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Q2. Compromising Standards


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Q2. Why would loosening of sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture be destructive of vital Christian faith and witness? How has your culture tended to take the edge off your own Christian moral convictions or forced you to be quiet about them?

Christian living involves the development of an inner spirituality by which to nourish that life .... We have neglected the profound truth that sacrifice of self is not merely an external religious command; it is also an inevitable, profoundly human, and potentially enriching correlate to commitment to the service of others. We have not spoken of a most potent theme: the ascesis of love, which must surely play a role in the successful living of the Christian life

Our moral failures often lay in the lack of knowledge of the self. By befriending the self within, we are empowered to befriend those who now appear to threaten us. The more our identities become known the greater our capacity for life with others. Presently, programs in spirituality are growing simply because people are recognizing their neediness. As theologian David Burrell writes, we seek a spiritual discipline "less out of moral imperative than from sheer necessity. Something must keep one from being pulled apart!"(12) The spiritual life does not take us away from the world but creates energies "so that God's energies can find full play in our lives."(13) There is much to be gained in our moral reflection and practice by approaching Christian morality through the variety of gates of Christian spirituality. First and last is the awareness that all of life is a call to enter into the life of God and become holy as God is holy.

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Paul says that all sins are committed outside of the body except sexual sins. A person who gives in to sexual temptations affects his or her body in a way that other sins do not. When I allow the culture to determine morals, I am simply giving into mankind's weakness for pleasure and selfishness. If I act this way, no one could mistake me for a Christian. Certainly, my testimony is weakened, if not destroyed, and it would be very difficult for me to tell someone about the love of Jesus when I did not attempt to adhere to what He asks of me.

The political correctness of this age says that there are no morals, that every religion, no matter what it teaches, it okay and that looking out for "1 is of vital importance. When I refuse to speak against sin, whether it be homosexuality or the Muslim faith, or I fear to speak the truth because of popular backlash, I am allowing the pressures of acceptance to dictate my actions. Peter said it best in Acts when he said, Whether it is right to follow God or man, you choose, but we cannot but help to tell about what we have seen and heard. I wish that could be my motto, too.

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Q2. Why would loosening of sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture be destructive of vital Christian faith and witness? How has your culture tended to take the edge off your own Christian moral convictions or forced you to be quiet about them?

If I were to compare the generation of today from the past generation, people tend to be more open now and practical to things which are considered as taboo. Before, the society couldn't accept sex before marriage, divorce, having so many girlfriends/boyfriends, homosexuality, abortion, smoking, drinking, and others. Now it has gradually changed. People who do premarital sex aren't afraid anymore, and likewise with homosexuals. They even go to the streets and fight for their rights saying that they should be accepted and treated fairly, for they are also humans. In the government, some government officials do also pass bills saying that divorce and even abortion should be legalized because of so many human reasons that they give. As a Christian, it' is really difficult to stay in this world because of the present phenomena that "if you are not in, you are out." Nevertheless, it is clearly stated in Romans 12:2 that We are not to conform ourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform us inwardly by the renewing of our minds. Then we will be able to know the will of God - what is good and is pleasing to Him and is perfect.TActually, it is really pretty hard that's why God says in His Word that we always need to ask help and protection from Him. In Psalms 73:26, it says, "My mind and my body may grow weak, but God is my strength; He is all I ever need." We can't get away from conforming to the standards of this world just mb our own might. We need God's grace to strengthen us. Thus, let us take Paul's statement in Philippians 4:13 - "I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS me."

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Q2. Why would loosening of sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture be destructive of vital Christian faith and witness? How has your culture tended to take the edge off your own Christian moral convictions or forced you to be quiet about them?

This is destructive to the faith because it tries to pull us away frrom the teachings that make us holy and righteous before God. If we ease up on what we're taught, then we quickly fall away and conform easily to the world's way of things.

Our culture is basically becoming one of no rules, no accountability. When we speak out about the morals and values that bring about righteous behavior we are considered out dated & told to ease up. Sexual immorality is everywhere, making it hard to turn away without the proper quidence. It's destroying & perverting what is right and it will not go unpunished! :(

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Q2. Why would loosening of sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture be destructive of vital Christian faith and witness? How has your culture tended to take the edge off your own Christian moral convictions or forced you to be quiet about them?

I would say you would begin to put those things before God thus they would become your focus of worship. They would be your god. God says you shall have no other God. You can't worship two gods at the same time you will love one and hate the other. What you put first is your god.

The moral decay in this country has become acceptable behavior thus leading people away from God. People get afraid to talk about Jesus for fear of being laughed at or loosing friends.

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Q2. Why would loosening of sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture be destructive of vital Christian faith and witness? How has your culture tended to take the edge off your own Christian moral convictions or forced you to be quiet about them?

Because immorality goes against the very nature of G-d. He has expressly told us to stay away from sex outside of marriage, **** and immorality. If we loosen our "sexual standards" we compromise our faith in Him. Out moral values are sacrificed subsequently our believability as witnesses is severely diminished.

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Q2. Why would loosening of sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture be destructive of vital Christian faith and witness?

We have churches today, and believers, that do not hold to the truths of the word, what sins God calls abominations, they teach toleration.

Our

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Q2. Why would loosening of sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture be destructive of vital Christian faith and witness? How has your culture tended to take the edge off your own Christian moral convictions or forced you to be quiet about them?

Sue D. :rolleyes: Q.2 -- Because 'the world' is observing the Christian person's life -- are we all that different from the rest of the world in our morals? Christians claim to believe the Bible -- are we Really willing to follow Biblical standards and be seen as 'different'? If we are the only Bible people are reading, what are they learning? These days the homosexual lifestyle is a Big thing -- are we willing to take the Biblical stand against it? Do we take a stand for Biblical morality without being nasty/ hateful sounding to those who don't? The Way we respond back to other 'perspective' can determine how willing the other person is to listening in the first place.

There is a Lot of pressure 'out there' to hold back and be quiet about our moral convictions -- sometimes there is such a gradual shift in T.V. programs and attitude that we don't even think about 'doing anything about it'. Or we are waiting for Someone Else to say something first. Maybe our job security starts to depend on our ability to 'keep silent'. Maybe extended family members take a stand in the 'wrong' direction and we feel lots of family pressure to keep the peace and say nothing.

But we need to take a Loving attitude and 'stand' on Biblical information. God made Adam and Eve and created their bodies in a certain way to have children and produce the next generation. And that God doesn't want those of the same sex to act like married couples -- it simply isn't natural.

We get so accustomed to 'cute' sinfulness that we sometimes overlook it even as it 'grows' and after a while ' all of a sudden' we have full-blown Sin and wonder "How did That come to be". :)

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The loosening of standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture is not limited to sexual standards. The pressures of today pose challenges to Christians. The media must accept some of the blame. It is only 50 years ago or less when the media at least tried to promote moral behaviour. Today, it seems that Christian ethics and morality are protrayed as "old fashioned", and not really relevant or even desirable. While many Christians do try to follow the morality of Jesus, too many of us fail to speak up when these values are flaunted. Those who do dare to do so are all too often subjected to ridicule and criticism.

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Q2. Why would loosening of sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture be destructive of vital Christian faith and witness? How has your culture tended to take the edge off your own Christian moral convictions or forced you to be quiet about them?

Our church's life group has recently focused on What is Worship, and used John 4 and Romans 12 to stress the point that our bodies are TEMPLES for God. As such they must be treated in a sacred way. It is my prayer that the joy of spiritual fruits and knowledge of being loved so much, that this overcomes and replaces any desires that are not of the Father's command.

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Q2. Why would loosening of sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture be destructive of vital Christian faith and witness? How has your culture tended to take the edge off your own Christian moral convictions or forced you to be quiet about them?

In our world we have fornication and sex before marriage being strongly promoted in the media, and many think this is quite acceptable. The morals of our culture are probably no different to those of the days of Christ. Drunkenness, idolatory, profanity and dishonesty abound. All this is contrary to Christian faith and witness. People love materialism and fleshly desires more than their love for Christ. My own culture tends to compromise my Christian faith and I often remain passive and quiet when I should being taking a stand for Christ.

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Q2. Why would loosening of sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture be destructive of vital Christian faith and witness? How has your culture tended to take the edge off your own Christian moral convictions or forced you to be quiet about them?

First of all the loosening of sexual standards is immoral and it mixes Christianity with the world and dilutes Christianity. There is often persecution of those who stand for what is moral even if it is overt persecution. Moral and Christian people are often cosidered prudes, out of sync, square, different and/or odd, even though we are referred to as a "perculiar people" in scripture. It is often easier to keep quiet than to be different or start an unpleasant or difficult situation where we must explain ourselves.

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The moral laws of God do not change. Therefore conforming to loosening sexual standards destroys the church and its testimony. Conforming to prevailing morals of culture erases the distinction between Christians and non-Christians. While world pressure may force us to conform, we should resist such forces to preserve our Christian values.

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Q2. Why would loosening of sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture be destructive of vital Christian faith and witness? How has your culture tended to take the edge off your own Christian moral convictions or forced you to be quiet about them?

Loosening of sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture is destructive of vital Christian faith and witness as it is an oppossion to God's standard. In this culture the tendancy to take the edge off Christian moral convictions or to forced one to be quiet about them as government dictates and promotes tolerancy.

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Q2.

Why would loosening of sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture be destructive of vital Christian faith and witness?

How has your culture tended to take the edge off your own Christian moral convictions or forced you to be quiet about them?

We have the Word as our absolute authority. There should be no compromising to adjust to prevailing moral standards. Christian values are under constant threat and we need to be strong and stand fast to the truth. We should remember that Jesus said we are to be the light of the world, and are to shine for our Father in heaven. This we will not be able to do if we adopt the world standards. Jesus also said that we are to be the salt of the earth, and that if the salt loses its saltiness it is no longer good for anything. This is exactly what will happen to believers who compromise. Lastly, in Matthew 7:14 we read a warning Jesus gave us,

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God has given a set of "standards" teaching us our sexual standards in the Bible. By conforming to the prevailing morals of the culture, firstly it will affect our consistency on witnessing and testimony. We are not preaching to what we behave. God instructed us to stay firm and rooted in the teachings of His Word, so we must not loosen any standards due to the culture influence whether sexual or not.

As the world culture begins to start accepting immoral sexuality such as homosexual, same-sex intercourse, trangressions, etc, sometimes we start thinking and accepting it as a norm. We do not find anything unusual or unacceptable. 20 years ago, homosexuality was a taboo. Today, it is still unacceptable, it erks, but still, we find that we do not detest it that much. Since we do not have anything much against it, we don't speak up for it. And we may be afraid to speak up because we are going against the majority in our society. My culture is still very much against and have low tolerance (due to the government, and thank God for it!) but globalisation has influenced people's mindset and make such issues tolerable.

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Q2. Why would loosening of sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture be destructive of vital Christian faith and witness? How has your culture tended to take the edge off your own Christian moral convictions or forced you to be quiet about them?

Christianity, in it's true form, is meant to be a truth to be told throughout the ages. When a 'foothold' opens the door, even a crack, to deviation from the truth, the consequences will be inherited for all future generations (and probably become worse as moral decay becomes increasingly prevalent). As witnesses to Christ, it is imperative to hold to the standards He clearly spells out for us. Even as Christians that can identify things like fornication and greed as sin, we must continually ask for guidance on the smaller things that we accept and may be unawrare of the sin that can become of it. There are times that I become quiet when there is a strong denial of belief in the Lord and times that the denial of truth from others block a line of communication completely. We must always look ahead to the Day of Jesus Christ.

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Q2. Why would loosening of sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture be destructive of vital Christian faith and witness? How has your culture tended to take the edge off your own Christian moral convictions or forced you to be quiet about them?

Loosening sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture would be destructive to the Christian faith because it is against God

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Q2. Why would loosening of sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture be destructive of vital Christian faith and witness? How has your culture tended to take the edge off your own Christian moral convictions or forced you to be quiet about them?

Answer:Loosening sexual standard,usually refers to

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Q2. Why would loosening of sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture be destructive of vital Christian faith and witness? How has your culture tended to take the edge off your own Christian moral convictions or forced you to be quiet about them?

Oh this is a cultural timebomb! We are all caught up in the cutural mores of our society, and it is hard to fight it. Satan is at his grandest work right now. He has full use of the media and technology. He boasts obsenities through beautiful pictues and alluring words. As a Christian, we know what is right and wrong, but wrong can feel so good sometimes. It's like my grandmother's saying, "If you do it once...if you cross that line one time, the next time will be easier, and the next time will even be easier, and the next time there will be no line." We are erasing the lines, and that is scary. We fold the scriptural words in half to accomodate the cultural view and make excuses why we are following the pack. I, too, have fallen victim. No one wants to be left out. No one wants to stand alone. So you compromise a little, but each time you loosen the guidewires (the Word), you loose your footing. I struggle daily...going back to God's Word to bolster myself against the onslaught of Satan's handiwork because that's what I have to do to survive.

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Q2. Why would loosening of sexual standards to conform to the prevailing morals of the culture be destructive of vital Christian faith and witness? How has your culture tended to take the edge off your own Christian moral convictions or forced you to be quiet about them?

As with many things being constantly put in our dailey lives with things you do not naturally accept as a Christian you become more tolerant of them and the shock originally felt becomes less and less. If we are not on guard we not only accept these activities as being normal but we are drawn into taking part, in one way or another. Whether it is actually doing the wrong thing, or wittnessing it and not saying anything. Watching TV, reading books that once were intolerable, even standing in public and hearing the language coming out of the everyday people is testing our judgement. We have to be vigilant in our stand against the everyday world. If we, in todays society can be vigilant in our stand, that is a wittness in itself.

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