Question of the Week 12 - Just because I am a Christian and go into business or politics or professions does that mean God has to be a part of it all? (06/13/2003)
(http://www.pfm.org/Content/ContentGroups/BreakPoint/Columns/ Worldview_for_Parents/200311/Question_of_the_Week12.htm)

This is the situation described above: pollster George Gallup compiled candid admissions from people who call in sick when they are not, who pad their resumes, who cheat on income taxes. Astonishingly, Gallup reports "little difference in the ethical views and behavior of the churched and the unchurched." Similarly, religion reporter Terry Mattingly cited surveys showing that students at Christian colleges cheat on exams at the same rates as students at secular colleges.

The BreakPoint answer is: That many Christians are guilty of compartmentalizing our life into separate boxes so that our faith never informs our everyday attitudes and opinions.

Perhaps another conclusion could be drawn from such polls and surveys: the Christian faith is an ineffective guide for moral behavior.

The Christian yardstick for moral behavior is obedience to God. An obvious alternative, the humanistic yardstick, is based on inherent rules for proper human interaction, whether others are dealt with fairly and with no harm. The problem is not that enough people do not bring their faith to work. The problem is that enough people do not conduct their daily lives with proper moral values.

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created - Dec. 2004
last change - 01/02/2005