It's My Choice

We certainly hear a lot of talk these days about individual rights and our freedom of personal choice.  Of course personal choice is nothing new.  In fact the Bible establishes the concept of personal choice pretty early in the narrative when Adam and Eve are given a choice about which fruit to eat.  A little later in the Biblical narative we find Joshua compelling the Hebrew people to "Choose this day whom you will serve." (Joshua 24:15 NRSV)  

Clearly, God does not coerce.  One of the overwhelming witnesses of scripture is the great truth that God always gives us a choice.  At times those choices God puts in front of us may be pretty profound, life or death, sin or forgiveness, love or hate, but choices none-the-less.

Today we hear a lot of commotion when it comes to personal choice in many differing arenas; however, the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting controversies over masking and vaccinations have brought these conversations to an entirely different level.  It is not my intent to argue whether or not one should or should not be vaccinated.  In the interest of full disclosure I am vaccinated and I believe everyone who can be should be.  Those things said, we do need an understanding of the dynamics of personal choice.  Lets be clear, there is much more to the matter of choices than simply having the right or the ability to make them.

To fully understand personal choice we have to have an understanding that not every choice we make is practical.  There are times in life that we make poor choices.  I remember when I was a young boy around, seven or eight years of age, my parents took a friend and me to see a movie at a drive in theater.  For some reason, we chose to not wear our shoes, after all we were going to be sitting in the car.  The problem came when our barefooted selves chose to go to the concession stand.  The entire surface of the drive-in consisted of large pieces of gravel.  It was really painful heading to the concession stand crossing those rocks. 

My friend and I both made two choices, neither of which was very practical.  One, we chose to go barefooted and two, we chose to go the concession stands.  Neither choice was morally wrong just not very practical.  In life we are given choices that aren't necessarily a matter of right or wrong but are some times a matter of wisdom or imprudence.  Yet, they remain choices.  

Even so, there are times that we are given choices of right and wrong.  We are often presented with clear moral choices.  One of the amazing traits of human nature I have observed over the years is to often act in wrong ways and to make wrong choices and offer rationalizations or justifications for these immoral choices.  There is even a tendency of some to commit wrong actions for what are perceived to be noble reasons. However, wrong done in the name of right is still wrong.

Simply put, every choice we make may not be the righteous choice.  Adam and Eve did disobey God.  Not everyone will  make the choice Joshua did as he said, "As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." (Joshua 24:15 NRSV)  Bluntly, just because one chooses it doesn't make it moral. This is because we are not the arbitrators of morality.  Ultimately, right and wrong are not matters of personal choice but a matter of the mind of God.  The really is no such thing as doing what is "right for me."  The true question is whether or not our choices are right in the eyes of God.

In the end, there is one thing that is true of all choices.  All choices have consequences, some small, some large but every choice we make has consequences.  One thing I have observed for quite a number of years is that while many revel in the right to make a choice they often desire freedom from the  consequences.  There will always be fall out from our choices.  Some times our choices are rewarding other times they are not; however, all choices bear some sort of fruit.  

In life we will make good choices. There will be times in which we make bad ones.  Perhaps the wisest choice that any of us can make is to simply ask "What is God's will  in this moment?"  When we discern the answer to that question this will lead us to make the right choice.