Do you see in black and white?

I love the photographs of Ansel Adams. Beth got me a few early in our marriage that actually ended up at my best friends house because I had no where to put them. One of these days I will get them back.

But I love how he takes these amazing photographs in black and white. I know seeing them in color would be cool also, but there is something about them being in black and white that gives them more to tell. If you haven't seen his stuff, do a Google image search for Ansel Adams and you will see.

What would the world look like if all we saw was black and white? Would we have the same sense of awe when staring at a sunset? Would the rocky mountains look as nice if we saw no color? What about the clothes and models we see everyday, how would they be different? The world we see is beautiful because the creator sees in colors. Millions of them to be exact. These colors give us the images we see and the ability to differentiate between mauve and red.

When thinking about colors and black & white, I begin to realize that we as a society have tried to colorize our sins. We try to fade the wrongness of them, and color them in a better light. Right and wrong are no longer easy to see but sometimes left up for interpretation on the part of the user. I have seen this especially in the students I work with. When talking about sex or lying, they pretty much feel that both are ok. Tonight we will talk about sin and what it is, and hopefully some of them will realize that no matter what we personally believe about sin, it is still there and is just as wrong.

Our belief in sin doesn't make it any less wrong. We can change our laws to make same-sex marriage legal and right, but that doesn't change the way the Bible tells us about homosexuality and that God says it is wrong. We can define a baby as not being a human until 12wks, 18wks, or birth to make abortion that much easier to swallow, but that doesn't change the fact that killing an unborn child is murder in God's eyes. Now we can step away from some "big" sins and get down to the little ones. Lying to protect yourself is still lying. God doesn't have a little white lie section in his book. Having sex before marriage is still wrong, whether it is just fondling, oral or any base you can define. Sex is to be had during a marriage that is sanctioned by God. Just because we want it to be right, doesn't change that it isn't.

Our society is getting to the point of being completely opposite of what the church is trying to teach. We have students who have no real moral compass in which to guide themselves. They do, act and say what they want because they aren't told what is wrong. We baby them to the point that they believe they are the stuff, the gift to their parents, the ultimate in children all in the name of not hurting their feelings.

My own kids know failure. They know when they mess up. If they come home with a bad grade, they are punished for it. You know why? Because they need to be. Life isn't always fair. Life isn't always right. Once my kids graduate and get a real job, when they mess up, they will get in trouble. How are they going to deal with that? I want my own kids to know that they are allowed to mess up and if they do, they need to take stock in what they did and improve upon it.

We as Christians need to be teaching people about right and wrong, especially in our own household. My children know that lying at any point is wrong. They know that disobeying me or my wife is wrong. If they do they are punished. One of our biggest problems as a society is applying punishment for doing wrong. We water down the punishment for crimes in the name of not wanting to hurt people. We are told that you can do whatever you want as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else. This is a great big lie told by Satan and we are buying it hook, line and sinker. Our students are buying it because they don't know any better.

God still sees everything in black and white. He does not change with society. He does not bend to the rule of the people. What was wrong in the days of Moses are still wrong today. Have you looked at the 10 Commandments lately? How many of those have you broken this week? How can we effectively teach the next generation that right and wrong are black and white? Are you the example that people need to see???

I John 1:8-10 - If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.