It may not be very scientific. It surely is simplistic and I don’t really believe it. But at least there is a lesson implied. The story goes that at a certain asylum the main test for sanity involved putting the candidate in a kitchen-like room with water overflowing from the sink onto the floor. A mop was handed to the one being tested and if he began mopping and left the water running, he failed the test! This is similar to the test we in the United States are undergoing today. And failing!
Street violence is at an all time high and domestic violence is even higher! Young people, who often practiced their cruelty on animals or very young children, are killing for the “rush” of it. Basic morality is like an endangered species. Our property is insecure because others have no respect for it. Parents are abusing children and children are murdering their parents. Marriages are being dissolved wholesale and more and more couples are committing adultery under the guise of “committed relationships.” And we have grabbed the mop and are in a mopping frenzy. But, meanwhile the sink is still overflowing and the water is still running.
At a recent dinner I was sitting next to a very wise older preacher whose sagacity is widely recognized. Across the table, were some who are involved in helping our children get an education and the subject got around to guns in school and student hostility toward teachers and administrators. My friend turned to me and whispered, “I know it sounds over-simplified, but I still think the problem goes back to the home!” And so it does! But the eighth wonder of the world is that even non-Christian, secular workers in the field also recognize the problem and none of us, not even those of us in the church, are doing a very good job of stemming the tide.
In Matthew 19 Christ explained, “Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female. And said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and his mother and shall cleave to his wife and they two shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.”
The plan of God for a healthy community of mankind is one father and one mother who love God, each other and their children. And who teach them about God and responsible, decent living “when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up.” Deuteronomy 6:7. Any other arrangement is outside God’s plan and produces chaos. If the world will not accept this, at least the church should.
The Bible teaches this and our present chaotic national troubles validate it. Mopping up is sometimes a sane thing to do. But it is fruitless if the water is still running!
