Understanding the question & other justifications

Over the course of my life I have from time to time excelled at making a bad choice look like a good choice. Human beings, it seems are great at deceiving ourselves. I have wasted time doing all kinds of things that seemed important at the time but in the end had zippo cumulative value. And if you gave me enough time I can probably even find a Bible verse that supported all that.

Speaking of deceiving ourselves, I’ve talked to several people lately that are struggling with some flavor of addiction. Every sort of addiction starts with the same smoke and mirrors: this won’t hurt anyone - I haven’t had any for a week - I’ll be careful - I can quit whenever I want - blah, blah, blah. And the odd thing is that whether it is an addiction, or racking up credit card debt, or bumping the family again in lieu of work, or buying that new Hummer H2 that you can’t afford, much of the time we are aware that we are playing a dangerous game. The fact that we have to come up with an excuse should be enough to tip us off but somehow we miss that too.

Ever notice that you don’t have to spend time justifying doing the right thing? Rather it’s the bad choices that require creative story telling. Often we get caught up in making a choice right instead of making the right choice. While I may have been just a naive kid it seems in the last 30+ years when faced with a key choice we have degraded from “what is the right thing to do” to “is there anything wrong/illegal” and if so can they prove it? And this is the doorway to - “how close can I get to the line between right and wrong without being hit by the negative consequences?” How long can I neglect my wife, my finances, my family, my drinking habit, my fill_in_the_blank? It is a tempting and slippery slope that ultimately leads to - “How did I get into this mess?” And it is often only at this point that people regain their “sight” and then, overwhelmed by the guilt choose instead to blame God and/or those around them.

This nation, our communities and most of us have created our own sliding scales of sin & integrity that allows us to grade ourselves against others - at least we’re not as bad as them, him, her, those….. And yet, Integrity is not a comparative quality - either you have it or you do not. Our culture has a way of subtly sweeping us beyond healthy moral and ethical living that robs us of truly being alive. When everything around us is drifting along it is easy to be fooled into thinking that we are standing still. Without a solid point of reference, which for me is God’s word, it is impossible to know where you are, where you are not, and where you should be. You and I were not created to live life at the level of “not as bad as ‘them’ ” or at what we can get away with, or what’s legal, or what’s socially acceptable today or what’s not prosecutable in court.

I recently read a book that suggested that the most powerful question that we can ask of ourselves when faced with a choice is “What is the wise thing to do”. Whatever the choices that you may be facing and before the others questions that you maybe asking will you please instead try this question?

And while Paul’s words are 2000 years old they apply even more so today:

“Be very careful, then, how you live–not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”
Ephesians 5:15-17