In his book The Reason for God, Tim Keller writes, "If there is no God, then there is no way to say any one action is 'moral' and another 'immoral' but only 'I like this'" (p. 153).  We Christians like to say that we are living in morally and spiritually desparate times.  We only have ourselves to blame, because we are not living the abundant life as followers of Christ as much as we claim.  
        One reason for this, and perhaps a very vital element in Christianity, is the misunderstanding of the word "sacrifice."  Throughout the history of humanity, people who stand and live beyond the boundary of the realm of God have appeared to speed along a roller-coaster ride - zooming up and down the track of morality seeking out a path that best suits individuality.  Why?  Largely, because of the misuse of the word "sacrifice."  Christians are not Christian enough.  The reality of the sacrificial life Christians are to live is for many unrealized externally.    
        Many churches center ministry output on financial input while preaching that sacrificing some comforts of life makes God happy.  However, the Proverbs verse of the day suggests that God is more apt to accept our sacrifice in daily living, because it is through daily life that a difference can be made in the lives of those who are seeking answers to moral reality.  The passage teaches us that righteousness and justice are more acceptable to God than sacrificing.  Perhaps, if more Chrisitians were to sacrifice what they want of themselves - in other words, practicing the presence of God rather than their own humanity - then those who ride the morality roller-coaster of life can discover through the influence of that sacrifice the way God, in reality, desires His most precious creation to live.
        When our President overturned the ban on embyonic stem cell research funding, he crossed the morality barrier that countless numbers of people hold.  That is, at the moment that the human egg begins to divide after fertilization, another child of God is created.  That is my stance.  The reality of the circumstance is that as technology advances the black and white lines drawn out in God's word turns greyer and greyer.  Morality has become a subject of relativity because Christians throughout history have not been Christian enough. 
         Those who know me well enough also know that I am not Christian enough.  I, as with all Christians, am a work in progress.  Righteousness and justice ought to be top priority in the reality of life as the most important sacrifice that can be achieved - and we all have such a long way to go.  I want to share with you my very first journal entry made just before ordination almost seven years ago.
        Most people today, as well as those who have gone, believe that the only reality is here in this life.  They believe that beyond this realm there is no reality.  Why? Because they can physically touch, smell, see, hear, and tast what this world is.  To them this is reality.  To phathom heaven or hell is beyond what they care to comprehend. Why is it that they can't comprehend God? Most believe there is a God, but contridect this belief by living with the world.  
        God is our Father.  We carry on generation, to generation creating and destroying, and building, all the while thinking these efforts will lead us to a better society where people are free to feel and think the way that is contrary to God's doctrine.  Studying God's word, seeking His will through the salvatin of Jesus Christ, striving to do His will every day, praying that what you do is His will and that every word and thought we have is that which is acceptable to Jesus - because if it is acceptable to Jesus, it is also acceptable to God - and allowing ourselves to be the light that is Jesus as examples of Him, is what our goal should be.
        Building this world should be something meant to keep mankind busy while making decisions that lead to a closer relationship with God the Father.  Until the return of Christ, this world will still be here.  It can only be reshaped somewhat.  There is nothing new under the sun.  However far our technology will get before His coming, it will be minute compared to His physical presence.  At the point of His coming, we will enter a new world.  That is, those who are in Christ.
        Reality of this life should be that which is spent preparing for our eternal life which is also reality.  Heaven is real.  Hell is real.  This life is transient.  The best thing any human can do in this life is to live witht the promise of hope that only comes from knowing Christ as Lord and Savior.  Not only knowing, but also prayerfully and spiritually changing while constantly improving our relationship with Him.  That is reality.  That is hope.
        We should look forward to that reality as examples of love, compassion, honor, respect, and leadership that is found only through Christ.  He is love.  He is hope.  He is the promise.  He is the reality.
        People are falling into the trap of self-seeking, self-assuring, relative morality and unrealistic and ungodly ethical standards.  If not for those public figures who come along from time to time in history who stand as testaments to God's glory, strength and standards, humanity would be in even darker.  Why?  Because most Christians only pick up and read their Bible on Sunday mornings.  Those can only draw upon snippets of God's standards.  The tendancy then is to believe what the enemy is conceiving as moral truth, because not enough knowledge of God's word is evident in the hearts of many.  Righteousness and justice cannot be pursued if God's guidelines are not known.  
        If we are going to build each other up as a family of God, if we are going to have the capacity to make God relevant in society, then we are going to need to know God's word, and live His word out loud.