Paradigm Shift or Standard Fare

 

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A paradigm represents how something can be copied. It also represents ideas about how to do things and how to think about the world. The shifting of the morality paradigm has been happening since the sixties. One could argue since the fifties, but it gained a little speed then and more in the sixties. Now, the paradigm shift has become the standard fare.

Morality has taken a colossal beating compared to yesteryear. Immorality has become more the standard fare of these days. One wonders how far it can go.

The Bible tells us that Jesus said this in Mathew verse 22. "If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened." In verses 12 and 13 Jesus says that "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved."

The increase in wickedness is obvious to anyone that has lived from the 1950's until 2016. Though some might not call it wickedness, they can hardly say that the general outlook on life hasn't changed or that the culture generally holds the same values. There has been a paradigm shift.

Jesus also tells us that many people's love will become cold. People will be more cold-hearted. Just take a look at the news and you can see that prediction coming true.

Homosexuality, divorce, fornication, and abortion are accepted as the norm. Of course, these things have always gone on, but the increase and the acceptance of immorality as normal, that is a paradigm shift.

Cursing in public, movies, books, and articles is accepted as the standard fare these days. Don't leave out political and corporate corruption that is downright zealous. Violence has increased in life, movies, and novels. Blatant sexual content in films and books and pornography gone rampant are big slices of today's fare.

For younger people this isn't a shift. It is normal. It's the way the world is. But which way will these young people go in a world without a moral foundation?

Not to give the impression that the world was perfect 60 years ago. But 1956 wasn't nearly as morally bleak as it is today. Bleak though it is, we aren't without hope, we have a solid moral foundation to learn about and stand on through reading the Bible and believing in Jesus the Christ.

Moral Deterioration in the United States

Morality is rapidly declining in the United States. But it wasn't always a moral wasteland. What happened? First, it was never a perfect society. There never was such a society.

There was the Garden of Eden, but sin ruined paradise. It's ruining the U.S. now more than ever. Since Eden, people have searched for a utopia. Not enough have turned to Jesus and seen his perfection. Utopia, but not in human terms. Many people deny that. They don't want to see it. They don't want to give up their sins.

Christians fight sin. They ask for forgiveness and try to do better. It's not a matter of being holier than thou as some people might see it. It's about humbling yourself before God.

What? Giving up sin? Yes, releasing control of their lives to Jesus. It's the struggle between spirit and flesh that started when sin began.

Some people think this is a simplistic answer. There are major problems in the United States and the world. Sin can't be the reason, they say. There is no such thing as sin, they say. But they struggle to find the answers to the huge difficulties in the world. They try to find secular solutions for high crime, broken homes, divorce, abuse, drug abuse, and so on.

Admittedly, counseling, the police, and so on help to resolve some problems and conflicts, but real change in people comes from the inside, and that changes society too. The main change needed is a renewing of the mind (Romans 12:2).

When the mind is renewed then a person can see more clearly what is right and what is wrong. The renewing is an ongoing process.

As previously stated, there was never a perfect society in the U.S.A. But there was less divorce, pornography, drug use, adultery, and fewer broken homes in earlier times than now. Going to church was the habit of most people and they prayed.

When people turn to Jesus and accept him into their lives he will help them repair their lives, and a part of our nation will be repaired each time someone does that.