The creator of the very popular TV series "Breaking Bad" was on the radio today. The protagonist of this show is a good man who falls on hard times and is in desperate need of money. He is a high school chemistry teacher. It occured to him that he could use his skills to make methamphetamine, which he does.
As the series progresses, this very good man becomes a very evil man.
On the radio, the creator of the show askes the question, "without a final judgement in the hereafter, why would anyone choose to do good?" This question assumes that people, by nature are evil.
The church has an answer to this question. Jesus would never choose evil over good, why then would we make such a choice.
The Buddhists also have an answer to this question in the four nobel truths.
1. Adversity is authentic. All humans suffer adversity. There is no attempt by the Buddhists to explain why this is - it just is.
2. These adversities arouse passions within the the one who suffers. Another statement of fact.
3. Each person is free to choose how to react to suffering. They can choose an outward focus and serve others - think of Ghandi, Mandela, MLK. Or they can choose an inward focus toward self and revenge - think of our response to 911.
4. Those who choose the former are enlightened.
The Lutheran doctrine of free will is close to the four nobel truths of Buddhism. Article 18 of our Augsburg Confession says that we have free will regarding all things earthly - like how will we love and serve the poor. We have no free will regarding things heavenly - like salvation, or who gets to go to heaven.
Lutherans embrace the concept of moral ambiguity but that does not mean that we should never take a stand. It means only that in the final analysis, our conscience is our guide and we should sin boldly.
Luther's answer to those who demand a rule book for what is good and what is evil ....
No one needs to tell lovers how to love one another
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