"Who is wise? He will realize these things. Who is discerning? He will understand them. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them; but the rebellious stumble in them." (Hosea 14:9)
It is not uncommon today to hear public officials, who have been placed in positions of trust, defend unethical practices by telling us "it's all a matter of perception." While admitting that they may have bent some rules,or perhaps even fractured a few, they will point out that they "have not violated any laws." Their criteria for this defense is based on two facts: that their is no specific "thou shalt not" law to forbid what they have done and the knowledge that perception is individualistic;that is, it is both subjective and introspective. What that means is that their actions can be evaluated and understood by those who are willing to permit a wide latitude in unethical or immoral behavior. Psychologists tell us that perception is the process by which humans recognize, understand, or comprehend such abstract qualities as love,hate, good, evil, truth,lying , right, wrong and so forth. They also tell us further that to underperceptualize is to have abnormal behavior. We recognize such behavior as ranging from the criminal to the immoral and unethical. On the other hand,to overperceptualize, we recognize as behavior of those living in a world of fantasy and idealism. We commonly refer to such behavior as "not living in the real world" . In either case the person will act in an unacceptable manner and his conduct will be called into question. In the final analysis, then, perception is associated with each individuals ability to know and discern right from wrong, and to apply this knowledge correctly to their moral conduct,and thus to their life.
In the account of Saul and the Amalekites ( 1 Samuel 15:1 - 22), we find the same mentality at work as many of today. While the Bible does not use the word "perception" (it does use the word discern which means nearly the same thing) it is obvious that Saul is saying the same thing. I did what the Lord commanded. I destroyed the Amalekites like you said. Its just a matter of perception that I did anything wrong. I only kept a few of the better sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord. My intentions were honorable. Samuel 's reply was that obedience was what the Lord expected, not sacrifice and to heed was better than the fat of rams.
We find this same thinking in many other Biblical accounts of people who maintained that they had done no wrong. For example: In Acts 5: 1 - 10, in the account of Ananias and Sapphira, we read that they both conspired to deceive the Apostle Peter, and in the process lied to the Holy Spirit. In this case they both paid for their deception and lies with their life.
The point to all of this is that we may deceive men but we cannot deceive God. Gal 6:7 says "do not be deceived,God is not mocked." When one sets out to deceive,to lie,to do wrong and starts from a false premise,then the conclusion can be nothing but false. To argue that it is all simply a matter of perception is nothing more than an attempt to brain wash their audience in order to cover up or misrepresent their conduct. Paul tells us " But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." ( 1 Cor 2:14)
As creature of God we have the responsibility to perceive certain practices in the world and decide whether or not these practices are in accordance with God's will, or are they things which we accept because they are accepted by or approved by the world as standards. The same things prevailed in Malachi's time and the faithful were reminded that there would be an accounting. (Malachi 3:16-18 ) There will always be those who will distort the truth, so we need to take our strength from the fact that God will be the final judge for those who attempt to conceal their sins with fine words and phrases. Nor should we become discouraged because others seem to thrive and prosper and escape punishment for their behavior. We have God's promise in Rev. 1:10 that we are to "be faithful unto death,and I will give you the Crown of Life."
Our New Life
As creatures of God we have the responsibility to properly perceive certain practices in the world and decide whether or not these practices are in accordance with God's will, or are they things which we perceive to be acceptable because they are approved by the world. I would suggest that our judgement and therefore our perception of what's right or wrong,should be based upon the following questions which we should ask ourselves:
1.Does the Bible condemn the practice?
2. Does the practice harm my body? (I Cor 6:19 -20)
3. Does the practice lead to addiction? (1 Cor 6:12)
4. Does it destroy or compromise my influence as a Christian? (ICor 8:12-13)
5. Does the practice conflict with my Christian duty? (Matt 6:33 ;2Tim 2:4)
6. Does the practice cause me to associate with the wicked? (I Cor !5:23)
7. Does the practice violate the Golden Rule? (Matt 7:12)
8. Am I striving to please men rather than God. (Acts 4 )
9. Does the practice violate my conscience? (Ro 14:23)
Paul's Prayer for Christian perception (insight):
In conclusion, we should remember and be encouraged by the prayer of the Apostle Paul as he prayed for the Philippian church, but not just for the Philippians but for all Christians:
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ--to the glory and praise of God. (Phil 1:9 - 10)
Home
Another Article
Top
Page last updated: March 03, 2003