8.29.23
Hey, Calvary Fremont –
Morality and Immorality have been in a 6,000 year long wrestling match. At times, Immorality would wriggle free and do some pretty massive damage on the stage of world history, but then Morality would shift its weight, flex its muscle, and Immorality would find itself pinned yet again. Morality has pretty much had the upper hand and seemed well on its way to being the ultimate Cosmic Champion. But in one of the most stunning reversals in human history, Immorality, having been regularly juiced with a syringe of philosophical steroids, has flipped Morality on its back and now has the dominant position. Now it’s anyone’s game.
Homosexuality, once viewed as a scandalous vice, is now a celebrated virtue. Abortion was once considered the murder of a human being yet is now viewed as a justified moral act. Sex outside of marriage used to raise eyebrows, but is now winked at. Forgiving your enemy, one of the finer virtues, is now condemned as one of the exceptional tools of the oppressor used to keep the oppressed suppressed. The oppressor wants the oppressed to forgive. For if I forgive you, I won’t rise up against you. Pretty nifty! Unforgiveness is now a virtue for the cancel culture crowd. This reversal of Morality was predicted in the Bible and prepared for by philosophy.
The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 3 that in the last days difficult times will come. Men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. YIKES! Immorality has flipped Morality onto its back. All the values of the Bible have been turned upside down. Friedrich Nietzsche, the 19th century German philosopher, called it the transvaluation (reversal) of all values. Nietzsche was rooting for Immorality to flip Morality on its back. He was hoping for the Great Reversal.
Nietzsche anticipated a radical reversal of traditional moral values. He taught that the moral system of Christianity is based on a denial of life, a glorification of suffering, and a suppression of natural instincts. Basically, Christian morality is inhuman! It’s a “slave morality”, because it was created by the weak and resentful to cope with their inferiority and to condemn the strong and noble individuals who have power in this life. Nietzsche argued that Christian morality is harmful to the flourishing of humanity, and that it needs to be replaced by a new morality that affirms human desire. He wanted Traditional Morality to be flipped onto its back. He calls the new morality “master morality”, because it is based on the values of ancient nobility who created their own standards of good and evil according to their own instincts and preferences. The transvaluation of all values affirms the acceptance of every instinct or lust as organic and therefore valid and beyond the scope of moral condemnation. What one desires would merely be what one desires – nothing more. And the fact that you desire it means that it is good. But in actuality, Nietzsche’s Master Morality is really just the old Immorality.
Well, what Nietzsche and others wanted has come to pass. Slowly but surely, Immorality raised itself off the mat and, aided by the injection of philosophical steroids, flipped Morality onto its back. And here we are. And the temptation is to push back against Immorality and champion traditional Morality – but that won’t reverse the reversal. The mission, mandate, and message of the Church is the transforming gospel of Jesus Christ. Do we believe in traditional, Biblical morality? Of course we do. Yet we are not called to see culture reformed by Morality, but transformed by the justification of Christ, the regeneration of the Holy Spirit, and the Word of God. Morality may be on its back, but Jesus isn’t! His throne cannot be overthrown. Traditional Morality may be on its back, but the Church never is. The Church can be persecuted, hated, imprisoned, and out of favor with the cultural elites and cultural non-elites – but the Church is never on its back. How can we who worship before the Throne of God be overthrown? How can we who stand before the King of Kings be on our backs? Don’t be overwhelmed by the momentary ascent of Immorality – Jesus is on the throne and His Church is on her feet!
Be blessed and stay healthy and follow Jesus – Pastor Tim
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