Britain and America: Practical Morality
On Christmas Eve I was sitting by the fire chatting with a divorced British agnostic. I don't usually think of my cousin that way, but our conversation emphasized the differences between his perspective and mine.
After congratulating me on fifteen years of marriage, he noted that Jonathan and I were quite young when we tied the knot, and then said something to this effect: "In London, people marry after they've had a few kids and have made it work for a few years. A wedding signifies a fait accompli. To marry at the beginning of a relationship is something else altogether. They are two entirely different ways of looking at marriage."
Then this morning I followed Touchstone's link to Mark Steyn's comments on the difference between Britain and the United States when it comes to redefining social mores: In America, we seek some "great epic principle as the justification for social change," whereas in Britain, "everything's much more incremental and utilitarian."
Steyn and my cousin Kenny were saying the same thing about the British way of thinking. The world's practicality says don't marry until you've settled down, abort unwanted babies and, now in Oregon and certain parts of Europe, put an old person out of her misery if things drag on a bit long. The world's practicality says any number of things that seem perfectly reasonable, if you don't believe in a higher law.
Those of us who do believe in a higher law must think carefully about what it means to be practical. We can't ignore practical problems; but neither can we accept the mistaken notion that Biblical Christianity is impractical. If you read the Gospels, you see a son of man who is utterly practical, who gets his hands dirty, who addresses immediate problems even if they are the result of sin. That man is the exact representation of our God.
It shouldn't surprise us that our God is practical. He made us, so of course he knows better than we do how we think, and what we need socially, physically, and emotionally. When he tells us how best to live, he is not laying down a list of arbitrary rules. He is telling us how to lead full lives, because he knows what works for us and what doesn't.
"Everyone has problems," Kenny said when I noted that Christians get divorced at the same rate as non-Christians. Yes, but problems aren't our problem. The problem with American Christianity is that we're too impractical. When Christians have trouble with marriage, pregnancy, jobs, aging parents, health, rebellious teens--all those practical problems that populate our lives--we should turn to our practical God for advice. Instead, too often we tell him, "Sorry, Lord, but I know best." That's not just sinful. It's silly, impractical.
Steyn suggests that the United States increasingly will think in terms of secular practicality, as Britian now does. This is inevitable, if we Christians don't practice the practical teachings of Christ.
After congratulating me on fifteen years of marriage, he noted that Jonathan and I were quite young when we tied the knot, and then said something to this effect: "In London, people marry after they've had a few kids and have made it work for a few years. A wedding signifies a fait accompli. To marry at the beginning of a relationship is something else altogether. They are two entirely different ways of looking at marriage."
Then this morning I followed Touchstone's link to Mark Steyn's comments on the difference between Britain and the United States when it comes to redefining social mores: In America, we seek some "great epic principle as the justification for social change," whereas in Britain, "everything's much more incremental and utilitarian."
Steyn and my cousin Kenny were saying the same thing about the British way of thinking. The world's practicality says don't marry until you've settled down, abort unwanted babies and, now in Oregon and certain parts of Europe, put an old person out of her misery if things drag on a bit long. The world's practicality says any number of things that seem perfectly reasonable, if you don't believe in a higher law.
Those of us who do believe in a higher law must think carefully about what it means to be practical. We can't ignore practical problems; but neither can we accept the mistaken notion that Biblical Christianity is impractical. If you read the Gospels, you see a son of man who is utterly practical, who gets his hands dirty, who addresses immediate problems even if they are the result of sin. That man is the exact representation of our God.
It shouldn't surprise us that our God is practical. He made us, so of course he knows better than we do how we think, and what we need socially, physically, and emotionally. When he tells us how best to live, he is not laying down a list of arbitrary rules. He is telling us how to lead full lives, because he knows what works for us and what doesn't.
"Everyone has problems," Kenny said when I noted that Christians get divorced at the same rate as non-Christians. Yes, but problems aren't our problem. The problem with American Christianity is that we're too impractical. When Christians have trouble with marriage, pregnancy, jobs, aging parents, health, rebellious teens--all those practical problems that populate our lives--we should turn to our practical God for advice. Instead, too often we tell him, "Sorry, Lord, but I know best." That's not just sinful. It's silly, impractical.
Steyn suggests that the United States increasingly will think in terms of secular practicality, as Britian now does. This is inevitable, if we Christians don't practice the practical teachings of Christ.
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