Whether or not the apostle Paul intended to do it, when he told the Corinthians that “all things are lawful for me but not all things are expedient” (1 Cor. 6:12), he summarized the unending debate between principle and expediency.
Part of the tension comes from the inability to define the terms. Instead of understanding “principle” as the comprehensive truth or primary element from which other conclusions are derived, many equate “principle” with the way things used to be. In other words — the past.
An element of this understanding survives in Christian circles today. One sees it in the insistence that every item of New Testament polity and practice be reproduced in today’s Church. For example, New Testament churches did not have musical instruments so today’s Church should have none. Ministers in the New Testament did not receive fixed salaries nor did they possess theological degrees. That means educated preachers should be rejected and no pastor or preacher should ever get a salary.
New Testament pattern
Using the past as principle also is illustrated in churches that rule out church organizations because they were not present in New Testament times or in churches that insist on doing missions through churches rather than cooperating with others to reach the world for Christ because that is the New Testament pattern.
Expediency, on the other hand, is often characterized by an “ends justifies the means” attitude. Advocates promise “whatever it takes” to accomplish a goal and will do “whatever works.” Expediency seems to have no anchor. It seeks to accomplish the goal at all costs.
Many Christians have been in situations, sometimes even church services, which were deliberately manipulative in order to achieve a predetermined goal. Sometimes half-truths or even lies have been employed to drive church members toward a specific decision or action.
“It is for the greater good,” is the frequent response of those confronted about their expedient behaviors. Such people seem to not understand that the means of achieving something eventually become the end one achieves.
Recognizing the dangerous outcomes of unfortunate choices in the name of expediency caused the apostle Paul to declare, “I will not be mastered by anything” other than his commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord (1 Cor. 6:12).
Identifying and holding on to unchanging principles while being expedient enough to recognize change is a challenge for everyone. During the last 25 years there have been incalculable changes in communication, manufacturing, social relationships, politics, ethics and more. Our world is different. Change from past ways is necessary to survive.
The Church has changed too. It is not the same as in New Testament times nor is it the same as in the 10th century or the 19th century. Today’s Church is even different than the Church of the 1950s.
So how does one balance principles and expediency in today’s Church?
Perhaps a starting point is to identify changeless principles. Consider the Lord’s Supper as an illustration. The Bible indicates the disciples gathered in the upper room that night and drank from a common cup (Matt. 26:27). Is drinking from a common cup the principle to be preserved from the story? Not necessarily. The principle is the memorializing of the broken body and shed blood of Christ in atoning for sin through His death on the cross.
Most churches today use individual cups as a matter of hygiene. It is a decision based on expedience that does not detract from the principle of the sacrament.
Learning about Christianity
After being converted on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians, Paul went into the desert to study about his newfound faith. Aquila and Priscilla took Apollos into their home and taught the young preacher about faith in Christ.
Is the principle the method by which Paul or Apollos learned about Christianity or is the principle that the Christian faith should be propagated through education?
Baptists generally have concluded the latter. In local churches a variety of methods are used to teach new believers about their faith. And Baptists have an extensive network of Bible schools, colleges and seminaries to train pastors, preachers and other vocational church workers for the tasks ahead of them.
That Christians are to do together what they could not do alone is a basic New Testament principle. How that is carried out is a matter of expediency. The Cooperative Program is an expedient expression of that basic New Testament principle. By working together Baptists have a cohesive witness in the local community, through the state, across the nation and around the world.
Working together
The Southern Baptist International Mission Board and North American Mission Board — as well as the state missions board and local associations — are other examples of expedient ways of living out New Testament principles. All embody the principle of sharing Christ with others and all allow believers to work together to do more than any could do alone.
Another way of saying this is that the Christian message is unchanging but the methods for communicating that message are ever-changing. The message is principle. The methods are expedience. One could add that methods must always be consistent with the message and must never undermine or detract from the message.
Tomorrow’s Church will be different from the Church today. It has to be for the Church to relate to an ever-changing society. It will take divine wisdom to distinguish between principles and expediencies tomorrow as it does today. And it will take divine wisdom to find expedient ways to communicate this ageless message to particular audiences under particular circumstances.
May God continue to guide His people as we wrestle with the tensions between principle and expedience.
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