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Moral IQ - Pt. 1
by Lynn Green, International Chairman, Youth With A Mission
2 Corinthians 1:12
“Now this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in our relations with you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God. We have done so not according to worldly wisdom but according to God’s grace.”
Michael Burke, the BBC newsreader, recently presented a series of programs called The Hand of God. In it he interviewed sports personalities, celebrities and politicians who make a claim to some sort of faith—people who believe that God makes a difference in their daily lives. Jim Caviezel, the actor who plays Jesus in Mel Gibson’s film, The Passion, was amongst several Hollywood celebrities interviewed.
In a recent film, Caviezel was starring opposite Jennifer Lopez. In a scene where the script required them to be naked together, he asked her to cover the intimate parts of her body. He also covered up. Burk suggested that this was a very “peculiar” idea, given that most men would “give their right arm” to be naked together with a famous, beautiful woman. The actor replied, “I am playing the character, but in reality I am a happily married man.” He explained that he didn’t want to introduce guilt into his marriage by behaving inappropriately with another woman because, “guilt is God’s way of telling you ‘this is not right’.”
Michael Burk was still not convinced, so Caviezel drew an analogy. If a banker has the opportunity to steal cash but doesn’t, is that peculiar? Is it peculiar to be honest, to be a person of your word?
For me it was wonderfully refreshing to hear a Hollywood leading man express moral intelligence. He understood that there is such a thing as right and wrong. Right behavior is often difficult in the short term but pays huge dividends in the long term. Wrong behavior is usually very attractive in the short term but leads inevitably to unwanted results.
(to be cont'd.)
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