DOES THE END JUSTIFY THE MEANS?

The impervious handling of God’s Word for one’s life is intrinsic to one’s personal belief. There is no room for error therefore no room for private interpretation. So where do we go to get the correct answers to cement our faith and to secure our future in eternity? In Christendom today we have such liberty for any individual to handle the Bible for themselves that we ended up with so many views, so many presuppositions, and so many premises even to a single theological issue. What about moral issues? Your guess is better than mine!!

I believe that the Church at large is going through a moral crisis. There are so many issues that require some form of moral juggling and theologizing. Hopefully we can get out of this moral maze with some form of satisfactory moral decisions. And quite frankly, we are in a quandary, in a predicament! I always believe that we are to be counter-cultural and not pander to the constant seismic shift of modern culture around us today!

Let me explain what I mean by highlighting the seismic shift in moral, ethical, and ideas as a result of the rise of modern culture – a popular culture influenced greatly by secularism, privatization, and individualism.

Take for example the moral values 30 years ago and now and you would realize that it has shifted tremendously. Those of us from the 70 eras would understand that vulgarity in TV and movies were greatly a “no fly zone” but today it is so common that even Christians are vulgar in their thoughts, jokes, and words. Talking about movies vulgarity has become a common feature. Christian parents no longer squirm at vulgarity even in front of their children! What does that tells us about moral values? Those who hold to statistical morality would say that because majority of the people seem not to be embarrassed by it or be “affected’ by it then it must be okay. Christian morality is not so much what is but rather what ought to be! This “ought-ness” hinges to a higher moral law – one given by the ultimate Moral Law Giver God Himself!

What about the marriage institution? What about the issue of the sanctity of life? How about the theology of suffering – often being replaced by those who advocate the “future grace” position or the preachers of the prosperity gospel? On a side note; our theological premise on suffering would mold our view on morality, hell, sickness, pain, heaven, problem of evil, eschatology and even about God! What about God’s universal law? What about science, this world, human dignity, and the love of God? The list of questions is unending for sure!

My question is: Does the end justify the means in our moral conscience? Just thinking.