Doing the Right Thing
Daniel Heimbeck of the South Eastern
Baptist Theological Seminary got me going with his observation that Grudem “unites
a scholar’s mind with a disciple’s heart more committed to pleasing Christ than
contemporaries, and more zealous for strengthening the church than impressing
the world.”
Then came a comment from author Mary
Kassian, who suggested that Grudem is “a master at cutting into meaty
intellectual topics, seasoning them, and serving them up in flavorful,
bite-sized morsels for the ordinary person to savor and digest.”
At the risk of labeling myself a
giant-sized procrastinator, Kassian’s tasty metaphor sent me in search of a few
“ordinary” people I happen to know, to ask them what ethics meant to them.
A fourteen-year-old Californian who was
looking forward to her first year of high school didn’t hesitate
for a moment. “It’s all about values. That’s it. If you have values and live up
to them, you’ll be ethical.”
A friend with
more than 25 years of executive experience in international technology
marketing across the US, Africa, and Europe, told me he had found the topic of
ethical behavior at board and executive level a challenge and a necessity. He
said many technology leaders have little training in ethics.
Fortunately,
he added, the very public exposure of such shortcomings is driving mentoring
and development programs to address these failures. “I’m just grateful that the Christian beliefs I grew up with
have their center in the character and will of God, and often in the
consideration of ’What would Jesus do?’”
A university
student in South Africa, in her final year of accounting, told me that from day
one of her study, she was taught to follow a professional code of conduct
specific to the accounting profession. “This conduct was supposed to shape my
behavior and hold me accountable,” she said.
“However, I believe that ethics
truly begins on a personal level, or at home, so to speak. If you can’t hold yourself
accountable, membership of a professional body certainly cannot.
“I’ve found that the Ten Commandments are a
fantastic guide to ethics. For example, if you strive to love your neighbor,
you wouldn’t want to act unethically toward them. Also, to ‘have no other gods
before Me,’ prevents money being a driving factor to act unethically.”
What everyone I chatted to
unhesitatingly agreed was that nothing truly beats the simplicity and validity
of that old saying: Ethics is doing the right thing even when no one is
watching. Or the relatively new call from Toronto psychology professor,
Jordan Peterson: Pursue what is meaningful, not what us expedient.
This diversion brought me back to the
extraordinarily helpful and comprehensive insights offered page by detailed
page by Wayne Grudem. I would love to give a copy of his book to each of my
friends. They could flip open to any page and find reinforcement for their
beliefs, and answers even to their unposed questions, such as “Why study
ethics?”
To this one, Grudem gives a firm, clear
answer: To better know God’s will for us, and understand how Jesus’ commandments
apply to our lives today. But, he says, we need to know those
commandments and understand them.
He explains further that for the purposes
of this book Christian ethics is any study that answers the question, “What does
the whole Bible teach us about which acts, attitudes, and personal character traits
receive God’s approval, and which do not?”
At every turn, Grudem speaks plainly: “This book is
about how to live one’s life as a Christian today.” He deals with the Christian’s
relationship to other disciplines, and about many other current issues.
These include parental authority; abortion; alcohol and drugs;
capital punishment; euthanasia; racial discrimination; pornography;
homosexuality; the environment; work, rest, vacations, and retirement; and marriage (especially
leadership in marriage).
Grudem likes to challenge his readers with questions about the
character traits they consider most helpful in these fields, and asks for
examples of good results they would hope to see when they live according to the
teachings of the Bible.
I’m
convinced that the “flavorful, bite-sized morsels” served up by this
comprehensive study of ethical behavior will benefit everyone in our modern
world who is concerned to make a difference.
And even if you don't get beyond the opening dedication, you’ll have plenty think
about: “For Hannah, Ava, and Will, in the hope that when you grow up, the world
will be a better place—a world in which the will of God is more fully
understood and obeyed ‘on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matt. 6:10).”
Or, from the Preface: “Great peace have those who love your law; nothing
can make them stumble (Ps.119:165, NIV).”
I repeat: Nothing!
Thank you Kim for this wonderful review ! The idea that it is a book designed to reach "ordinary" people too, appeals to me ! ❤
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