The
Irrepressible "Ought"
Mark
Roberti
,
Director of Stewardship, Heartland Parishes of
Sometimes, in life, it seems like things should be a little clearer, a little more “black and white.” In recent years, in particular, there have been people who are experts at exploiting so called, “gray areas.” For a living, they sow seeds of confusion. They make sin more palatable.
Modern propaganda gurus say that if you want to get a point across these days, you have to be able to fit it on a bumper sticker. It has to be said in eight words or less. Well, I saw a quote on a local Christian reader board the other day that did just that. It said, “Sin: first it fascinates; then it assassinates.” Under the wire at seven words, and how true!
“Freedom” is a word that fascinates then assassinates. Which one of us doesn’t want to be free to do what we want to do? Freedom is a very good thing. Mankind, and each individual being, seeks it at the very core of his being. Throughout history, millions and million of people have died so that they, and others, can live in freedom.
The same is true of “choice.” The argument goes, “As long as I am not hurting anybody else, what’s it to you?” But there is the rub. Sin is, by its very nature, always communal. One can never hurt just himself or herself and not hurt others. That’s because sin offends God; and God saves us not just as individuals, but also as a community. When any one of us sins, we upset the entire moral order.
In order to be “good things,” freedom, and choice, necessitate what I call the “irrepressible ought.” If you have a moral obligation and/or the responsibility to do something, then you should be free to choose that thing. But if by doing something, you are sinning, then the “good” becomes a “wrong.” Freedom and choice are corrupted.
Conversely, if we have a moral obligation not to do something that we “ought not” do, or let something happen that we “ought not” let happen, then we sin by letting it happen.
We are instructed by Jesus to
“give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give unto God what belongs to
God” (Mk
Likewise, sin is meant to trip us up. Our new relativistic culture, where “you believe what you want to believe” and “I will believe what I want to believe,” is a trap. “Fascinate and assassinate” is “divide and conquer” in new clothes.
In fact, this cultural relativism, is Satan, the new temporary emperor of the world, dressed in what are to many, very appealing clothes… freedom to do what I want to do, freedom of choice, freedom to totally disregard the “irrepressible ought.”
But that is not freedom at all; its slavery. It is our very subjugation to our basest desires. It is sin in its ugliest manifestation, vain, bold, cocky. It is sin telling you, “I am going to destroy everything you value, and you are going to help me.” It is Satan telling you, “I am going to destroy your family, right in front of your eyes, and you are going to help he.” That’s what it is.
This is why I so dearly appreciate the “irrepressible ought.” It is our conscience. It is our “life rope” to God, the true and everlasting ruler of the world. No matter how much we stray, no matter how badly we abuse it, it is always there, nagging at us, cajoling us, telling us, what we need to do in order to be doing the right thing.
That doesn’t mean our consciences are always right. They can get knotted, and snagged, and frayed, but they never, never, break or get disconnected. They are always in the vicinity of being right, because they are who we are… at our very core.
There is, however, a surefire way to be certain that our consciences are protecting us, and our families, from Satan. That is by allowing the Church to help us properly form our own consciences and those of our children.
Time, talent, treasure, truth, trust, and teachings…these are the road maps, the directions, for a healthy Christian and human existence. Because never are we more human, never are we more healthy, never are we more alive, then when we are in communion with God.
Good stewardship is a properly ordered life. It is doing what we ought to do.