Situational Ethics / Joseph Fletcher

"Nothing Else, only love, is unconditionally good. And therefore nothing but malice or ill will is unconditionally evil. Everything is good or bad according to the circumstances... This is theological relativism, based on the proposition that God is love and only God is unconditional and absolute."

- Joseph Fletcher

Moral Responsibility: Situation Ethics at Work. Philadelphia: Westminister Press. 1952 (page 124).

These words ring as a cluster of piercing half-steps in my musically trained ear. The more I read them, them more physically sick I become. They make me want to hurl!

Fletcher's theory of social ethics is rooted in what he calls the only unconditional absolute truth - that "God is love." Viz. in any given situation, we should react in a manner that might promote agape love - and when deciding a specific course of action at any given moment, we should consider that "it is only the end that justifies the means," (Fletcher 1952, 22-23). Here is an example of a situation that Fletcher might provide his readers upon which to ponder:

- A petite 11 year old girl is raped by her father, and conceives a son. To save her tiny life (the 11 year old), an abortion is performed. In this situation, the act of abortion is not wrong because it promotes "love" (toward the 11 year old girl).

- Conversely, a young married couple eager to start a family of their own conceives, and learns that the child is a boy. But they really wanted a girl, so they have an abortion. In this situation, the act of abortion is wrong because it does not promote "love."

Fletcher writes, "The best way to make love without making babies is to prevent their conception; the next best way is to prevent fertility itself; and the least desirable way is to end a pregnancy already begun. But any of these methods is good if the good to be gained is great enough to justify the means," (Fletcher, 123).

But who makes the decision whether or not an action is morally "right" or morally "wrong?" Who decides if the "good to be gained" is "enough to justify the means?" The only logical response is that each decider must decide for himself. But wait, that means that we are capable of defining for ourselves what is morally right and morally wrong. Wouldn't that makes us "gods" ourselves? Yes it does - on page 236, Fletcher prescribes to Bonhoeffer's thoughts on this matter... "When a deed is performed with a responsible weighing up of all the personal and objective circumstances and in the awareness that God has become man, and that it is God who has become man, then this deed is delivered up solely to God at the moment of its performance," (Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Ethics, ed. by Eberhard Bethge. SCM Press, 1955. Page 234).

God has become man, and man has become God? Really? If Fletcher would only have seen the blatant faults in his theory...

1. Fletcher, being a learned man in Episcopalian theology, pulls from 1 John 4:16 that "God is love." In the quote above, he claims that man is God. So logically, Man is love - that means that the very nature of man is love, and the things he does are lovely. Hitler believed ("after weighing up all of the personal and objective circumstances") he was justified in torturing and murdering millions of innocent Jews. John Calvin believed ("after weighing up all of the personal and objective circumstances") that it was okay to torture Anabaptists who threatened established state religion. Need I go on?

2. "God is love." Let's follow this logical process:

A. God is love (1 John 4:16).

B. Jesus is God (John 1:1).

C. Jesus says, "If you love me, you'll obey my commands" (John 14:15).

D. To act in a loving way, we must follow Jesus' commands. - That is to say, "Loving God and not following His commands are mutually exclusive."

3. In the rape/abortion example above mentioned, the situationist has neglected to include the issue of "perspective." From the 11 year old mother's perspective, love is being shown and administered, while from the unborn son's perspective, evil is being shown and administered. And if we are to take Bonhoeffer's advice, and "weigh up all of the personal and objective circumstances," then the young couple who decided to abort their healthy baby boy is justified. After all, and "unwanted" pregnancy can cause enormous distress in a young couple's life, can't it?

With this approach - that morality is decided in the mind of each individual - any of us can justify any immoral action. There's got to be a litmus test. Fletcher knew this, and that's why he quoted Bonhoeffer. But if the test is to "weigh up all the personal and objective circumstances," then we are in trouble. Our actions are shaped by our values. What we value, we will protect at all costs. If it is our money, then we can justify in our minds any otherwise immoral action that allows us to keep it. If it is fame, then we can justify any otherwise immoral action that assists us in building it. If it is our sexual freedom, then we can justify any otherwise immoral action that promotes it.

Morality is not subjective to the situation in which it finds itself.

It cannot be.

There is a standard and it does not depend on our acceptance of it. It is eternal, and has been revealed to us by the Righteous God who instituted it and perfectly exemplifies it. It is found in His eternal Word. And it is never subjective. It is true in every situation:

Psalm 119 - (v.89) "Lord, Your word is forever. It is firmly fixed in heaven." (v.68) "You are good, and You do what is good. Teach me Your statutes." (v.9) "How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping Your word." (v.2-3) "Happy are those who keep His decrees and seek Him with all their heart. They do nothing wrong; they follow His ways."

Romans 1:26 - "Because they did not think it worthwhile to have God in their knowledge, God delivered them over to a worthless mind to do what is morally wrong."

Christians should actively debunk the universalistic ignorance of situational ethics. Listen to Paul teach against this heresy:

"If by my lie God's truth is amplified to His glory, why am I also judged as a sinner? Why not say as some people slanderously claim we say, 'Let us do evil so that good may come'? Their condemnation is deserved!"

- Romans 3:7-8

In most instances, the application of biblical morals is easily applied by not "conforming" to the patterns of this world, but being "transformed by the renewing of our minds" (Rom. 12:2). Abortion, for example... if the the child is a person at conception, then any form of abortion for any reason is murder - yes, even in the case to save the mother's life or when the child is conceived through nonconsensual sex.

I am not so blind as not to say that there are times when the application of absolute morality is not so easy. But as Christians, we must trust that God's Word is true in every situation, or we become "gods" ourselves. And as we have seen above, this leads not only to the devaluing of scripture, but to a society where "everyone does what is right in his own eyes," - and that didn't work out so well for the nation of Israel (read the book of Judges).

Grace and Peace.

Tony

Religious Pluralism

What is truth? Is it some kind of social construct? Does it depend on interpretation or situation? Let's start by looking at a typical law of logic named "The Law of the Excluded Middle."

A says 2+2=4.

B says 2+2=6.

In no universe is there a possibility that both A and B are true. Either A is true or B is true - there is no middle ground. This is the basic logical law of the Excluded Middle. Let's look at another, more timely illustration:

Biblical Christianity says that Jesus is the only way to Heaven/God (John 14:6, Acts 4:11-12, Romans 1:16, 2 John 7-11).

Religious pluralism, or what has become known as "New Age Spirituality" says that there are many paths to "God."

Either Biblical Christianity is exclusively right or religious pluralism is exclusively right. Logically, there can be no middle ground. There can not possibly be "many ways" and "only one way."

It's one thing for non-Christians to subscribe to this belief. It's something completely different for Christians - PREACHERS, none-the-less - to teach this. I've included links to two different videos from Larry King Live episodes. Keep in mind that the basic venue is the same, and the topics are really identical. Both Joel Osteen and John MacArthur are best-selling "Christian" authors, and both have served / are serving in a local church as pastor. But their defense of the gospel is very different. Watch for yourself.

Joel Osteen on the Gospel:

John MacArthur on the Gospel:

Most pastors I know would die for an opportunity like this - Millions of people watching... "How does one get to heaven?" Would your pastor stumble over this question? Would your pastor defend Hinduism or collective spirituality? I should hope that he would capitalize on the opportunity to witness to millions of people that Jesus Christ is the only way to heaven. You would think this would go without saying!

In our efforts to be inoffensive and tolerant, we are neglecting the sharing of words that bring life. In Romans 10:13-15, Paul explains that we are the vehicles God has chosen through which to share the saving truth of His Word to the world. Sadly, however, we're driving to our destination, and delivering pizza instead. Even if "Your Best Life Now" was possible, what good would it be if you spend eternity in Hell separated from God? Is your neighbor's happiness and prosperity what is most important? Or the eternal destination of her soul?

Share the truth. Deliver the gospel you are chosen to chauffeur.

2 Timothy 4:1-4 -

"Before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom, I solemnly charge you: proclaim the message; persist in it whether convenient or not; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching. For the time will come when they will no longer tolerate sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, will accumulate teachers for themselves because they have an itch to hear something new. They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths."

Grace and Peace,

Tony

Christian Apathy and the "E-P-M"

It was late on a Friday night - I had just finished a concert with our college Wind Symphony in Hammond, LA, and I was extremely hungry. I swung through the drive-through at McDonald's and decided to get the juiciest of juicy - the legacy - the most calories for my money - the "Big Mac." It was the usual McDonald's experience - a monotonous tone from a complacent employee, a 75 mile per hour recap of my order, and a quick swipe of the card with the "no-look" handoff as I zipped past the window. A little way down the road, I unpacked my deliciously unhealthy treat... I could just feel my arteries clogging as my teeth sank into its delectable essence. But what was this??? Only one meat patty! (For those who are uninformed, the Big Mac is supposed to have a patty on top and a patty on bottom - whether either of them are actually "meat" has needs be discussed in a different blog at a different time.) As I investigated further, I came to realize that there was indeed only one patty - They had torn it in half and put one half on the top and the other half on the bottom, at opposite ends of the burger. The nerve! The audacity!! The mediocrity!!!

My Band Director, Dr. Glen Hemberger, (yes, that's his real name) had addressed this in class before. He called it, "The Endless Pursuit of Mediocrity" (or "E-P-M"). You know how it is... The better of a job you do, the more people require from you. If you are constantly exceeding the normative, people come to expect it from you. But you don't get a pay raise, you don't get a plaque on the wall, and you certainly don't get a bigger tip. When all is evaluated, it seems more economical to do only what is expected of you, and be satisfied in mediocrity. However, as the bar of mediocrity is constantly lowered, your pursuit of it is constantly minimizing. Then some brave, ignorant soul will eventually come along and do more than is expected, raising the bar for all of us, and bringing into full circle the endless pursuit.

I would venture to say that Christians are on an "E-P-M" of their own these days. It is normative to go to church one to three times a week, halfway participate in Sunday School class (if we even attend one), dump our kids off in AWANA while we sit on the bench and "talk," create our grocery lists during the sermon, and brush by each other in surface-level fellowship that never gets beyond, "How are you?" - "Great. How are you?" But how many of us earnestly and actively seek to know God more fully? John 17:3 says, "This is eternal life: that they might know You, the only true God, and the One You have sent-Jesus Christ," (CHSB). We've become complacent - satisfied - apathetic - indifferent - when it comes to experiencing and knowing the God of Eternity.

But, really, why should we exceed the norm? Why should we endeavor to study the Word of God, fall in love with Him, and come to know Him more fully? After all, the sad truth is, our churches place higher value on a member who will commit to teaching two Sunday School classes, lead a "Life-Group," serve in the Youth department, and sing in the choir than they do on one who will spend hours a day in prayer for her brothers and sisters or hours in the Bible studying the "meat" of the Word. We are totally fine with people who only have half a patty on the top and half a patty on the bottom, as long as they look like a complete, picture-perfect Big Mac on the outside. Where is the accountability? Where is the exhortation? Where is the devotion to growing "mature" Christians instead of immature chess pawns?

All this considered, however, the church is not to blame. Individuals are. We can go around and around all day long casting blame and debating cause/effect. But ultimately, who will be held accountable for your spiritual growth? Me? Your church? No, my friend - that would be you. You must take initiative for your own spiritual growth. "How?" you ask? By reading the Word, communicating (prayer) with the Father, and placing yourself under spiritual, scriptural authority and accountability. I can't do that for you. Your pastor can't do that for you. Your church can't do that for you... it's all you.

Then, as we grow individually, we should, together, raise the bar of normativity. Viz. as we grow individually, we will grow corporately. I am privileged to serve a church where its members honestly seek to know God more fully. There are, of course, exceptions - and I will never shy away from that. My question is, "What about you?" Are you seeking to know God more fully? Or are you lost on the road toward the "Endless Pursuit of Mediocrity?"

Grace and Peace,

Tony

Blog Title: Grace and Peace

In many of Paul's letters to the churches, he either begins or concludes the address with "Grace and peace be unto you." His desire is that the recipients of his letters will have experienced the grace of God which would in turn, foster peace in their hearts. Paul hopes for the realization of God's infinite grace in the lives of his listeners/readers. That they might become "rich in everything" (1 Cor. 1:3-5) and "experience every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus," (Eph. 1:3).

He did not, however, back down from the truth. For interwoven with his desire for grace and peace in the lives of his readers was his unwavering devotion to God's timeless truth (Col. 1:5-6). The grace to which Paul is referring is not inter- or intra-personal. It is exclusively a gift from God - it is divine/celestial/heavenly. The peace that follows, therefore, cannot be determined by one's own initiative, but solely through the eternal Word of God, and It's effectual change on the life of the believer.

I share Paul's sincere desire for my readers. I hope for you to have experienced the grace of God that leads to peace in your life. I have noticed in our postmodernized church culture that we are satisfied with accepting a Jesus who saves, but are not inclined to alter our lifestyles to comply with the Word of God. We want to live the benefits of a rescued soul, but refuse conformation to the character of Christ. There are many preachers and highly-influential motivational speakers out there from whom to choose. They seek to "scratch an itching ear" (2 Tim. 4:3) in efforts to impart peace onto your life. Their desire, above all else, is for your happiness. I, too, hope that you can be happy... but my greater desire is that you conform to the character of Christ Jesus. Only then can you experience true peace - the peace that God desires for you.

I pray that you will have experienced the eternity-changing grace of God, and that His peace may reign in your mortal body. As we consider the issues of our day together, it is my desire that we will view these through the spectacles of scripture - that we will approach all subjects with a biblical world-view, and that we will allow the eternal Word of God to "teach, rebuke, correct, and train us" mutually so that we can be "made complete, equipped for every good work," (2 Tim. 3:16-17).