We are living in a generation of great upheaval and change. One of the results of this is that many Christians have found themselves in a slippery place, not knowing quite how to behave.
As the gospel works through a culture, that culture is transformed, and many external cultural aids to godliness are developed. This is another way of saying that holiness is not just dependent on some mysterious “inner you,” but it also dependent on external factors—like friends, customs, and cultural habits.
When stability in the surrounding culture is rocked, this means that many times Christians are unsettled, not knowing what is expected of them. And, not surprisingly, since water flows downhill, the options we unreflectively choose in this cultural flux are frequently the sinful ones.
For example, if you know how to chop a cord of wood and stack it, and know how to do it well, the chances are good that you learned this particular act of obedience, this work ethic, from your father, who learned it from his father, who learned it from his, and the chain disappears back in middle ages somewhere.
But what did you learn from your mother about how she learned appropriate FaceBook behavior when she was a girl? Did your great grandfather ever take you aside to have a little talk about what they did back in the forties on the issue of software piracy?
When we don’t inherit cultural standards, it is very easy to just do an ethical flop, assuming that “whatever” is okay. This is why mild, soft-spoken individuals are capable of flaming out in an email, in ways they never would have done before. This is why men who would never have bought a dirty magazine are tempted on-line. This is why teenagers who would never steal the neighbors’ apples have no hesitation over stealing the neighbors’ music or movies.
This is not to say that there are not genuine ethical puzzles created by the technology that is developing around us. Not every duplication is theft. But it is fair to say that most of what goes on thoughtlessly in all these areas in many Christian homes is a violation of the Golden Rule. We too easily sin against thoughtfulness.