Practically Speaking

Foolishness brings joy to those with no sense; a sensible person stays on the right path~ Proverbs 15:21

I have been told that I can be annoyingly practical at times. I prefer to think of myself as reasonable and logical, but to my family, logic and reason are “fun suckers” and “killjoys”. Here is a sample of some of the questions I like to ask during the decision making process…

Do we already have something we can repurpose to meet our needs?

Is there an easier way to get this accomplished? (I typically ask this numerous times)

How much will it cost? Followed by, Can we do it cheaper?

Will this work the way we hope it will work? (I’m not a big fan of surprises)

I suspect my bent toward the practical is a byproduct of the way I was raised. There were a lot of kids in our family and not a lot of money, so we were forced by circumstances to be practical, resourceful and inventive.

 One summer when I was about twelve there was a stretch of wretchedly hot weather that continued for weeks on end and there was no air conditioning in our rental. After suffering the heat for a few long, miserable days my brother and I decided to take matters into our own hands and do something about the situation.

 We had a couple of old box fans and learned we could rig them with duct tape, some old magazines and blocks of ice. We wound up devising a rather effective “redneck” cooling system. One block of ice and a well-placed fan would cool a small room fairly efficiently for a little less than twenty-four hours; we pooled our money and dwelled in hillbilly comfort for the remainder of the heat wave.  Admittedly the system wasn’t visually appealing, but at a cost of about forty cents a day for both our rooms, it worked. That was all that mattered to either of us.

As a person who can lean toward the utilitarian I have to remind myself that pragmatism has a dark side, especially when expediency and ease are my motivating considerations. I see the ugly end of practicality playing itself out everyday in our world.

The worst examples are gut-wrenching: Muslim extremists who wipe out Coptic Christians in Egypt because they are unwilling to find a way to get along. China’s one-child-policy is believed by their leaders to be a sensible solution to over-population although its led to horrendous human rights abuses. Smallpox blankets and Hitler’s “ Final Solution” are perhaps the most horrifying examples of practicality taken to an appalling place.

Less dramatic but still significant are politicians and government employees who violate personal privacy because they feel it’s a reasonable way to “keep us safe.” Teachers and school administrators have occasionally been known to look the other way when cheating takes place because lower test scores negatively affect school funding, and Pastors are often tempted to dodge divisive yet biblical topics for fear of losing people.

 And then there’s the personal stuff: fudging a child’s age to qualify for a lower price at a buffet, cheating on taxes, allowing our kids to watch things or do things we know they shouldn’t to buy a few moments of peace and quiet and other go-along-to-get-along behavior that we can all fall into on occasion.

 Practicality remains a virtue as long as we keep two things in mind as we are searching for the easiest, most sensible way to get things done. First of all…

 Christians are called to love, not practicality~ 

The book of 1^st John could be called the love book of the Bible. In this diminutive gem of a book the word love is used forty-five times (NASB). John is clear: Christians are commanded to love at all times, even when it’s inconvenient and impractical. The love we are called to embody is not just any kind of love, but agape love. Agape is the Greek word for a specific type of love that is completely selfless, utterly sacrificial and absolutely unconditional. To be perfectly blunt, agape love is completely unreasonable and lacking in sense. The use of this word tells me that if we are going to be the people Jesus called us to be we will have to throw practicality out the window from time to time and love people the way God loves people: without limits or reason.

Practicality without principles will always take us to a bad place~

 Practicality morphs into a monster when a person does not have a fixed set of standards or beliefs that guide their thinking and dictate their behavior. The more negotiable morality and truth become, the easier it is to justify bad or even evil behavior. This is especially true when conceding a principle can bring about some sort of desired result. Unfortunately, compromising principles oftentimes does bring about desired outcomes (at least in the short run). In God’s estimation, practical results are not the highest value and the ends never justify the means.

One day not long ago when I was attempting to defend my sensible self I did a Bible study of the word practical. I searched at least ten different translations looking for my beloved word. I discovered it’s not there. I have to confess that my sensible soul was dismayed to discover that one of my favorite words is MIA in the biblical text. After some thought I concluded that the omission is intentional. After all, a God who would sacrifice His own son for the sake of a mostly ungrateful race is not nearly as practical as I am.  

Let all that you do be done with love~ 1^st Corinthians 16:14 NKJV