Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Christianity and Moral Relativism


“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.

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