Ethics (part 2)
Chidi: Wow, that’s great, man. I mean, it's “ethics,” but that’s great.
Jason: Pretty sure it’s “ethnics.”
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Chidi: Let’s move on to this week’s main event, David Hume’s “A Treatise of Human Nature.” You read this, right?
Eleanor: I did. Well, I tried to. Well, I tried to want to.
(Season 1, episode 4)
Continuing from part one, here are some factors Christians might take into account when deciding on an action to take.
Loving God. The reason God created humans was to love and be loved by him. His people are called the bride of Christ, and he is deeply in love with us. Jesus said the most important command was to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.” That isn’t something we strive to produce; it is a response to knowing we are loved: “we love because he first loved us.” The motive isn’t to repay him or gain his approval, it’s just about loving the one who loves you.
Love for others. This is foundational. “Love one another as I have loved you”; “love your neighbor as yourself”; “do to others what you would want others to do to you.” Love is shown in actions, but it also needs to be real and from the heart: “love must be sincere.” People can be jerks, and there is such thing as tough love – the best thing for someone might be to confront them about their jerky behavior. But overall, love builds up rather than tears down. It’s easy to find faults in other people, but reflecting back the positives you see in them – and seeing even further to their potential – can have a huge impact.
Meg: While you wait, Kellen will stand by you, showering you with compliments.
Kellen: Great job, Michael. You are such a good speaker. This suit is very flattering.
You have a lot of gravitas.
Michael: I thought I was gonna be annoyed by this, but it’s – it’s wonderful.
Kellen: Your jawline is extraordinary. You’re a nice height. Your energy is electric.
(Season 3, episode 10)
Loving yourself. God has a high opinion of you, and he delights in you as his child. It is important to spend time taking that in and learning to see yourself the way he does. Sometimes people treat themselves in a way they would never treat other people – for example, tearing yourself to pieces when you have messed up. It’s OK to make mistakes! Be gentle on yourself, because God is gentle with you. It is also OK to have needs. Putting others before yourself doesn’t mean you never get to have your own needs met: “God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches.”
Jason: Lately, you‘ve been really down on yourself. But you‘re the most amazing person I‘ve ever met. Besides Michael – and he was constantly torturing us, so I‘d only rank him a ten.
Tahani: Which is worse than an eight? That‘s so unnecessarily confusing.
Jason: The point is: you‘re cool, dope, fresh and smart brained. I‘ve never seen you dance, but I bet you‘re good. ‘Cause you‘re good at everything. You‘re awesome. Be nicer to yourself.
(Season 2, episode 4)
The Bible. God has our best interests at heart, and wants us to be and have everything he created us for. What he says in the Bible is for our benefit. Jesus also has the right to command us, but he never does it in a domineering way; he is looking for voluntary lovers. Trusting him enough to do what he says is a way of showing love to him, and is the wisest and best course of action anyway. He came to give us “life to the full,” which comes from following him, even if it means going against the flow of the world around us at times.
Trust. Trusting God is central to our relationship with him: that he will do what he says; that he will take care of and provide for us; that he uses even bad things to do good in our lives (he is not the cause of our suffering, but is very much with us through it and uses it for our ultimate benefit).
Motives. What is going on in your heart is more important to God than the action itself. Without getting too introspective, it can be helpful to perform a self check: am I doing this to look good in front of others (or fear of what they might think if I don’t do it)? Am I doing it out of guilt (which was dealt with on the cross) or an attempt to gain God’s approval (which I already have)? Am I treating people as people, or just using them as a means to an end?
Conscience. A previous post talked about the “little voice” as something important to pay attention to, but not as an infallible guide to right and wrong. Problems can arise when two people have a conflicting conscience. On the one hand, if you know a certain action is innocent then your freedom to do it shouldn’t be restricted by another person’s conscience. On the other hand, if doing it in front of them encourages them to do the same thing (against their conscience), then that’s harmful for them. Sometimes love sacrifices its own freedom in order to keep another person from stumbling.
Grace. Everything we receive from God is a free gift. Living under grace means passing that on to others too. God has forgiven an enormous debt you owed him; forgive other people for their smaller debts. Grace also means not doing things out of guilt or obligation, or demanding to be repaid either (“moral dessert”), but out of voluntary love. Jesus said, “Freely you have received, freely give.”
Freedom. Our freedom is very important to God: “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” When the Corinthian church exulted in their freedom to the point of saying “everything is permissible,” Paul didn’t contradict them or try to restrict their freedom. Instead he replied, “everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial” and “I will not be mastered by anything.” Jesus called sin a kind of slavery; using our freedom to return to sin is a step backwards into less freedom. We are to guard our freedom and not submit to any kind of religious rules or laws either (as discussed in a previous post).
Truth. God is all about truth: being honest, keeping your word, character and integrity. However, just speaking truth alone can be unhelpful or even obnoxious. We are meant to “speak the truth in love” (i.e. care about the person we are talking to, not just about the truth). Since it comes up so often in The Good Place, we’ll take a look at lying and whether it can be justified in a future post.
Justice. Standing up against injustice and defending those who are unable to defend themselves are things that are close to God’s heart. Poverty is not a sin, it’s just a symptom of injustice in the world.
Eternity. Living in the light of eternity means valuing things that last forever over temporary things. Things like investing in another person’s life, showing love to someone who can’t repay you and growing in intimacy with God are all “storing up treasure in heaven.” (See this post for some thoughts on rewards).
God’s leading. The Holy Spirit might lead you in a certain direction as you pray or listen for his voice during the day. But God often leaves choices up to you; common sense and wisdom are still needed.
Meeting a need & using your gifts. You don’t need special leading from God to meet an obvious need, and there are plenty of needs around. But neither are you responsible to fix the whole world. Jesus “only did what he saw his Father doing.” Your gifts and strengths might also be more suited to something else (although there is nothing to stop you trying something new and seeing if it fits).
Receiving and enjoying God’s love. We need rest and refreshment; it’s OK to have fun. God “richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” Some have said it’s better to burn out than rust out, but either way you’re out. Jesus said his yoke was easy and light: “his commands are not burdensome.” So if you feel weighed down from all the stuff you’re doing, take a break and enjoy God’s love for a while. Needing rest is part of being human, and the world will go on without you.
Next: Jeremy Bearimy – time, free will and all that kind of stuff.
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