There is a Way...

In an article, published 12/20/09 in the New York Times, columnist Frank Rich calls Tiger Woods the "Person of the Year." That's right, Tiger Woods. This year. Hard to believe? Maybe not so much. Read on. It is a pointed and penetrating piece worthy of the time it will take you to read it. It touches on a deep and sobering perspective of our contemporary culture and its shallowness, and our willingness to accept how things or people appear without looking too deeply for what they really are. Our national focus has become one of form over substance. Character has come to mean almost nothing to us. I suggest that you read the article before proceeding.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/20/opinion/20rich.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

I don't agree with all Mr. Rich says in his article, but the important point is that the majority of us have sacrificed our critical thinking to a superficial, "easy way" mentality. This selfish attitude of non-involvement is reflected in us avoiding anything that costs us more than attention to a 'sound bite.' We are willing to be had if the one promising 'whatever' looks and sounds good on the surface.

We suspend disbelief to jump into get-rich-quick schemes of all kinds because we have become greedy and have unhooked profits from the provision of genuine value (e.g., the S&L scandal, Enron et.al., the dot.com bubble, the real-estate bubble, Bernie Madoff, etc., etc., etc.). People who should know better choose not to in hope of quick and effortless gain.

We think nothing of the value of our word if breaking it seems to offer us some form of personal benefit. We divorce, casually setting aside our wedding vows. We sue hoping to hit the deep pockets lottery. We tolerate - or rather - idolize - athletes and performers that make millions while living like immoral pigs. We tolerate a president who disgraced the office and his family with his adolescent sexual behavior and then didn't think too much about the fact that he lied to us looking us right in the eye while doing so. (Hey, the economy was good!)

Why shouldn't Tiger be Person of the Year? As a culture, we don't seem to have any standards left to judge him by!

So, how's all this working for you and your family?

The Bible, which we, as a formal practice (and often of legal necessity), now disregard as irrelevant and unfit for use outside of the walls of a church or in private, says, "There is a way which seems right to a man. but the ends thereof are the ways of death." As a nation we are well along that "way." The moral degradation and decay of the standards of our society are evident to anyone who cares to objectively examine them and we are reaping what we have sown through selfish indifference and self-indulgence.

Can the trends be reversed? Not unless there is an unbelievable change in our national moral trajectory. If nothing changes, nothing changes, and in this instance they always get worse. To do good takes great effort, evil will spread on its own. We are in great danger. The slippery slope gains speed over time.

We can only turn the momentum of our culture slowly and one at a time. It's up to you and me. Our governmental leaders either can't or won't. We need to step up and step in. We can start with one family and one enterprise at a time!

Watch this video and think about it. "One nation Under God" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IpRVwsm478

Buck Jacobs, AfC
Founder & Chairman
The C12 Group - America's leading Christian CEO roundtable provider since 1992
www.C12Group.com