Does character matter? We were told during the Clinton administration that character wasn’t a big issue, but I think we found out that it was. And when we examine the difference in character between George Washington and Benedict Arnold, the contrast could not be more pronounced.

Ultimately, character is the basis for everything we do. Without good character, based upon God’s Word, people break laws and exhibit behavior that is contrary to the Bible.

Are we as a nation facing a crisis of character? There is good evidence we are. Writing in the early 1990s, James Patterson and Peter Kim said in The Day America Told the Truth that there was no moral authority in America:

 “Americans are making up their own moral codes. Only 13 percent of us believe in all the Ten Commandments. Forty percent of us believe in five of the Ten Commandments. We choose which laws of God we believe in. There is absolutely no moral consensus in this country as there was in the 1950s, when all our institutions commanded more respect.”

They also found that Americans are not honest. “Lying has become an integral part of American culture, a trait of the American character. We lie and don't even think about it. We lie for no reason.”The authors estimated that 91 percent of us lie regularly.

They also found that the work ethic is gone from today’s workplace. “Protestant [work] ethic is long gone from today American workplace.” Workers around admit that they spend more than 20 percent of their time at work totally goofing off.

Researcher George Barna writing ten years later in his book, Boiling Point, concluded that moral anarchy has arrived in America and dominates our culture today. His argument hinges on a substantial amount of attitudinal and behavioral evidence, such as rapid growth of the pornography industry, highway speeding as the norm, income tax cheating, computer hacking, rampant copyright violations (movies, books, recordings), increasing rates of cohabitation and adultery, Internet-based plagiarism, etc.

When asked the basis on which they form their moral choices, nearly half of all adults cite their desire to do whatever will bring them the most pleasing or satisfying results. Although the Bible should be the basis of our moral decision-making, the survey showed that only four out of every ten born again Christian adults relies on the Bible or church teaching as their primary source of moral guidance.

The survey also found that the younger generation was even more inclined to support behaviors that conflict with traditional Christian morals. “Among the instances in which young adults were substantially more likely than their elders to adopt a nouveau moral view were in supporting homosexuality, cohabitation, the non-medicinal use of marijuana, voluntary exposure to pornography, profane language, drunkenness, speeding and sexual fantasizing.” 

Here are a few specific examples of the loss of character in society. Currently we are facing an epidemic of cheating and lying among young people. One study of high school students found that 71 percent of them admitted to cheating on an exam at least once in the last 12 months. And these same teenagers are not being honest to their parents. A study found that 92 percent of them said they lied to their parents in the last 12 months while 79 percent said they did so two or more times.

Another example is music piracy. Nearly all teenagers (86%) believe that music piracy is either morally acceptable or not even a moral issue. Only 8 percent claim that such activity is morally wrong. And there was no significant difference in attitudes between born-again Christians and non-Christians.

Character does matter, and we would be wise to instruct our students and our own children in ways that build their character. We have a crisis of character in this country, and it is up to us to return this nation back to a moral foundation.