Choose One
Let's say that you are in a fishing boat with 3 other people. In the boat is your mother, your wife, and an unsaved fishing buddy. You are the only one that can swim. If the boat flips over, which one do you save?
Your mother is the one you have known the longest. She has cared for you as a helpless infant. No one else has done that.
Your wife...well, who is going to do the dishes?
Your unsaved fishing buddy is someone you have been working on for a few years. Certainly he is not in any condition to go out into eternity.
Situation ethics takes into account only the particular context of an act when evaluating it ethically, rather than judging it only according to absolute moral standards. (Wikipedia)
Would you vote for or against a labor union? To me it is like deciding between a kick in the head or a poke in the eye with a sharp stick. In this case, a person is probably going to vote which ever way they think will be most financially advantageous to them.
Examples
You are adamantly against the idea of homosexuality. Then you discover that a close relative is gay. Does the context of the situation affect your firmly held beliefs?
You are convinced that the act of abortion is murder. Then your daughter becomes pregnant in the most despicable manner. Does the context of this problem alter your view of the “absolutes”? Good question. Most of us never have to decide in such real life difficulties.
In I Samuel 14 King Saul was trying to defeat his enemies. He put all the people under an oath, forbidding anyone to taste any food until military victory was achieved. The people were wearied from the fight and the chase of their enemies. His son Jonathan did not hear when his father the king placed everyone under the food ban. Jonathan tasted a little wild honey that was found in the forest. His weariness was lifted a little when he tasted some honey.
When it was later discovered that Jonathan had tasted some food, Saul pronounced the death sentence upon his son. The king had ordered the ban on all food. He had given his royal decree when he sentenced his son to death for disobeying the order, in ignorance. The people finally had enough of this insanity. They rescued Jonathan from death, in spite of the king's order. This was taking the “law” (the king's word) too far.
Situational ethics errs because it separates God’s law from love.
Christian thinkers have always understood that the circumstances in which we must apply the law of God do affect how that law is applied. However, situational ethics goes further and says that right and wrong are defined by the situation itself. (Ligonier.org)
Mankind's first sin was wanting to decide for himself (or herself) what was right or wrong (Gen 3). Do absolutes or does love decide what is correct? Not an easy thing. Fallen mankind is incapable of knowing what is the correct thing to do. God has given mechanical laws to help govern the human race. However, they cannot function outside of the law of love. God has placed the believers in the world to influence it, in a small way. We represent the government of God until the real King shows up and sets the entire world right.
We left our capsized fishing boat with 3 non-swimmers in the water. Which one do you save? In a real life situation you are going to grab the nearest person, perhaps not even realizing who it is. I will give my opinion, for what that is worth.
Among the three that are going to drown, you are in covenant with one of them. Actually, it is more than that. It is a death covenant. It is until death and ideally it involves a death penalty if it is ever broken. A man pledges his life to protect his wife. She is the one that must be rescued. There is no choice to make. Paul uses very strong language. A man may be very generous but if he fails to provide for this own household (related to him by death covenant), he has denied the faith. He is worse than an infidel (I Tim 5:8). That is very hash, perhaps surprising, hard language.
In spite of the oaths and the covenants, we are incapable of controlling other people or even some things in our own lives. Jesus is coming soon. He will remove us from the very presence of sin. He does not magically change us into someone we are not. We remain us, though potentially joined to Him.
Come, Lord Jesus, and reveal Your life that has been placed in us!
Mar. 23, 2024