Can It Be Wrong To Do The Right Thing?

This is the question being asked in this year's Great American Think-Off, a contest for amateur philosophers sponsored by the New York Mills Regional Cultural Center.

It seems to me the first question that needs to be answered is, what is right and what is wrong? We don't know if we are doing right, if we don't know what right is. Once we have that answer then the answer to the original question is obvious and trivial.

It is God who sets the standard. If we are living in obedience to God, we are doing right, and in those circumstances it is never wrong to do the right thing. However, if we let human values and morals rule our lives (as is true for most people) then yes, it can be wrong to do the "right" thing. Because, in fact, the right thing according to human judgment is the wrong thing based on God's standards.

No One Does Good, Not Even One

The question that separates Christians from non-Christians is, would you consider yourself to be a good person? Non-Christian would say "yes" and because they are basically good they will get into heaven. Evolution teaches that mankind is basically good and as we evolve we continue to improve and become better people. Liberal "Christianity" teaches the social gospel, that through our own good efforts we can make this into a good world.

But here is what scripture says:

"God looks down from heaven
on the entire human race;
he looks to see if there is even one with
real understanding,
one who seeks for God.
But no, all have turned away from God;
all have become corrupt.
No one does good, not even one."
Psalm 53:2,3

"For I was born a sinner--
yes, from the moment my mother conceived me."
Psalm 51:5

There is not one good person on earth. No one is good but God. (Luke 18:19)

We think we are good because we compare ourselves with human standards. Our problem is that the standard is not a human standard, but God's standard. Instead of looking to each other, our focus must be on God... and we have fallen far short of God's standards. We have broken all of the Ten Commandments. We were created in the image of God, but are miserable representatives of who God is. We are sinners and we have nothing in us that can save us from God's just punishment.