But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. (2 Timothy 3:1-4)
Visit with a young person who attends a public high school (or, sadly, even middle school), and ask what the morals are like among his or her peers. If the person is candid with you, then prepare to be shocked by the language and attitudes of today’s youth. If you are an adult thirty years or older, chances are you will note an obvious difference between the morals of youth today and those of when you went to school.
Today’s public schools are not as worried about kids bringing chewing gum to school but, rather, about kids bringing guns, knives, and drugs to school. Profanity, rather than being confined to locker rooms and playgrounds, is now commonplace in halls and classrooms. Sexual overtures, harassment, and crude behavior are all notable among many U.S. teens. Bill Bennett, former U.S. Secretary of Education, notes that from 1960 to 1993 there has been a 560 percent increase in violent crime, a 419 percent increase in illegitimate births, a quadrupling in divorce rates, a tripling of the percentage of children living in single-parent homes, more than a 200 percent increase in the teenage suicide rate, and a drop of almost eighty points in SAT scores.1
A Look at the Entertainment Industry
Without adding to the debate about whether the entertainment industry reflects society, or vice versa, I will just say that most anyone can easily see that the entertainment industry has dramatically changed over the years (particularly television shows and movies). We have gone from the days when it was risqué to say something like “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn” in a movie, to the f-bomb being dropped often and unashamedly. Consider the stark contrast in TV shows like The Lone Ranger, Leave It to Beaver, Father Knows Best, The Brady Bunch, The Cosby Show, Little House on the Prairie, The Waltons, Gilligan’s Island, and many more to the likes of what the television industry considers entertainment today.
Blasphemy of God’s name, explicit sexual scenes, nudity, extreme violence, adultery, fornication, drug use, disobedient children, and a host of other equally bad themes are prevalent (and arguably more the norm than not) in today’s movies and television shows. It is quite difficult for a Christian family to find a good movie the family can watch without compromising their values. Unfortunately, it is a sad reality that many families, including Christian families, readily compromise their values and accept that this is just “how it is.”2 The question all Christians should ask themselves each time they watch a movie is, “Would Jesus approve of what I am about to watch and feed my heart and mind with?” Put another way, if you profess to be a Spirit-filled Christian, would you watch that movie knowing the Holy Spirit is there with you?
Note: my family found the ClearPlay DVD Player to be an invaluable tool for filtering unwanted content from movies we would not otherwise consider watching. A link to it is at the bottom of this article.
Sinful Lifestyles Lived Openly and Unashamedly
Homosexuality is one of the most obvious examples of sinful lifestyles being lived openly and unashamedly, as the efforts to force acceptance of it continue. Today, people who embrace that lifestyle deceive themselves into thinking that if they can get the church to accept it, then that will mean that God accepts it as well.
Regrettably, they become agitated at people who stand upon the Word of God and explain that it is not condoned by God. One needs only to refer to any of the following verses to see that God’s Word is very clear about the matter:
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. (Romans 1:26-27)
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
Before I leave the topic of homosexuality being a sin, I want to note that it is very important that we show love to everyone, which certainly includes homosexuals, who are trapped in the lie Satan and society is all too willing to help perpetrate. Yet it’s equally important to realize that condoning the sin is not possible if one is to adhere to God’s Word. In fact, politely explaining to people that their sin is not condoned by God actually is showing them considerably more love than pretending it’s all just fine in God’s eyes. I cannot emphasize enough that to be effective, it must be done diplomatically and lovingly as opposed to harshly or otherwise in a manner inconsistent with Jesus’ own actions.
As for other trends indicating a dramatic moral decline, we also can include the abundance of pornography, which, due to the Internet and cable and satellite TV, has exploded in availability faster than ever before. The same is true of gambling. Today’s headlines are filled with news of child abuse, domestic violence, violence being committed by young teenagers, alcohol and drug abuse, and theft (especially in the form of piracy via the Internet). In fact, much of it is being done openly and unashamedly, and it is discussed and even bragged about as if there is nothing wrong with it. Only recently has abortion been performed to the massive extent that it is today. In fact, in the 1800s all states had laws against abortion, and the practice was considered wrong by even non-Christians. Today, however, over one million abortions are performed in the U.S. every year. Indeed, it’s alarming that nearly half of all pregnancies to American women are unintended and four in ten of these end in abortion.3
Summary
There is no doubt that society’s morals have declined sharply in a relatively short time and that it is continuing to decline as society chooses to “push the envelope.” Sinful lifestyles, extreme moral decay, and outright apostasy have replaced the fear of God, righteousness, and truth. While every generation has been accused of being worse than its predecessor, it is clear that the past couple of decades demonstrate the decay has progressed at a much more alarming and identifiable rate. The proverbial water is assuredly close to its boiling point. It comes as no surprise, for it bears repeating:
There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. (2 Timothy 3:1-4)
I believe the Rapture could occur at any time now, as we most certainly are living in the last days.
NOTES:
1. Bill Bennett, “Quantifying America's Decline” (Accessed October 1, 2010).
2. Focus on the Family, “Christians Drive Box Office” (Accessed September 25, 2010).
3. Guttmacher Institute, “An Overview of Abortion in the United States” (Accessed September 25, 2010).
1. Bill Bennett, “Quantifying America's Decline” (Accessed October 1, 2010).
2. Focus on the Family, “Christians Drive Box Office” (Accessed September 25, 2010).
3. Guttmacher Institute, “An Overview of Abortion in the United States” (Accessed September 25, 2010).
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