Ends and Means

The recent killing of Osama Bin Laden raised, in the minds of many people, this question.  Does “the ends justify the means”.  This is not a new idea.  The Crusades, where men in armor and with swords attempted to exterminate all the Muslims in the Holy Land is an example.  So too is the inquisition, where burning people at the stake was supposed to save their immortal souls.  We see this in the anti-abortion people who take guns and shoot doctors who provide abortions.  We see it in the images from Abu Ghraib.  We see it in parents who beat their children into their version of righteousness.

But as Christians, can we really go with this idea, that the ends justify the means?

Let think about a really radical example.  Let's say the government wanted to get rid of AIDS in Africa. That would bring a great end, right? Of course it would, so the government kills every single last person that has AIDS in Africa. So now AIDS are gone, and the good end of getting rid of AIDS is achieved. Is that OK?  Is that the choice Christ would make?

Let’s take an example a little closer to home.  Many Americans, including in the faith community, believe that rising deficits are immoral and a threat to our future. But how you reduce a deficit?  This can also be a moral issue.  Is it OK in the name of the economy, to do so by further impoverishing the poor or cutting services to the vulnerable?  Is it OK to make choices that hurt the aged and the weak, EVEN IF IT DOES BENEFIT THE ECONOMY?  Ultimately is that OK?  Jim Wallis asks the question this way, “What would Jesus Cut?”

As we think about what is important.  As we think about the issues of ends and means, I’d like to have us look at these words in Romans 12.  “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

What the heck does that mean? Really?  What does it look like to overwhelm evil with good?  Looks at some of the words and phrases we find in Romans 12:  Humility, service, giving, encouragement, mercy, love love, love, love…. Respect for the other, joy, optimism.  What a list!!

We can think about this on so many levels.  We can think of it globally.  Or nationally.  Regionally.  We can think about this concept in terms of our community.  We can think about it personally.

We have really lost sight in our world of what Paul is talking about here.

What do we do when faced with hate?  All too often we hate

What do we do when we fear?  We respond with behaviors that are protective, and all too often brutal

What do we do when face with anger – we respond with anger

When faced with threats we respond with behaviors that protect our interests, and we abandon any worry about how those behaviors impact others.

And all too often ,when faced with a person, in our world, our community, even our families who acts in a way that causes us to label them an enemy, we respond with hostility.  We respond to evil, with essentially, evil.  What happens we decide that the ends justify the means?

What happens when we decide that it is ok to attack evil with evil?

What happens? 

What happens when we abandon all that is good and right and kind and human?

Evil wins!  Even if we think we are defeating it, it is winning!

It is not an easy thing to do, this overcoming evil with good.  Is probably not something we can do alone.  Brendan Manning in one of his books is talking about essentially this very topic when he writes these words.  “One morning, not so long ago, I experienced a bad, very bad, hour.  I asked myself how often between 1950 and 2008 I had wept over a North Korean, or a neo-Nazi skin head, or a religious fanatic in a fortified compound, or an Iraqi insurgent killed by troops, or a Taliban member killed by a done.  I couldn’t remember a single instance.  It was then that I wept,” he said, “not for them but for me.  I realized that on all this people our power rests more heavily than our love.”

That got me too.  When was the last time if felt anguish for those I see as my enemies, or as God’s enemies.  I could name names, but there are people out there I am bad mouthing, attacking.  I am attempting to overcome what I see as evil, but what tactics am I using?  Am I too thinking the ends justify the means?

The way of Christ seems crazy.  We try to rationalize it away into symbolism or otherwise dilute it.  But it is amazing what happens when we decide to use the tactics of Jesus (a tactic magnificently illustrated in the way of the cross, I might note).  When we choose to respond with good, rather than evil.  When we choose to go the hard way of love, rather than retribution and hate.  We know what it looks like when we limit our compassion.  But what happens when we do it right?

What happens when in the face of hate, in the face of violence, when in the face of greed we are giving, forgiving, hopeful, caring?  What then?

There is a story about a young Korean exchange student, attending the University of Pennsylvanian, who, one evening, was attacked on the street by 11 leather jacketed teenage boys.  They beat him so severely that he died.  All of Philadelphia cried out for vengeance.  The DA secured legal authority to try the boys as adults, so if guilty, they could be given the death penalty.    But in the midst of the furor a letter arrived from Korea.  It was signed by the parents and 20 of the relatives of the murdered boy.  It read in part :

“Our family has met together and we have decided to petition that the most generous treatment possible within the laws of your government be given to those who have committed this criminal action.  In order to give evidence of our sincere hope contained in the petition we have chosen to start a fund to be used for the religious, educational, vocational and social guidance of these boys when they are released.  We have dared to express our hope with a spirit received from the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

What happens when we seek to overcome evil with good.

I don’t know.  Sometimes restoration.  Change.  A fresh start.  Sometimes?  Well there are no guarantees.  Did those boys become changed?  I don’t know.  But I know something good happened to the family of the murdered boy, and some profound happened to many of those who witness this strategy of love.   I believe that if nothing else, such a behavior opens the heart, the mind, the soul

Of all involved…. So that grace might abound

In that moment, love and goodness, the way of Christ has a chance.