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What has happened to the conscience of regular American citizens like you and me? I’d like to offer you an answer by telling you a story of another the nation that lost its conscience on a national level. The story dates back to about 1400 B.C. It’s the nation of Israel. Let me warn you. This story will head down hill real fast, but we’ll end at the top. Hang on!

The nation had escaped Egyptian captivity and slavery and settled in the promised land of Israel. Just before the leader, Joshua, died, he called the people together to challenge them. The book of Joshua 23:6-8 says, "Be strong!" he said. "And be very careful to follow all the instructions written in the Book of the Law of Moses. Do not deviate from them in any way….But be faithful to the Lord your God as you have done until now."

The people responded to Joshua’s challenge: Joshua 24:16-18 says, "We would never forsake the LORD and worship other gods. For the LORD our God is the one who rescued us and our ancestors from slavery in the land of Egypt. He performed mighty miracles… he preserved us. So we, too, will serve the LORD, for he alone is our God."

These two foundational truths gave Israel great moral clarity and a prevailing moral conscience. Over time, though, the Bible tells us a major moral shift occurred in Israel. Judges 2:10 tells us, After [the generation of Joshua] died, another generation grew up who did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he had done for Israel. Their moral foundation began to crack and crumble when they forgot and ignored God’s blessing and commandments. As you can imagine, a predictable four-stage moral meltdown began to occur.

First, there was confusion over God’s identity and uniqueness. The people began mixing God with the idols of the surrounding peoples to cover all their spiritual and moral bases. Then, a token acknowledgment of God occurred where God wasn’t the center of their thinking and decision-making anymore. They went from "We owe God our allegiance and obedience" to "It’s good we have God sitting in our corner when we need him or get in a jam." This led them to eventually replace their strong moral conscience based on God’s commands, with their individual opinions as their moral baseline. Judges 17:6 says, So the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. Defining morality by the 10 commandments went out the window, to say nothing of attempting to live according to them.

This all led to a "it’s all about me" mentality. Billy Joel captured this moral shift in his song "My Life". "I don't need you to worry for me 'cause I'm alright. I don't want you to tell me it's time to come home. I don't care what you say anymore, this is my life. Go ahead with your own life, leave me alone." With this "my life" shift came a new reality: the acceptance of what was once considered gross sin. Practices and behaviors that once appalled God’s people as depraved, perverted, and destructive became acceptable and commonplace to them. This is what happens when a culture shifts from a strong moral conscience based on God’s commandments to a "my life" mentality where individual opinion determines the moral baseline.

The same moral spiral Israel followed in losing their conscience on a national level, parallels our nation’s moral decline as well. Like the nation of Israel, the U.S. was founded upon a strong sense of divine blessing and destiny and a moral conscience based on God’s commandments.

But over time, our moral foundation has eroded. Confusion over God’s identity and uniqueness has led to a token acknowledgement of God. Individual opinion has become the moral baseline for life that has resulted in to an acceptance of what was once considered disgusting and gross.

So what is our response to Hollywood or tabloid virtues where a "my life" morality is lived out? The Bible offers this response: 2 Peter 1:5 says, Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue… Most people claim to have some kind of faith in God, but few would go as far to say that they are "making every effort" to supplement that relationship with virtue.

That’s a tough assignment when most around you are bent on lowering the moral bar. Just mention raising the moral bar, and you’ll become an automatic candidate for ridicule and exclusion. But Jesus is saying do it anyway, because in that darkness there are people who need the light, people who need to be encouraged to choose a better and higher moral road.

2. Virtuous living protects you from self-inflicted damage. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 7:24-25: Anyone who listens to my teaching [the raise-the-moral-bar teaching] and obeys me is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won't collapse, because it is built on rock. Living the moral high bar tends to keep you out of trouble.

3. Virtuous living "pays" in the long run. The Bible says in Galatians 6:7, You will always reap what you sow! Whether you choose to live the high or low moral bar, it will eventually come back on you in the form of a harvest.

Galatians 6:9 adds, So don't get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time. By living a virtuous life, you will experience the abundant life Jesus said he came to bring. Virtue pays—moral excellence pays—sometimes in the short run, but always in the long run.

Let’s not settle for less than what will really fill or satisfy us. Let’s make every effort to supplement our faith in Christ with virtue.