Means not the Ends

November 5th, 2007 by JohnO

In the 18th century, there was a philosopher named Immanuel Kant.  In short, he came up with the idea that the “ends justify the means”.  Whatever you need, or want, or think should happen - is the ends.  And whatever you need to do to get it is the means.  This thought has had the most profound impact on civilization ever since.  When used inappropriately, you can justify any action.  Often times we come to our faith in this very way.

We cannot ask “what are the requirements”.   That is thinking in this very same way.  The ends are “salvation” and the means are what you need to do.  Our faith has always been about giving all of ourselves.  Not doing a set number of things to get God to give us our ends.  The means of our faith is glorifying God - not salvation.  And as one famous preacher loves to say “The only way a human being can glorify God is through the cross”.  There should not be an end that we require.

Think about a marriage, does the husband or wife only do certain things (means) to gain the others love (ends)?  No, at least not in a healthy marriage.  The same could be said for a healthy friendship, or any other relationship.  So why do we say it in our relationship with God?  We should be prepared to love and serve God because of what he has done for us irregardless of what happens to us in this age, or the one to come.

One Response to “Means not the Ends”

  1. on 08 Nov 2007 at 9:46 am1 Sean

    settle down over there, Paris Reidhead ;)

    How about this idea? God has and ends:

    Isaiah 45:18
    18 For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), “I am the LORD, and there is none else.

    God’s end, his dream, his vision for the world is to have his earth project succeed. He wants to establish his presence right here in the midst of a renewed creation. Thus, for us repentance would include not only changing our lifestyle from sin to righteousness, but more importantly, knowing why we do this. In other words, when we repent we drop our ends (to become wealthy, have lots of lovers or whatever) and adopt God’s ends. God calls us to hear his dream for the world, be wooed by it, and adopt that as our own vision.

    Great points, though, about the means never being justifiable. We never use the devil’s methods to bring about God’s purposes. For God the way we do something is just as important as what we accomplish.

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