PRAGMATIC FEVER – by Dr. Dan Light

Pastor Howe reached a point in his ministry where he was ready to do whatever it would take, ethically, to improve his church’s image and growth in the community and denomination. His motive was admirable in the sense of its ambitious goals and objectives. The first place his thinking went was where most minds tend to go when improvement is called for. What seems to be working best? How is success being achieved in other locations? What is acceptable enough to avoid rejection but innovative enough to be energizing? With the exception of an exodus of five or six members from his congregation Pastor Howe has led his congregation into new paradigms of policy and practice, waiting to see if positive results happen at his church as they did in Little Rock and Grand Rapids.

The fictional Reverend Howe is imaginary only as presented in the above story but very actual in real life existence. Practicing a “whatever works is right” approach, or what is technically called “pragmatism”, is probably the primary philosophy that drives present day politics, social institutions, business, and increasingly, Christianity. I could go on and on in explanation of pragmatism as generally considered to have originated in the late nineteenth century with Charles Sanders Peirce, who first stated the pragmatic maxim and having come to fruition in the early twentieth-century philosophies of William James and John Dewey and, in a more unorthodox manner, in the works of George Santayana. I will mercifully spare you that and simply borrow from F.C.S. Schiller and define the pragmatic motivation as “When the most useful way to solve a problem shifts, so does the property of truth.” Back in the 1960s one of my college professors, Dr. Ralph Phelps, pointed out to us the errant Marxist-Communist view of truth as “whatever works becomes truth, regardless.”

Most church leaders would protest the how-dare-you implication that they carry the banner of philosophical pragmatism, claiming that their only intention is to be practical and exercise responsible stewardship, applying the most result-producing methods for the expansion of the kingdom of God in modern society (Ah-men). In a charitable sense I would be lenient in their direction, giving them the benefit of the doubt that they mean no harm at all and are, in the least conniving manner, attempting to do the right thing. The toxic ingredient in their innocent efforts, however, is that what “works” is not necessarily right. Those who register even a slight fever of pragmatism may find themselves flirting with such objectionable attitudes as “The end justifies the means” or “Lead, follow, or get out of the way.” Playing too near that kind of fire can be especially hazardous if there is more danger from being scorched by the flames than illuminated by the light or energized by its heat.

Falling in to the march of the parade of pragmatists may seem to be the most necessary way to go. To grab hold of what apparently works makes sense to the senses. Its attraction as a crisis-corrector and a situation-solver may, in the desperation of a moment, eclipse the small detail that it can also be a truth-trasher. In keeping with the spirit of compromise and conformity to experience-based religion or political correctness the practicality of the tried and tested certainly seems appropriate. Pledging allegiance to the banner of pragmatism may be justified by a claim of loyalty to logic; the dots connect, chances are more than good that what worked there will work here. Considering the fact that getting in the groove, going with the flow, and rising with the tide is not illegal, immoral, or fattening what harm can be done, even if what works should happen not to work for me? After all, just in order to do what works I’m not crossing over the line as Abram did, telling Pharaoh a half-lie that Sarai is my sister, or, like Jacob, impersonating my brother to receive the blessing. No dirty pool for me.

Cutting to the chase, let me suggest—no, let me urge—that if there is a risk to take in finding out how to proceed in leading others in the name of Christ or simply doing the right thing individually, the first place to go is to your prayer closet. If you intend to give the benefit of the doubt to anyone or any idea, give it as the apostle James suggests in the first chapter of his epistle: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives generously to all (italics mine) without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” Such an approach patently differs from the modus operandi of choosing what to do and then asking God, by the way, to bless what you came up with from what worked in Peoria. Granted, theoretically the will of God may be stumbled upon in the course of your educated guesswork but not likely

Lo and behold, it can be verified that the omniscient Lord, Adonai Elohim Tsevaot, Yahweh, by Ruach Ha Kodesh, the Holy Spirit, does still yet give direction to those who pray, meditate, and wait for instruction. How about that! So what if secular critics despise the notion that government leaders or backwoods preachers or whoever claim to hear from God. Okay, so the critics are correct when they point out that some who claim to have a hotline to heaven are either looney tunes or false prophets, I’m not addressing the abusers, I’m appealing to the well intended believers. There are counterfeits for all the currency in God’s treasure store of revealed truth, but ultimately they only serve to confirm the reality of the real thing, consistent with God’s holy scriptures. Do not be deterred from going to the throne room before going to the situation room. Resist the lure of plunging into pragmatism. Consult with the Wonderful Counselor first. It will make a positive difference in where and how we go from here to there.