Do the ends justify the means? Or, can the means justify the ends?
One of the things we’ve noticed is that people argue about political ideas and about spiritual ideas and they talk past one another. While there may be many reasons for this, there are a couple of simple tools that we will propose here that may help.
We propose that you get clear about the ends and the means.
You can desire quality ends but that does not justify immoral or unjust means. The way you bring about something matters. The making of something affects the thing itself.
Do not allow fabricated urgency to tempt you to jettison your standards, which should be informed by the character of Christ and the structure of the Kingdom. Comparing this to our last topic, an end might be something worth dividing for, but there may be many means to that end. To make the means also something to divide for, especially when there may be multiple means, is to elevate the means beyond its importance.
Part of contending for truth in a public sphere is to be clear on what you are talking about. Are you talking about ends or means? Keep them in their proper perspective.
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Music:
Little Lily Swing, Tri-Tachyon, Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 International, https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Tri-Tachyon/the-kleptotonic-ep/little-lily-swing
Sorry, Comfort Fit, Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Germany (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 DE), https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Comfort_Fit/Forget_And_Remember/03_Sorry