Perceptions #200136

"Does It Really Matter?"

by Monroe Hawley
Milwaukee, Wisconsin

An Old Testament king faced a dilemma. He was about to take his people into battle against the Philistines. The prophet/priest Samuel had not yet arrived to offer a sacrifice to ensure God's blessing before they engaged the enemy. What was Saul to do? He couldn't fight the Philistines without first making a sacrifice to God. Yet, as he was not a priest, he was forbidden to do it himself. He convinced himself that it was all right to disobey God in light of the greater good of winning the battle. He offered the sacrifice. Saul soon learned he was wrong when Samuel arrived as he was completing the offering. He had deeply offended God (1 Samuel 13).

Saul was guilty of rationalization. This is the thought process we go through when we try to convince ourselves that it is sometimes right to do wrong. All of us are sometimes guilty of rationalizing. Typically as we wrestle with our consciences, we view the end result, and then seek to justify the means that we take to achieve it. A politician accepts favors from special interest groups in exchange for supporting their agendas. He reasons that a little wrong is outweighed by the greater good he can accomplish if he takes the payoff.

A Christian may struggle with taking a questionable job. He looks at the personal benefit he will receive and then seeks a reason to justify his action when he accepts the employment. One may absent himself from worship of God because he needs the time off or feels he has to work to earn money to meet his obligations. He minimizes the importance of worshipping with other believers because he thinks the Lord will understand that he is between a rock and a hard place. Or one may make a religious decision, not on the basis of what is right or wrong, but for personal factors. He tells himself that it doesn't make that much difference to the Lord.

Jesus faced a critical choice when Satan offered to abdicate himself from the earth if once, just once, Jesus would fall down and worship him (Matthew 4:8-9). Don't think Jesus wasn't tempted. He could have reasoned that the greater good would be the elimination of sin from the world if the devil were gone. He could have discovered a way to avoid the suffering of the cross. But he didn't. That choice would have defeated his very reason for coming to earth. It is never right to do a wrong in order to accomplish a worthwhile objective. So the next time you face a critical choice, be honest with yourself and ask if you are not rationalizing.

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