Recently, I was reminded of the analogy of the frog in boiling water. If you boil a pot of water and then throw a frog in it, the frog will immediately jump out. However, if you place a frog in warm water on the stove and slowly raise the temperature, the frog will stay in and boil himself. I’m not sure who discovered this, and it does seem kind of gruesome to me, but the lesson bears significance.

I see how this can be applied to our society and the changes that we have accepted over the years. Compared to just forty years ago, things are very different. This is obvious and can even be seen as humorous.

Take for example the movie, Back to the Future. In this movie, Michael J. Fox is transported back in time to the 1960s. At one point, he attempts to twist off a bottle cap not realizing that twist-offs have not been invented. Even since the creation of this movie, pop bottles have changed from glass to plastic with different lids altogether.

Our society has experienced change at an exponential rate. Some of it is good – like the invention of the home computer instead of the typewriter (for those of us who write).

But many of it does not appear so good. I think, for example, of the types of television programs that have invaded our sets like, Trailer Park Boys, The Bachelor and South Park. Not to pick on particular television shows, but think about introducing one of those shows forty years ago or even just ten years ago, society would have been shocked and appalled. The programs would not have survived. Yet today they seem a natural “next step” to the programs preceding them.

I’m not being a moralist here, and I myself laughed at such programs as Roseanne when they first came out. However, it does make me wonder at what point we will say, “Enough is enough!” Or will we just keep turning up the heat until we ourselves boil? Do we let our morals and values be challenged to just go with the flow?

Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes (Ephesians 6:11 NIV).

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Do we let our morals and values be challenged to just go with the flow?