The twentieth century was supposed to be the 'humanitarian' century where respect and compassion would be shown towards all human life. Instead it has been a century of 'human genocide'. Over 100 million innocent people have been exterminated through systematic policies of mass murder in this century. Millions of Armenians, Jews, Chinese, Russians, Cambodians, Sudanese, the peoples of Rwanda, Croatia and elsewhere, not to mention the unborn children of the womb, were victims of the murderous policies of our modern civilization.

One hundred years ago, optimists titled the incoming 20th century as "The Christian Century". A popular periodical adopted that name for its title. Ironically more Christians would be martyred in the 20th century than in all the previous centuries of church history combined.

The twentieth century was supposed to be the century to end all war. Instead we invented new kinds of wars: the World War; the nuclear war, interventionist wars with nightmarish instruments of destruction, biological and chemical means of warfare.

It was supposed to be the century in which poverty and starvation would be abolished. Instead the gap between the rich and poor only widened. It was supposed to be the century of education of the masses, promoting free thought and abolishing ignorance. Instead it has been the century of propaganda, conformism, standardization of thinking.

Far from being a 'moral century' we have developed a society that shies away from using the words 'right' or 'wrong'. Instead we use clinically-approved whitewashed psychobabble such as 'appropriate' and 'inappropriate' behavior. 'Adulteries' have become 'affairs' , 'promiscuity' is championed as a 'sexually active lifestyle', dishonest advertising and deceptive political campaigning has become 'public image management'. We proudly label our indifference to moral standards 'tolerance', as if this newly crafted virtue promise to be the solid bedrock of a stable society. Like the doomed false prophets of old, we preach "'Peace, peace', where there is no peace." (Jeremiah 6:14, 8:11).

The foundation is cracking. How have our consciences become so lethargic? How have we degenerated into a nation of moral wimps?

Morality, contrary to popular belief, is not the imposition of some arbitrarily designed behavioral code foreign to our truest human instincts. It is not the invention of some cosmic killjoy who wants to deprive us of pleasure. Morality means doing what is 'right' even if it is not personally expedient to do so, or if it challenges us out of our comfort zone. Victor Hugo wrote, "Morality is truth in full bloom." Morality is the realization of the Divine Ideal in human behavior and thus a fulfillment of our truest selves. It sums up what everyone knows deep down as being fundamentally 'right', though we are reluctant to admit it.

C.S. Lewis described moral rules as "directions for running the human machine. Every moral rule is there to prevent a breakdown, or a strain, or a friction in the running of that machine."

The breakdown and strain of the human machine is evident on every turn. Hope for satisfying relationships is dying. Divorce rates mirror the slippage in our ability to do justice to our loving vows. In an Ann Landers poll, 75% of respondents claimed that if they could do it again, they would not marry their present spouses. Books on the market teach children how to cheat on school exams. Interviews reveal how our culture is dominated by greed and lust. The results of a survey recorded in the book, "The Day America Told the Truth", claim that many would betray their spouses, friends, family, or country if the price was right.

Personal well-being is everything. Political leaders at every level emphasize that their economic policies are the number one reason why people vote for them. They and their constituents will gladly turn a blind eye to everything else.

In the book "Mere Christianity" C.S. Lewis writes, "People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God says, 'If you keep a lot of rules I'll reward you, and if you don't, I'll do the other thing.' I don't think that is the best way of looking at it. I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow-creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at each moment is progressing to the one state or the other."

Moral ideals can never be made real in our lives apart from our personal restoration to the God who has revealed Himself in Scripture as our necessary spiritual Life Source. That road to personal wholeness, however, is blocked by our own moral failures which can only be cleared away on the grounds of the full redemption provided by Christ Jesus.

Are you developing your moral muscles by making moral choices? Are you a person shaped BY your times or FOR your times? Are you part of the problem, building your life upon a crumbling foundation of sand, or are you 'wise', building your house upon the rock (Matthew 7:25)?

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."