“One must sacrifice oneself utterly to God’s purposes, even to the
point of possibly making moral mistakes” (Metaxas, Bonhoeffer, 447).
How would you respond to that statement made by the biographer of one
of the most daring theologians of the 20th Century? Would you side with those of the more
fundamentalist persuasion who would argue that moral absolutism – i.e., right
and wrong are always black and white - is the only way to live? Or would you side with those of the more
liberal persuasion who would argue that moral relativism – i.e., sometimes the
ends do justify the means – can have merit?
Most of us would probably move quickly to one of those two extreme
views. Although in most respects I consider
myself more of an evangelical than a fundamentalist, I would have to say that
on this issue my gut reaction would tend to lean more towards the
fundamentalist view. I tend to believe
that right is right and wrong is wrong, regardless of circumstances; and I
would be quick to argue that the ends never justify the means. To be clear, I am not speaking here of
war-time killing. I understand the
difference between murder and killing, particularly during a time of just
war. Scripture is full of circumstances
where God directed his people to engage in war to accomplish his purposes. What I am speaking to here is the idea that
immoral methods are justifiable to accomplish moral ends. To what extent is
this permissible in the life of a Christian who believes that he or she is
acting on behalf of God?
With my conservative leanings, I am admittedly more apt to say that such
questionable behaviors are not permissible for a child of God. However, in my own personal reading this
week, God led me to 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 18. King Ahab of Israel was a
man of pure evil, perhaps more evil than any other king of Israel. In response to his evil, God determined to
bring an end to his life by sending the King of Syria against him in
battle. The prophet Micaiah saw in a
vision how he accomplished this. With
all the hosts of heaven standing before him, Yahweh asked who would entice Ahab
to go up and fight against the king of Syria.
After considerable discussion in heaven, a “spirit” came forward and
volunteered to entice Ahab by placing lies into the ears of the prophets so
that they would believe Ahab would be victorious in his venture. Of all the prophets, only Micaiah knew the
truth – and he was arrested for speaking the truth.
I don’t mind saying that this particular scripture (which is recorded
not one, but twice – 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 18) gives me pause. Scripture is very clear that deceit is the
natural language of Satan not God (John 8:44).
Paul says in Titus 1:2 that God never lies. The writer of Hebrews says in Hebrews 6:18
that it is impossible for God to lie.
Peter tells us there was no deceit in Jesus and twice tells Christians
to put away deceit from our lips. Paul
clearly labels deceit as an act of the sinful nature. Yet Yahweh (Jesus) allowed – even ordained
perhaps – for a spirit to put lies into the mouths of those who believed they
were speaking for him. How is this
possible?
To begin with, we do not know whether this “spirit” was an angel or a
demon. Scripture does not say. However, one can say that God uses all things
– even evil things - to accomplish his good purposes. If you have ever studied about the
philosophical concept known as The Problem of Evil, you would know that in God’s
Sovereignty to create beings in his own image, God allows those beings to make
their own moral choices. Those choices
include good ones as well as evil ones.
Ultimately, the evil ones must be punished, but in his sovereignty he is
even able to use that evil to accomplish his good (Romans 8:28). By no means, however, does that mean he
promotes or even condones such actions.
Sin is sin and God must judge sin. Fortunately for those who have received
Christ, that judgment finds its ultimate home in the cross. As Christians, we know that we have
forgiveness for any sins which we commit.
However, as Peter says, we are obligated to live in holiness, putting away
such sinfulness from our lives.
I honestly do not know how to respond to 1Kings 22. There are many things in scripture I still do
not understand, but I personally do not believe that God would intentionally
direct his people to commit evil acts. God
may allow demonic forces and godless men to do things that, ultimately, he may
use for good, but they would still be sinful acts. Similarly, it is possible for well-meaning
Christians to believe they are acting for God and yet be acting in sinful ways
contrary to God’s directives. The
prophets believed they were speaking for God, but they were being deceived by
(I believe) demonic forces. This, too,
can be used by God for his purposes.
That brings me back to Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Eric Metaxas’ assessment
of his decision to participate in the assassination attempt of Adolf
Hitler. Bonhoeffer believed he was being
obedient to the will of God by participating in the conspiracy and openly
admitted to being blatantly deceitful in the process. Regarding his actions, he said that “it
depends upon a God who demands responsible action in a bold venture of faith
and who promises forgiveness and consolation to the man who becomes a sinner in
that venture.” In other words, as
Christians we are to walk by faith – even when walking by faith seems to be
walking in sin. With respect to
Bonhoeffer, one must ultimately look to the unsuccessful results of their
actions and so question whether the conspiracy were truly from God or were the
mistaken beliefs of well meaning but still sinful Christians. God ultimately did bring down the Nazi regime
in Germany, but it was not through the numerous deceitful conspiracies against
them. It was through a foreign army in
much the same way that God used the Syrian army against King Ahab or the
Babylonian army against Judah.
At the end of the day, I must remain firm in my own belief that the
ends never justify the means.
Christianity must always remain faithfully about moral absolutism and never
embrace moral relativism. Sin must be
called sin where it exists and Christians must pursue holiness in their lives
by putting away sin wherever it may exist in their lives. That is not to say what
I might do if I found myself in Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s position. I might just act precisely as he did if I
firmly and confidently believed that God was directing me to do so. Like him, I
would step out in faith to do what I believed was obedient. I might, however, be wrong and I might,
however, be acting sinfully. Fortunately
God can use all things to accomplish his purposes; and fortunately there is grace
and forgiveness in the blood of Jesus.
Thank you, Jesus, for the grace.
Thank you, Jesus, for the blood.
Give us all wisdom.
