The situational ethics movement promised us love, peace and freedom.
Their song was, "What the World Needs Now is love, Sweet Love.
" They wore their peace symbols around their necks.
They talked much about real freedom.
They marched for peace.
They were ready to break the yoke of past "outmoded" rules off of their necks.
If you were more than 30 years of age, they didn't think you could be trusted.
Everywhere they turned, they heard the "humanistic gospel" of peace, love and freedom being preached.
Multitudes bowed their knees to this "humanistic gospel.
" Everything was going great.
It looked like the new "Age of Aquarius" was soon to come.
We even had some "Jesus freaks" in the 1970's parading up and down in our land.
The "Age of Aquarius" people had their eyes on 1980 for the ultimate utopia to be ushered in.
When 1980 had come and gone, there was no utopia.
Things were starting to fall to pieces.
Wars and rumors of war were on the horizon.
There was not much love being expressed as they burned buildings and rioted in the streets.
Many people were disillusioned.
Some came to the conclusion there was no God that cared for them.
They settled down into a lifestyle that reflected this belief.
Sad to say, after about 50 years of the situational ethics movement's vain promises, we are no closer to our ultimate utopia than when we first began! What went wrong? I want to say to you that I am sorry for you and your friends who had to go through all of this.
You deserve much better.
What do you say? God does have an ultimate utopia for you.
We call it heaven.
He also have love, peace and freedom for you.
You can get started today.
Rather than wallowing in self pity, let's do something about this.
First, let me answer the question, "What went wrong?" Second, let's do something about it.
Let's get it right this time.
First, what went wrong? The thing that went wrong was, you tried to express "agape" love without having it.
(Remember, "agape" is a Greek word that means, a self-sacrificing love that looks out for the needs of others even if it hurts to do so.
) The reason you didn't have it was because you sought it in the wrong place.
You tried to manufacture it from within.
This is not the place it is to be found.
If you continue this course of action, you will only get more disillusioned.
Let me explain.
The way you get "agape" love is to receive it as a gift from God.
God sheds His "agape" love abroad in our hearts by His Holy Spirit.
See Romans 5:5.
This kind of love can only come from God.
You cannot get it from any other source.
This kind of love is the fruit of the Holy Spirit of God.
In Galatians 5:22-26 we see how this "agape" is worked out in your life as it is shed abroad in your heart by God's Holy Spirit.
In 1st John you can see how your walk with your Creator-Redeemer God works its way out into your associations with your families, your businesses, your schools, your governments and your world.
The other thing that was done wrong was changing the absolute rules of God.
Only God has the privilege to change the rules.
God as the sovereign of the universe is the only One Who has the right to do this.
Just because God did this, it does not give us the right to do so.
When you change the rules you are doing only what God has a right to do.
You can find places in the Bible where it appears God changed the rules.
For example, In Deuteronomy 23:3 and 4 the Israelites were told not to let a Moabite come into the congregation of the Lord unto the tenth generation.
This being the case, the Lord allowed Boaz, an Israelite man of God, to marry Ruth, a Moabite woman.
Read the Book of Ruth and see if you can figure out how God was just in changing the rule for the marriage of Ruth and Boaz.
Just because He changed the rule for Ruth and Boaz, the original rule for everyone did not change.
This was a one-time event for Ruth and Boaz only.
Furthermore, if you love God you will gladly keep His commandments.
Second, let's do it right this time! My heart goes out to this generation.
My heart aches for you! What has happened to you is not altogether your fault.
You were led wrong.
You were led down a dark alley.
Those who led you were blinded by the same "light" you were blinded by.
It most likely was not their fault either.
Even though some in the situational ethics movement knew what they were doing, for the most part many had no idea things would turn out the way they did.
To get the "agape" love of God in your heart and life, you must admit you are a sinner that is in need of God's forgiveness.
Then you ask God to forgive your sins.
The next step is to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.
When you do the above, you will receive a new life from God.
After this, you need to seek God's deliverance from the sinful nature that wars against God.
You do this by giving you whole life to God for Him to use any way He pleases.
When you do this, God will remove the sinful nature from you and fill you with His Holy Spirit.
Then you will be given "agape" love that will enable you to Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength and love your neighbor as yourself.
The Book of Romans has all of this in it in greater detail.