THE CLASH OF GOOD AND GOOD
Following a moral principle at personal cost can be hard. Even harder, however, is navigating life when two valid moral principles of good clash.
This morning I was notified that our church’s name was tagged in a post about homelessness. Some social justice warrior was railing on the churches in and around Pottstown for not solving the problem of the homeless camp outside of town. He listed several local churches, including our own, which should be doing something about the poor homeless people who sleep in the cold. How can all these self-righteous Christians be content to let these people sleep outside in freezing temperatures?
I (and other non-profit leaders) jumped in to explain that you don’t just buy a building and open up a homeless shelter. Those who have tried have usually met opposition from businesses and residents in the neighborhood where a shelter is proposed. We’ve all seen enough of San Francisco to know what happens to your town when you bring the homeless into the business district and people don’t want that problem imported into their neighborhood.
Government councils accommodate those wishes by making the regulations so complex and burdensome that it becomes too expensive and unwieldy to minister to the homeless.
The businesses and people who want a safe, clean neighborhood are not evil. Neither is the government that tries to keep them safe.
Nor are those who want the homeless to have a warm place to sleep.
Each side may portray the other as evil, but the clash is not between good and evil but between good and good, and that clash is exceedingly difficult to navigate.
America faced a similar clash in the 19th century. Freedom for slaves was a moral good. Maintaining the union of states for the benefit of America was also a moral good. Those two valid principles were at odds. Abraham Lincoln had to figure out how to navigate that clash. It wasn’t easy.
On a smaller scale is the clash between the command to honor your parents and the fact that when you marry you leave father and mother to become one flesh with your spouse. Where do your first loyalties lie – with what your spouse wants (or what you and your spouse together want) to do, or with what your parents (or in-laws) want you to do when those things are at odds?
Your spouse may depict your parents as evil ‘butt-inskies’ for offering advice that is at odds with his/hers. Your parents (or in-laws) may see you (or your spouse) as rude and disrespectful for not doing as they wish. They may take it as a failure to honor them – and may tell you so!
I don’t propose to resolve these clashes in this blog. I’m just noting that not every conflict is between good and evil. The most difficult to resolve are between two valid principles of good. When good clashes with good solutions aren’t easy. You won’t navigate them with broad strokes of clear black and white law, but with the finely-tuned distinctions of wisdom.
This morning I was notified that our church’s name was tagged in a post about homelessness. Some social justice warrior was railing on the churches in and around Pottstown for not solving the problem of the homeless camp outside of town. He listed several local churches, including our own, which should be doing something about the poor homeless people who sleep in the cold. How can all these self-righteous Christians be content to let these people sleep outside in freezing temperatures?
I (and other non-profit leaders) jumped in to explain that you don’t just buy a building and open up a homeless shelter. Those who have tried have usually met opposition from businesses and residents in the neighborhood where a shelter is proposed. We’ve all seen enough of San Francisco to know what happens to your town when you bring the homeless into the business district and people don’t want that problem imported into their neighborhood.
Government councils accommodate those wishes by making the regulations so complex and burdensome that it becomes too expensive and unwieldy to minister to the homeless.
The businesses and people who want a safe, clean neighborhood are not evil. Neither is the government that tries to keep them safe.
Nor are those who want the homeless to have a warm place to sleep.
Each side may portray the other as evil, but the clash is not between good and evil but between good and good, and that clash is exceedingly difficult to navigate.
America faced a similar clash in the 19th century. Freedom for slaves was a moral good. Maintaining the union of states for the benefit of America was also a moral good. Those two valid principles were at odds. Abraham Lincoln had to figure out how to navigate that clash. It wasn’t easy.
On a smaller scale is the clash between the command to honor your parents and the fact that when you marry you leave father and mother to become one flesh with your spouse. Where do your first loyalties lie – with what your spouse wants (or what you and your spouse together want) to do, or with what your parents (or in-laws) want you to do when those things are at odds?
Your spouse may depict your parents as evil ‘butt-inskies’ for offering advice that is at odds with his/hers. Your parents (or in-laws) may see you (or your spouse) as rude and disrespectful for not doing as they wish. They may take it as a failure to honor them – and may tell you so!
I don’t propose to resolve these clashes in this blog. I’m just noting that not every conflict is between good and evil. The most difficult to resolve are between two valid principles of good. When good clashes with good solutions aren’t easy. You won’t navigate them with broad strokes of clear black and white law, but with the finely-tuned distinctions of wisdom.