“The shepherd calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice. …My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” (John 10:4-5, 27)
To which of these would you compare your sense of morality, a weathervane or a compass needle? A weathervane merely turns with the direction of the constantly shifting wind. One day the wind of popular opinion blows to the north, so you turn with it. The next day popular opinion and policy blows in the opposite direction, so you shift your values to accommodate that change.
Or, is your morality like the needle in a compass which only points to magnetic north? Does your heart forever gravitate to the direction of God’s truth? Does it only respond to one voice, the voice of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ?
In my thirty-one years in the Army I witnessed many changes in official policy. On the positive side, many things like abusive language and open displays of pornography were eliminated. On the other hand, many sinful behaviors and sexual perversions once condemned by the Army, became openly accepted – even celebrated. And those soldiers who didn’t enthusiastically support them were targeted with EO complaints.
But no matter what direction the moral weathervane of military policy turns, Christ calls us to remain fixed on the magnetic north of His eternal Gospel. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “God has not called the church to be a thermometer that merely reflects the moral climate, but a thermostat that sets the moral climate.” The voice of the Good Shepherd calls out to you to follow Him. But there are other voices calling. Whose will you follow?
REFLECTION
- Do you find yourself caught in a moral dilemma, pressured to do things you know to be wrong?
- Jesus told us, “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 5:10). Could Jesus be calling you to endure persecution for His sake?
- The consequences of disobeying man are temporal. The consequences of disobeying God are eternal. “We must obey God rather than man” (Acts 5:29).
