Friday, February 16, 2007

Black and White.....or Grey



I am about to confess my most recent concern for my own ability to do right. I am taking online classes. My Government professor has asked us to take the online quizes without notes or our book. I may have thought that was a grey area until today when I read about some very publized scandals.


The first that I read about was a nascar cheating scandal where a fuel additive was added to enhance the vehicles preformance. I'm sure that you have heard about he recent blood doping scandals where athletes boost the number of red blood cells to increase athletic stamina. I even watched a doctor portrayed on ER last night smudge the facts on a patients paperwork to gain them money on their insurance. Then there is the Enron scandal which I'm sure that I don't need to explain.


Through all of this I wonder, did any of these people justify all of the reasons that this was a grey area? Did they think that their actions would not really not hurt anyone else? Did they decide that getting ahead was more important than staying on track? Did they just think that they would never get caught? I think that the "grey" areas are the places that Satan lurks and lures. As a christian I know black from white, but I can argue that grey has some black and a little white all mixed together. So my goal today is to stay away from grey!


I am also shocked that cheating is mixed in here with some pretty "black" areas. I don't think that is something to take lightly.


1 Corinthians 6:10 9 Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, 10 or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.

7 comments:

TREY MORGAN said...

Definately something our society doesn't thing about anymore. If we can "get away with it," then that makes it okay.

Good thoughts!

Neva said...

Monica,
Good thoughts. It seems as our society becomes accepting and more "experiential" there are fewer black and whites and many more grays--I think it is a true dumbing down of the standard. We begin by changing the names of sin to make it less distasteful sounding, like adultery is now an affair, and being a drunk is really a bad habit, and riotous, ungodly behavior is sowing our wild oats. Makes it easier and easier to make black --gray. Always reminds me of the verse in Isaiah 5--woe to those who call evil good. Seems to apply to those who call black gray.
Peace,
Neva

Mommysmart said...

I agree with you guys about our society blurring the line. What scares me is that without conscience thought I see myself being desensitized to the "greys". Something to pray about. Thanks for the thoughts.

Stachia said...

Monica,
As a parent the gray area is scary. You want to teach your children the right things yet as Trey put it the "getting away with it" comes into play. Look at TV compared to when you were growing up. What is acceptable now was never seen then. One of the hardest things so go through was when Todd received his 3rd DWI and instead of going to jail for it they dismissed the case to a misdamenor because the DA said he woulnd't get re-elected if he put someone in jail that had a child with cancer. Don't get me wrong I didn't want him to go the jail but I wanted him to see that what he was doing was wrong and for the kids to see the consequences. But what they saw he him "getting by with it". Thankfully he has finally quit drinking and the kids are beginning to want to spend more time with him, but who knows if things had been handled black/white years ago the kids could have enjoyed that relationship sooner.
As for Trey's post on the best place to eat. I agree that Cafe Debbie is wonderful. One day when I went to pickup Conner she had made and Italian Cream Cake ( one of my favs) and she sent 2 pieces home with me. Conner asked int he car if he could have some and I asked quickly if he had already had some and he admitted he had. My answer to him was we'll see. When we got home I took the cake to my bathroom, locked the door and ate both pieces. It was sooo good. I know that wasn't the right thing to do but it was Debbie cake. Does that fall in to the gray area?

Mommysmart said...

Stachia,
Thanks for sharing that about Todd. It is frustrating that even authourity figures use "grey" areas to forward their own agenda. I guess we can all be guilty of that, but it makes it tough on parents to explain.

I think that hiding in the bathroom with cake is perfectly acceptable. Kids are like vultures and sometimes you just have to run for cover.

Have a good day!
Monica

The Preacher's Household: said...

If that cake eating falls into the grey, so does my hoarding of the santa, halloweeen and valentine candy that I like. I say it is to help the kids not eat junk but really I just want it.
I love to joke around. Since my husband is 6 years older, I love to say his real age and that I am 29. I do this mostly to see who is paying attention. Charles Spear, a teacher at Sunset (preaching school) called me on it the other day and said something about my lying. This is a grey area for me because I have to remember that not everyone knows I am teasing. My kids have also fibbed to me and then followed it up with, "I'm just teasing". The little ones are watching!
Kathy

TREY MORGAN said...

Monica ... your blog is getting REALLY busy. Cool.