Today is a commencement, or beginning. It is the beginning
of your future. Even as I speak, many of you are imagining your future. You are
imagining future accomplishments. You are anticipating travel. You may be
planning ministry or dreaming of romance and future family. You might just be
picturing your plans for this summer or even just thinking of what you will eat
for breakfast tomorrow.
For a few minutes this evening I want to interrupt your
dreams of the future to discuss two of the great questions in philosophy that
are essential for you to navigate as you commence your life after high school.
These questions are a point of significant conflict in our culture right now.
You might think the answers to the questions are comically simple but your
society does not. Many may think that the answers to these questions are
unimportant but as graduates of Classical Conversations you must have studied,
and having studied you must have learned that ideas have consequences. And you
must understand that even if you don’t consciously formulate and articulate
your philosophy of life you will still function with a de facto philosophy that
guides how you interpret, react to, and respond to life.
The
questions I want you to consider are:
1. What determines my future?
2. In light of question #1, how ought I
live?
This is an
appropriate time for you to consider your future. Are the determinants of your
future the same as for others around you? Or are they unique to you? Do you
have the freedom to choose the outcome of your life? Are you the master of your
own fate, able to soar above any and all limitations on the sheer strength of
your will? Or are you bound by culture, genetics, and environment so that your
life is determined more by your circumstances than your will?
In our
contemporary American culture I believe there are two primary competing
theories regarding the arbiter of our fate. Each view has part of the truth and
yet ultimately falls short. The most dominant today is a form of determinism.
Simply put determinism means your future is determined by factors outside of
your control. There is a lot in our human experience that would support this
belief. Despite talking about fairness and equality we see, feel and recognize
that life is simply NOT fair. We see our society trying to come to grips with
this, using terms such as privilege, oppression, and rights. We are born in
different locations, to different families, with different genetics, at
different times in history. We encounter disease, disaster, and even worse—politics.
This has led to a variant of determinism based on genetic, cultural, and
environmental influences rather than the sovereign will of a higher being. But
as enticing as it can be to apply this framework we are quickly able to
recognize that the necessary conclusions of such a theory don’t pass our basic
sniff test. Your future is so determined that it becomes easy to say, “It’s not
my fault”. We begin to see failure as inevitable or to expect success as a
right commensurate with our rank or privilege. This can lead to feeling powerless
and to great despair. It can cause fear, bitterness and ingratitude. It can
normalize deviant behavior as unavoidable. It can paralyze parents with fear
believing that their children will be inevitably directed by a fallen culture.
No, determinism as it is currently believed won’t work as a clear picture for
your future.
Perhaps in
response to the problems evident in determinism we see another theory at work
that I will call self-actualization. We see in determinism a defeatist or
fatalistic view and shout, “Poppycock! Nonsense!” You can achieve anything you
want in life as long as you work hard enough! This sort of American idealism
feels hopefully optimistic! It is the backbone—the cornerstone—of our country!
I remember how empowered I felt when my mother told me “You can do anything you
want in life!” This is an incredibly attractive theory. We love stories in
which the human spirit triumphs.
We appreciate
the motivation that comes from a belief that every problem has a solution. We
appreciate the tenacity of those who practiced longer, fought harder, and dug
deeper to accomplish seemingly impossible goals. We covet the rewards that we
see going to those heroes and we allow ourselves to believe that we have it within
ourselves to mold our own future. But this theory is primarily for the young
and privileged, because someone stronger, faster, wealthier, or just better is
always just around the corner. A philosophy of the future based on your own
will and power subsequently becomes anxious, merciless, violent, unforgiving
and eventually leads to being unfulfilled and disillusioned.
I tell you
the truth, if you don’t think through this clearly now you will look back and
find that you have made choices and lived your life through one or the other of
these lenses or have flip flopped willy-nilly between the two. I hope instead
you will be able to see this through a more Biblical lens.
I believe
there is a third option. Your steps are determined by God. Ah, determinism through
another agent you say. Not
exactly. You see there is nothing cold or fatalistic about this. Our God is an
immensely personal God and he is a rewarder of those who seek him. In other
words, our efforts and hard work also matter. The biggest difference comes in
the way our efforts are used. Our efforts are not used to effect our will but
rather His. Our efforts are not without effect as they would be in a purely
deterministic view, but neither can we confidently assert our own view of the
future. We are freed from the tyranny of culture/determinism, but not free to
assert our own will.
This leads
me to question #2. In light of this view of the future, how ought I live?
Let me
digress for a moment. (You did not think you were done learning yet did you?) I
want to have a brief look at classical ethical frameworks to answer question
#2.
Traditionally
there are two basic angles from which ethics (the study of how we make
practical daily decisions) can be viewed, and each in their raw form may seem
somewhat extreme. First is deontological ethics or Kantianism. This is
rule-based ethics. In this view we follow a predetermined set of logical rules
or principles independent of what ends they achieve. This is a duty or contract
based framework. Although this sounds noble at first, it allows us to find
ourselves in situations with conflicting obligations. According to this
framework, each obligation must be met. It greatly underemphasizes the
importance of relationship in motivation. For this framework think “Spock”.
In
consequentialist (utilitarian) ethics decisions are based on the perceived
outcome. This allows us to forego rules and principles if we can achieve “the
greatest good” by another method. The end justifies the means. This lets us
play God, and credits or blames us for consequences that we may not have been
in control of or been able to foresee. This is the “all is well that ends well”
philosophy.
There is
arguably however a third framework often referred to as virtue ethics in which
the character of the agent must be considered as well as the outcome and any
method that compromises character for an outcome is not viable. I have seen
character defined as having one’s principles, goals, and actions in congruity
as opposed to the imbalances and compromises that often constitute the essence
of the practical life.
How can we
apply these ethical theories to the answers from question #1?
A logically
consistent determinist will recognize that determinism obviates the need for
ethics. If we are purely determined then it does not matter what system you use
to make daily decisions. As a result, many become fatalistic and reject the
concept of morality. But since most of us aren’t logically consistent you will
see others split between rule based and utilitarian modes of practical living.
Those
following the ideal of self-actualization more commonly gravitate toward
utilitarianism because in their thinking to admit defeat is to give into
despair. They MUST believe that every problem has a solution and all you need
in a tight spot is to think deeper or work harder. When they believe they have
found a solution that will lead to the good end they envision then they are
unlikely to be deterred by something as pedestrian as rules. It is possible for
a while that a self-actualizer would follow a different ethical system if they
believed that there is a predictable reward for following the rules or for
maintaining good character. But they end up disillusioned as well when they
realize that sometimes, good guys finish last and following the rules gets you
killed.
So what
happens when we view our future as determined by a God who knows us and loves
us and responds to our efforts to glorify him?
First, it
means that you will not have the future you are imagining now. Really. You
won’t. That is not intended to make you fear or cause you to give up but
neither is it a call to just try harder. It is a call to move your focus,
change your aim, and realign your sights. It is a call to change your goals.
Take your list of goals and strike off achievements, positions, and certainly
net worths. Replace them with a goal to glorify God in your daily life with a
life of character and virtue. Protect your name. Proverbs says, “A good name is
to be chosen rather than great riches.” It takes years to build a good name and
just a moment to lose it.
As I
mentioned during my introduction, you may think this conclusion is obvious and
simple but it is not and it won’t be. You too will feel the pressure to blame
your actions on your culture, your circumstance, or anything other than your
character. Don’t! We are different. We each have different opportunities and
privilege. Life isn’t fair and it never has been but nothing out there can
force you to sully your “good name”. We should fight injustice but we can avoid
fear and despair knowing that the God who knows you chose to put you here in
this place, time and circumstance.
Those of you
who have fallen for the mantra that you can do anything you want to in life
will be sorely tempted to bend a rule or stretch the truth when you are ALMOST
to a goal and you believe that the end will obscure if not justify the means.
Truly doing that which upholds your integrity, honor, and virtue may block you
from the very thing you desired the most. Unlike Disney, the right choice does
not always get rewarded before the credits roll. In fact, your adherence to
character will highlight for you the injustice in our present age. It will make
you yearn for heaven and will inevitably point your heart and mind outside of
the sphere of “me”.
So I guess
that is what I really want you to get out of this message. This is a natural
time to think about your future but I urge you to think on it only briefly. Do
not despair that it seems tyrannical nor rejoice that you have it all planned
out. You have NO IDEA what it will hold. But as clichéd as it is, you know who
holds your future so focus on a life of character that glorifies him and I
promise he will reward you with a life very different but much better than
anything you can imagine.
