The Renaissance philosopher Machiavelli is said to have coined the phrase ‘the end justifies the means’, meaning by this that the way in which we do things matters less than our actual goal. If an end goal is justifiable, the argument goes, it doesn’t matter how ruthless and selfish we are in reaching that goal; all that matters is achieving our ends.
Most of us reject that way of living as both impractical and unworthy. For Christians, it is also a betrayal of everything Christ taught, for He showed that motives and methods are just as important as end goals. He is not only the Way in terms of the road we must follow, but also demonstrates the way we must live.
When I was involved in writing funding applications, I learned that it is important to clarify the end goal and distinguish this from the means used to reach that goal. I would often go into a project wanting something specific (a year’s salary for a community centre worker, money to create a play facility, money to build an extension to a community centre, for example.) To me, that was the ‘end’, the goal. I soon learned, however, that this was, in funders’ eyes, simply the ‘means’ they could provide. The goal (or ‘outcome’, in their jargon) of the project was actually something entirely different: the provision of a community facility which could only be continued if a worker was paid to manage that facility, the enrichment of a community’s ability to come together through play through a new minigolf scheme, the enhancement of a community and improvement of community cohesion through larger premises (which would enable more varied activities to be held there to benefit the community.) These lofty-sounding ‘ends’ were achieved through very mundane ‘means’ (all of which ended up needing someone else’s funding!)
The process of writing funding applications required a rigorous, and often difficult, separation of means and ends. It also involved understanding that my ‘end’ goal was actually nowhere near the end; I had to learn to see a much bigger picture. This is true of our individual and church lives as well. The things we often see as ‘ends’ – the cooking, the cleaning, the going-to-work, attending church services, worshipping, learning, studying the Bible – are not actually the ‘ends’ at all. They are simply means by which we live our daily lives. The ‘end goal’, the outcome God is patiently chipping away at through every means at His disposal (even moulding our stubborn sinfulness into His master creation), is transformation into the image of Christ. (Rom 8:29) When we view life through this lens, rather than seeing the amassing of wealth or the provision of a holiday as the end goal, the whole way in which we live is changed.