A recent question to “Dear Abby”:
Q: My question is very simple, Abby. Who determines right or wrong in your life, your opinions, your column? This will tell me all I need to know about your wisdom or advice.
A: Actually, I think your question is anything but “simple,” and the answer is: I DO.
(Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 11/12/14)
Abby’s response to the question is indicative of current views regarding ethics. It was also characteristic of an earlier age. The book of Judges describes the condition of Israel in this way, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (17:6). The statement was made as an explanation of the practice of idolatry, a heinous and treasonous practice against their God.
The problem with me deciding what is right and wrong, is that I am not the true arbiter of morality. God is! So, if I self-determine my ethics, I am destined to make mistakes. As the wise man stated, “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12). Paul mourned the sins of Israel, saying, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:3).
Instead, may we admit as did the prophet, “O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps” (Jeremiah 10:23).
