Dirt sneaks up on you. Ever so slowly it changes the appearance of something in a house until one day you look with horror at the door from the garage into the house and wonder how something could have gotten so dirty without your noticing it. What about the earpiece on your telephone–have you looked at it lately?
Dirt sneaks up on our characters. Continued exposure to media that feels the need to press the edge of decency has its subtle effects on us. Things that used to offend are now taken for granted. The edge of offense has moved. Little by little we change until one morning we wake up wondering how we got “here from there.” We never noticed it happening.
Sometimes we think it is sophisticated not to be offended or shocked by indecencies. We are fearful of appearing immature or prudish if immorality insults. Paul understood this and appeals to us in Romans 12:2, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
We really need to be careful; dirt does sneak up on us!
Written by Roger Bothwell on January 28, 2003
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