MOVING FORWARD - pastor mike landry

Last week everyone, including the news media, was outraged over the extravagant bonuses paid out by AIG. Me too. It just didn’t seem right to reward people for poor performance that resulted in the collapse of AIG. Contractually the bonuses may have been legal, but were they moral or ethical? In addition, since the government had to bail out AIG with billions of taxpayer dollars, how could the executives of AIG, in good conscience, even consider giving out the bonuses.

The immediate knee-jerk reaction from our Congress was to pass a bill that would tax those who received the bonus with a minimum of a 90% rate. Now that really solves the problem, right? I don’t think so. But that’s not the point of this particular article. My point is that the outrage stems from an inherent sense of right and wrong that we are born with. Sometimes our reaction or solutions may be just as outrageous as the wrong deed done, but nonetheless, our outrage over a social injustice is legitimately proper and right – and should be dealt with justly.

We also see a similar reaction from the general public whenever a child is kidnapped, abused, or murdered. Inherently, we are outraged by this act and want justice to be served. The wrong needs to be righted. Nobody taught you to feel this way…our conscience inherently knows it is wrong.

I like what C.S. Lewis said about this in his book, Mere Christianity, “Whenever you find a man who says he does not believe in a real Right and Wrong, you will find the same man going back on this a moment later. He may break his promise to you, but if you try breaking one to him he will be complaining ‘it’s not fair.’”

Because we want outcomes to benefit us, we tend to adjust our standards as needed. We may feel a little better for a while but ultimately it puts us deeper in a hole that we cannot climb out.

Hopefully, what we have been experiencing will force us to take a step back and ask some different questions. Instead of merely casting blame and proposing temporary solutions to immediate pains let’s go back to the root of our problem.

We have neglected and even tried to deny that there are timeless and absolute standards of right and wrong. These exist because they are an extension of the very nature and character of God who created this world and all of us. When people seek to know that God, not only will the standards begin to make much more sense but also real forgiveness for the violation of those standards can be experienced.

It’s time to turn back to God and ask Him how to proceed. He is certainly not surprised at what is going on and definitely has a proposal on the table for how to proceed.

“If my people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.” 2 Chronicles 7:14