Out Of Control

My recent blog post In Control begs a counterpart entitled Out Of Control. After all, for as many people who are control freaks, we could probably find an equal quantity of people who are Out Of Control. In fact, many social commentators speculate that we are moving in that direction. This would mirror a law of physics, i.e. the law of entropy. Entropy is that tendency of the universe to move from an organized phase to an unorganized phase. Could this be happening societally as well?

In preparation for writing this post, I perused the morning news. With more than abundant data from around the world to justify the choice of my weekly musings, I was bowled over by the number of articles with the words anarchy, chaos, and disorderly conduct in their titles. A plane in Mallorca, a plane in China, anarchy in cities all over the globe. Chaos seems to be just beneath the surface everywhere.

All of this points to moral collapse. People no longer have a moral code that is conducive to smoothly running homes, or societies (and apparently airplanes). We often don't agree on standards of conduct in an office, in a restaurant, or in our community.

Agreement is essential to anything running smoothly. Agreement in a town and among its' residences regarding beauty helps to create a nice environment to do business and raise one's children in. Agreeing on just when you should lower your music at a house party or when you should shut off the backyard flood light and stop playing basketball can help build good neighbor relationships.

Out Of Control seems to be the new normal. The tolerance the world has for bad behavior has been getting higher and higher until we have reached a point where we justify it. Agreement is the key to why this is happening. When we agree that "I'm okay, you're okay" without any examination of the facts, anything goes. When we agree, that what's good for me, is not necessarily good for you, we are in agreement with chaos.

1 John 3:4 gives an excellent description of this, it declares that "All sin is lawlessness." So, where sin exists, we see the breakdown of order. All order or lack of order in our life comes from what we decide is the truth. A long time ago, God declared and taught the truth to a small group of people in a remote desert. He chose these people for a pivotal mission that would benefit all of mankind. He told them just what the truth was and He established and declared what is right and wrong. God did not ask these people to take a vote.

This one and only true God, had already given his credentials to this small Semitic tribe. He told them that He created the universe and them. He told them He has always existed and always would. After promising that He would raise this rag-tag group up to more than they could ever be, He delivered on those promises and then some. He delivered them out of an oppressive situation by supernatural means.

Then, at the moment that He deemed correct, He entrusted to them one of the most precious gifts that has ever been bestowed upon humanity, i.e. the perfect formula for how we should live. That gift was the Ten Commandmemts. How badly we have treated this precious gift. It is exactly what Adam and Eve choose to do with the beautiful gift of perfect unity with God.

The Bible is, among other things, a vast commentary on these Ten Commandments. A commentary that is sublimely rich with meaning for our daily lives. The Bible is like a mine. You have to dig down to get the precious wisdom that you seek, but it is all there, and we have never needed it more than now!

Today, I saw crazy all around me. The way people are living makes no sense. People would rather take a picture of you bleeding on the street than help you to stop the bleeding or call an ambulance. Parents act as immature as their children in this youth obsessed culture. People would rather rescue an animal than take in a child who needs to be adopted. Senior citizens are unloved and neglected. It all amounts to anarchy and rebellion against God.

The moral law comes from God above and until we as individuals humble ourselves to see that, our life and our culture will continue to spin Out Of Control. The first step to change is to take a look at the way we do things. The premises and the conclusions that we take for granted go a long way to explaining why people are stuck in crazy cycles.

Do you really have to go drinking every Friday night? Do you have to do things because "everyone else does it ?" Are you Out Of Control with shopping? With tattoos? With your food? There are so many ways that our lives can get Out Of Control. 

The next step is a conscious decision to separate from any bad influences in our life. Sometimes, that includes a friend or someone that we are dating. While this is painful, it is necessary.
1 Corinthians 15:33 tells us "Do not be misled : bad company corrupts good character." Furthermore, 2 Corinthians 6:17 states 'Therefore, "come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you." These two verses tell us that as we step away from corrupt and sinful paths that we will have access and relationship with God. It leaves no doubt in my mind that there is some sort of spiritual rip tide that we are constantly going to have to negotiate if we want to stay a float with God.