Ethics
It has been observed that the study of ethics is based
upon a worldview and that the world view upon which Christian ethics is based on
is the Christian faith. Other
religions as well as non religious philosophies have their own understanding of
value and duty, right and wrong, good and bad.
Therefore in Christianity, we must understand that there are differences
in theology and ethics. The
Christian must stand within the Christian faith and we must draw conclusions
from it.
Another
conclusion is that we must understand that there is orderliness within the
universe that is independent of our knowledge of it. The more we know about God, the more we can understand that
order. This order underlies human
relationships and because of it, we can talk about cause and effect and
Thirdly,
we must understand that we can know something about that orderliness.
We cannot know everything, but everything is there for us to know.
Fourth,
is the issue of free will. Human
beings make choices and act upon them of our own volition. Even though we have free will, we live under the restrictions
of the natural order and of the social order, some obvious and some not so
obvious. However, we still make
choices. An example of this is the
fact that we can not change gravity but we can use it. We must recognize that there are certain conditions and
influences that restrict our choices even though they do not determine them.
Finally,
as human beings, we must have responsibility.
We cannot make a choice and reject the consequences.
We cannot blame others for the consequences of our choices.
This means that everyone who chooses must be held accountable.
All choose, therefore, all must be accountable.
Choices and actions will come under judgment by some external authority.
Ultimately, that authority is God.
Jesus
wants to bring us into a relationship with God that would reshape our character.
He knows that what we do is who we are.
“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Refer to
Matthews 12:24). Jesus emphasized humility.
Humble people recognize their failure before God. .Jesus emphasized sincerity,
He condemned hypocrisy, deliberate deception and pretense.
Jesus emphasized faithfulness. We are stewards
of possessions entrusted to us by
God and we owe Him unlimited service.
He said that “he who is
faithful in a very little is faithful also in much; and he who is dishonest in a
very little is also dishonest in much.
As an American citizen, we have three basic obligations:
Respect
for the law.
Intelligent
informed participation in the process
of making and enforcing policy.
Conscientious
criticism of persons and policies.
What is different for us as Christians is that our obligations are established and rooted in our obligations to God.
The person who wishes to live as a Christian within our
economic system faces a wide variety of problems.
The first has to do with a concept that is at the heart
of our economic system: Capitalism. Capitalism
is based on the following concepts:
¨
The right
of private ownership of property.
¨
Free
enterprise – no interference by the government.
¨
Competition
is the life of trade.
¨
Profit
motive.
This
system implies that we are out to meet our own needs, only responsible for
ourselves. As Christians, we
experience the conflict of capitalism versus loving our neighbors, as we love
ourselves.
A
second problem is that of maintaining a sense of vocations.
Some of our careers can be viewed as ways of serving God because they
offer direct and immediate benefit to others.
Therefore, in error, we sometimes see that the way we earn our living is
serving God. Some examples of these
are:
Doctors
A third problem is the de-sensitizing character of our
work. Routine or assembly type work
can be devastating to our creative and thinking abilities and our ability to
function as a whole person.
A
fourth problem lies in the choice and pursuit of a career.
Family, economic, geographic circumstances can cause us to choose what we
may not choose otherwise and this brings about the fifth problem.
A
fifth problem is dead end jobs.
On
earth as it will be in Heaven, the distribution of wealth is not fair or equal.
We are not equal in ability, preparation or effort so that makes the
distribution understandable. A
relatively small number control the wealth, which is power, which often gives
the influential control of many to a few.
Once
we acknowledge our responsibility to help, our task then becomes one of finding
the most appropriate way to help.
HOME
COMES FIRST.