also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even
defending them." (Romans 2:14, 15)
#2 The essence of morality is the Golden Rule:
We need not complicate the ethics issue, but simply ask this question
the next time we are inclined to drop a piece of trash on the
ground, or hedge on our income tax : "By engaging in
this act, am I LOVING MY NEIGHBOR AS MYSELF?" (Galatians
5:14)
#3 The force of the Law is enhanced through accountability:
Given our depravity, we know that if there is no accountability,
there is no keeping of the law:
"In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
who are caught in the schemes he devises...He says to himself,
'God has forgotten; He covers his face and never sees.'"
(Psalm 10:2, 11)
Conversely, the serious disciple of Christ is sobered by
the reality of coming answerability, and chooses to live accordingly:
" So we make it our goal to please Him...For we
must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each
one may receive what is due him for the things done while in the
body, whether good or bad." (II Corinthians 5:9b, 10)
I trust you are having a great week!
Dwight Hill
+My appreciation to Mr. Walter Henrichsen who sparked my thinking
by proposing the above three points.
© Copyright 1996 Dwight Hill. Unlimited permission to copy or use is hereby granted subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.
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