The Higher Mandate

We constantly balance obligations. We have an obligation to spend time with our families, but if the neighbor’s house catches fire while he is sleeping in his bed, our obligation to wake him and get him to a place of safety outweighs our promise to read to the children. A book can be laid aside and picked up later. The flames will not wait.

Mandates function on a continuum. Some outweigh others. We have a mandate to offer hospitality to strangers, but if the stranger at the door is wanted by the police for questioning in an armed robbery / homicide, the mandate to respect civil authority takes precedence. All it takes to figure that out is a little calm thinking.

Some situations are not quite that transparent. Would you run a red-light to get out of the way of an ambulance running lights and sirens? Well, it depends. Is the cross street clear of vehicles and pedestrians? Is there any other safer option?

It is one of the most difficult questions facing the conscientious person of faith: how does one consistently obey the higher mandate? When every option on the table seems to breach a law, code or principle, how do we know which option to choose? Are we doomed to stand morally paralyzed while the situation unfolds around us?

Anyone who offers you a simple answer for this complex situation is either a fool or a liar. What is required in such a situation is spiritual clarity and discernment. I can’t tell you how to respond, but I can give you some tools to access discernment when you need it.

• First, calm your soul. God is not surprised or alarmed by the trial set before you. The One who called you to this situation will lead you through it. It is entirely possible to do the right thing.
• Next, filter the voices speaking to you, both externally and internally. The clamor of advice and command will eclipse the still, small voice if you let it. Don’t let it. Let the Scripture you have internalized through devotional reading, study and meditation run through your mind. It is a living Word, and it will come to you when you need it most. Listen for the ring of truth in the moment.
• Finally, embrace the possibility that doing the right thing may involve sacrifice. Sometimes, doing the right thing is costly to us. Noted clergyman Jim Elliot reminded us “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.” If the only way that we can do good and prevent harm to others is by risking harm to ourselves, can we consider that risk acceptable? Perhaps the greater question is “Can we do otherwise?”

How do we prepare for crisis moments? We spend time in prayer and in the study of Scripture. We spend time in the company of faithful people. We spend time alone, learning to listen internally and developing a sense of our own mission and vision. We practice the art of an internal silence that invites God to speak into or lives.

Trials will come. We will face moral confusion and clashing obligations. Even in those moments, clarity is possible. Discernment is a spiritual gift worth seeking and cultivating. Ask God to build it into your soul today, and then brace for that construction.

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I AM holy.”  1 Peter 1:14-16 New American Standard Bible