Sliding Down the Slippery Slope

Until she died a few years ago, I was privileged to be in a Bible study led by Rene Judkins, a Biblically grounded woman of God. She would refer to the concept of the “slippery slope,” meaning that once a person or a society starts with and condones a small, morally wrong attitude or action, it is inevitable that the immorality grows and grows as it is first ignored and then ultimately accepted as normal.

The Bible tells us not to murder. Not others. Not ourselves. Not unborn children. The first time, in 1990, that assisted suicide hit the front pages most people were absolutely horrified. Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a pathologist with a very sketchy background, decided that people had an innate right to die when they wanted to, so he would be happy to help them do so. The second time it made the news reaction was a bit less intense.  By the fifth or sixth time, reaction was ho-hum. Now states and countries have instituted policies permitting assisted suicide. Pretty much nobody gives it a second thought.

George Floyd was murdered by a policeman who, apparently, had 18 prior complaints about his use of force. No one stopped him at the beginning of his behavior; the grand jury decided not to charge him with a murder in 2006. The other side of the weekend’s activities is an equally good example of the slippery slope. How did it happen that hundreds of people disrupted peaceful protests and rushed into extreme violence and murder? Certainly this wasn’t their first foray into using violence to solve their problems. Where was the discipline in their childhood?

The Bible tells us not to steal. Many years ago there was an article saying that people who are convicted of stealing from their employer all started out taking small things: a pad of post-it notes, a handful of pens, a box of paperclips. No big deal until they are finally caught loading product out the backdoor and into their truck.

The Bible says we’re to have sex only with our spouse. In the 1940s and 50s society agreed that sex before marriage was wrong. Yes, people had sex outside of marriage back then, but it was shamed. That changed into being acceptable if the two people were officially engaged. Then it was OK to move in together to “make sure you’re really compatible before you marry each other.” Then it was OK if you’d been dating quite a while. In the 1980s my 20-Something employees concurred that after three dates it was assumed you’d have sex. Now “hook ups” or casual sex seem to be the norm.  “So what?” some would ask. STDs, HIV transmission, unintended and unwanted children, destroyed marriages, spiritual degradation and emotional devastation when the relationship is over.

The Bible says we are not to worship anything or anyone but God. Idol worship. Hmmm. As a kid I figured that was one Commandment I didn’t need to worry about breaking, thinking of stone or wooden statues. When Mike Evans was pastor at Faith Community, he gave a sermon on idol worship. “If you want to know what idols you worship,” he said, “look at your checkbook.” Absolutely true. I looked at mine and realized that my idol was food. How do we get to the point where we are worshipping something other than Him? “Baby steps” to quote the 1991 movie, What About Bob.

By the time people find themselves in the midst of the Tribulation, they have slid so far downhill in all areas of morality, that they don’t even know it; it’s become the “new normal.” It’s just a way of life engaged in by everyone. The cry of, “Everyone does it,” has frequently been invoked to justify the normalization of immoral behavior. The Bible warns, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Prov 14:12)

Thinking and preparing for these blogs, I pondered why God would pick 2020 to tip us into the end times. After all, I wondered, what’s so bad? It’s not any different than it was last year or the year before. Then it hit me, it’s not about comparing today to yesterday, but to comparing today to the absoluteness of the Biblical Commandments. How very far we have slid down the slippery slope. No wonder God flipped the switch to “on” for the end times.

Israel is at the top of our list of what to watch, so next time we take a look at how critical Israel is in God’s plan for the end times and man’s ultimate destination.

Please, neither offhandedly accept nor reject what is said in this blog. Check it out. Look it up for yourself in the Bible. If you are a child of God, you are in good hands and there is the most wonderful eternity waiting for you. If you are not a Christ follower, now is a really good time to honestly explore the truth claims of the Bible.