CONTROVERSY III: What about Ethics?

(This is a new article series that I am "trying out" with my readers. These are intended to be thought-provoking. Please see their Intro Article: Jan. 26, 2008)

Why is it that ethics is “complicated,” has a lot of “gray areas,” has not “rights and wrongs”? Have you wondered that? Why it is that we have classes that actually teach about ethics because it is difficult to know how to behave “ethically” (which is differentiated from morally, mind you)?

Ok…maybe it’s just me…or perhaps it’s a prophetic tendency that I have…I just don’t think ethics is as hard as we try to make it to be. I know that a lot of ethics teachers and doctors, etc. say that ethics is complex; there are many gray areas, etc. That we have to discuss…but the more and more that I study ethics, and the more and more I grow in my relationship with God…the more and more I am persuaded that ethics is not hard…man has made it so.

Yes-ethics is complicated, confusing, and ridiculous if one does not have a Biblical worldview. Without the Truth, there is no solid foundation for life. But, golly-with it…life gets simple…it really does.

And I’m not saying that flippantly or naively-I am fully aware that tough things happen-children are killed in car accidents or are molested, raped, and brainwashed. Many suffer illnesses, for which there are little cures of relief. Others die in a crossfire between two family feuds…I’m not saying that life is not difficult; even Jesus makes that statement:

"In this world you will have trouble; but take heart. I have overcome the world..." (Jn. 16:33)

I am saying that a perspective of right and wrong, ethics and morality…that is not hard when it comes to the Word of God.

God laid out His ethical plan in the Ten Commandments…He goes into details in the Torah of how it is applied, which can be applied in other situations relevant to the stated circumstance.

When the Lord says, “do not murder,” He means, don’t kill. There are exceptions in the case of war, which He goes into greater detail as well in the Torah, but for the most part…you don’t kill-period.

“The LORD brings death and makes alive; He brings down to the grave and raises up.” (1 Sam. 2: 6)

God gives life and He takes it away-who are we to decide whether to end someone’s life (in a case of euthanasia) even if they wish it…we are finite creatures! There is only One, Who determines the days of an individual, and that is God!

We get so bogged down in ethical rules and regulations…but that is not what God intended. He made the works of humans really simple: “‘Don't be afraid; just believe.’” (Mk. 5:36) Faith is the only work that we are called to do…believe Him…and that in itself is hard enough.

Please understand…I’m not oversimplifying this because of naivety-yes, I am young, and I have a lot to learn; I am by no means professing that I have “arrived.”

But, I know suffering-I have been to the grave and back countless times; I have endured horrendous physical pain for months on end without solution, other than accusation. I know spiritual and emotional confusion, when spiritual mentors have attempted to “deliver me” from my distress through accusations and over-spiritualization of chronic illness, reminiscent of Job’s friends. Consequently, it is only by God’s grace that I am still alive, my body is beginning to “pull out” of another physical mess, functioning and rebuilding, and by golly! I AM SANE and full of joy today.

I know physical, emotional, and spiritual pain to some degree-and even my suffering is nothing compared to a multitude of others’ in Africa, Asia, or even in this country. I’m not tooting my horn-I’m just explaining that I have been through hardship…

…and I still profess that, though life may be hard… it does not have to be complicated…man makes it so when he tries to figure it out, especially figure it out without putting God into the equation. We are not “called” to figure out life or the world. We are called to believe God, Who is good, loving, powerful, mighty, everlasting, omniscient, omnipresent, Who is over all things and in Him all things have their existence. (ref. Col. 1:16-20)

Call me simple, naïve, or young…God is bigger than man; and we can live a life of peace and rest despite hardship because we know Who is in control.