Whatever It Takes
"I'll do whatever it takes — and I know you'll join me in doing whatever it takes — to prevent the enemy from attacking America again like they did and causing thousands to suffer and to mourn and to grieve," he vowed. "We will use the might of America to protect the American people."- George W. Bush, May 2002
Today's post is a closer look at the consequences of a "whatever it takes" policy which the current administration has practiced both here at home and abroad. It might be easy for an atheist or pagan to adopt a "whatever it takes" ethic, but what about the Christian? Can he or she do whatever it takes and still be a true disciple under the lordship of Christ? Where does the Christian draw the line with a "whatever it takes" mentality? Most importantly, is there a line at all?
First, what does it mean to do "whatever it takes"? It means that one will commit any action if it produces the desired result. There are no limits imposed on such a person because he or she is willing to do whatever it takes. A person will spend as much, lie as much or kill as much as is needed to bring about their end goal. There is no law a person is bound to because many times the law can get in the way of doing whatever it takes. A person who does whatever it takes believes it is sometimes necessary to break the law if it brings about the greater good. How scary it is to live in a land where no limits are set and no laws to protect.
Second, what does it look like to do "whatever it takes"? The "whatever it takes" ethic can justify any action. It can justify genocide of Native Americans. It can justify dropping two nuclear bombs on the human beings of Japan which killed close to 200,000 from either the extreme heat or radiation. It can justify the napalm bombardment of Vietnam. It can justify the torture and humiliation of Iraqi prisoners. It can justify detaining "enemy combatants" in Cuba with no access to a lawyer or family. In their time, all of these actions were justified as doing whatever it took to bring about the greater good.
The "whatever it takes" mentality is synonymous with "the end justifies the means" thinking. MLK had a profound illustration to disprove such thinking. MLK, rightly so, saw the means and the ends to be interrelated. He believed the means to be the seeds and the ends to be the trees. If you plant seeds of war, then you will get a tree of war. If you plant seeds of peace, you produce a tree of peace. The same is true of our everyday desire to become more like Christ. If to be like Christ is our end, then we must use the means of Christ to achieve this end. We cannot do whatever it takes to become like Christ. Our ends are Christ's ends.
So this coming week ask yourself, how far are you willing to go to protect your comforts and pleasures? Will you do whatever it takes or will you do as Christ did? And what did Christ do? He left the throne to be born in a manger. A king who became a servant. Loved the enemy to the point of death. For a short time a corpse, but forever the risen Lord. All of us struggle to live a life worthy of Christ's calling. Let us not struggle alone, but struggle together as brothers and sisters. I pray that our actions will have one end and may that end be Christ.
CJE
Coming next week: I Apologize
