I heard a story this week about a little boy in Texas who is currently residing in a children’s home. When I inquired about why he was in the home, I was told that his Father placed him there on account of a new wife who didn’t want to be bothered by the boy. When I asked whether there were someone else who could take care of the child, I was told that the Father forbad the child being in any other situation other than the orphanage, even though, there were other relatives willing to care for the child and even adopt the child.
Sadly, this is just one story of neglect and abandonment of many that could be told in our nation today. If the tears and crying of the neglected children in our society were audible, we could cover our ears and still hear the cacophony of anguish louder than the loudest roar of pain. Paul the apostle listed such among the most repugnant of sins in Romans 1:31: “without natural affection.” No doubt you are asking, “How could someone be so calloused and cold as to do such a thing, to neglect and abandon one’s own offspring?” Well, it didn’t happen without other sinful influences. What are some of those influences?
First, there is disbelief in God. Jean Paul Sartre said, “If there is no God, then anything goes.” If there is no God, there is no right and wrong, no morality. Humanists and Atheists would have us believe that people can be good without God, but society has proved them wrong over the years. If individuals are not taught what is right and wrong, then they will not behave accordingly. They will simply act according to their own animal instincts and do what they “feel” is best to preserve their own existence. And who suffers because of such an attitude? The little ones.
Second, there are those who tolerate the erosion of moral values. It used to be the case that when someone committed adultery, divorced, got pregnant out of wedlock, or committed any other act of shame, that they were shunned from society for their impenitent sins, and rightly so. But today, we have come to a point where it is a sin to point out someone else’s sin. Because of such a situation, evil has silenced good. And who suffers because of such an attitude? The little ones.
Third, there is the attitude of selfishness. We live in a society that panders to the wants and desires of the individual. We don’t have time to serve others because we are too busy serving self. “Have it your way” has become our true national motto instead of “In God we trust.” And if we don’t get our way, then we just “take our ball and go home.” And who suffers because of such an attitude? The little ones.
Fourth, there is failure to accept responsibility for one’s actions. We are a society that loves to place the blame on someone else instead of ourselves. We blame McDonald’s because we are fat. We blame the President because we are lazy. We blame the righteous, because we sin. It’s always someone else’s fault. And who suffers because of such an attitude? The little ones.
Jesus said, “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matthew 18:6). Who will “defend the fatherless” and “plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:17)? Not those who behave as outlined above. The only people we are hurting by our behavior today are our own children and do we think God will not notice? Brethren, awake to righteousness (1 Corinthians 15:34)!