Paper or Plastic

Did you ever have to make up your mind? ... Did you ever have to finally decide? ...

It used to be, a good medical and retirement plan came as part of career employment. Today, we have the privilege of choosing each year among increasingly inadequate alternatives. It used to be we went to the grocery store, selected our items, took them to the cashier, exchanged pleasantries, made the purchase, picked them up, and went home. Now it’s “Do you have your xyz store card?,” “Did you find everything?,” “Credit or debit?,” and of course “Paper or plastic?”. Is there no limit to how many truly meaningless questions can be asked?

Before we were born, we lived in a very protected and controlled environment. The biggest decision then, if there were any at all, would have related to the movement of muscles. After birth, we began to realize that at least certain factors in our environment could be modified by our actions. Still, choices were limited by our immature physical and mental capabilities.

In a sense, we can view all of life as a series of decisions. Big decisions include where to live, occupation, spouse and family, and investments. These choices and the consequences that flow from them, in a large measure shape our lives. A small decision by itself often has little effect. But small decisions can add up. “I will overeat today.” The consequences from the single decision to overindulge are limited, but the compromise of principals made makes the decision to go the same way the next time that much easier. As we remake the same decision, over time the effects start piling up. We need only observe weekday afternoon television to see evidence of disasters that occur routinely as a result of repeated patterns of bad decisions.

Decisions—What Do They Mean?
First, we must acknowledge that the need to make decisions does indicate something very good. Consider the alternative. If we had no decisions to make, that would mean that control of our lives comes from some external person or thing. It is not the number of decisions that we make that indicates our freedom, but the type or importance of them that really matters. A choice between two equally poor alternatives is really not a choice at all. Many choose not to make these kinds of decisions as a matter of principle or protest. Others just fail to even consider them out of indifference.

So the fact that we make meaningful decisions testifies to our freedom. Satan proved that he had a free will by making the tragic decision to rebel against God (Isaiah 14:12-14). Adam followed suit, proving the same thing about human nature (Genesis 3:6). Martin Luther made a decision that the Word of God must stand above the writings and traditions of men. For that, he faced exile and nearly certain death. His life was preserved and largely as a result of his stand, freedom of religious thought sparked a revolution.

Just Do It
One way to approach this whole decision question is to just do it. Go with your first impression, which very often turns out to be correct anyway. Not unlike a mouse in a maze, we simply take our best guess and adjust as required later. We know we will make mistakes, but at least we’ve freed ourselves from agonizing over getting it wrong. When the mouse hits a dead end, it simply turns and trys another route. Perhaps a little memory keeps it from remaking the same mistake, and through trial and error, it eventually reaches its destination.

The consequence of mistakes for the mouse was simply that it took more time and effort to make it to its goal. Many problems can be solved in this manner. As long as the cost of making a wrong choice remains low or at least reasonable, the trial-and-error approach certainly has merit. Of course, not all choices can be reversed easily.

Consider this. You’re on the top floor of a very tall building and running late for an appointment. The elevator is not available. The quickest way down would be to just jump off of the building. People have survived such jumps in the past. Perhaps something to break your fall would be at the right place at the right time. You would have made it down in just a few seconds, the trip would have been thrilling, and if successful, you’d have made it to your appointment on time. The problem is, your decision to save time has a huge and irreversible cost if the favorable conditions stated did not occur. Clearly, we cannot always just do it.

Anatomy of a Decision
We all know what decisions are, but what is the process we use to make them? At times it seems we all get stuck and perhaps overwhelmed by some very difficult decisions. How can we pull ourselves out of the rut and get on a path that leads to a solution? Consider the following steps:

1. Identify the problem

   This may seem obvious, but it’s worth considering. It could be that the major difficulty is that this decision involves multiple problems, focuses on a symptom, or even defines the wrong problem altogether.

2. Determine urgency

   Certain decisions can be pondered, others must be immediate. Consider Peter’s decision. He saw Jesus walking on the water and asked if he could join Him. Jesus said, “Come.” (He still does today.) Peter started out okay, but then he took his eyes off of the Lord. He began to sink. In desperation, he prayed the shortest prayer in the Bible. “Lord save me” (Matthew 14:30). There’s much to be learned from this little incident about what we can accomplish with God’s help, what happens when we take our eyes off of the Lord, and how He is there to help us immediately even in our most desperate hour. For now, let’s just acknowledge that some decisions must be made in a hurry.

3. Determine importance

   Can the decision be reversed? How certain are the consequences? What is at risk? As in our jump-or-be-late example, the risks of death or serious injury—which cannot be reversed—far outweigh the benefit of making it to an appointment on time. We need to keep in mind too that decisions and problems that can be fixed with money generally carry less risk than those that cannot.

4. Allocate resources

   What is available that can be applied to a solution? Many of our problems have been faced by someone somewhere before. What can learn from the decisions that they made?

   Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety. (Proverbs 11:14)

   The trick is to learn from mistakes (preferably of others) rather than making them, or even worse repeating them ourselves. The Bible illustrates the point very plainly here:

   As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. (Proverbs 26:11)

5. Identify alternatives

   Can it be delayed, done in stages, or passed on to someone else?

6. Weigh consequences

   One powerful tool for evaluating options is a list of likely outcomes. For a given alternative, there are positive outcomes and negative ones. Just start thinking about the likelihood and importance of each positive and each negative. You can view this process as placing weights on each side of a balance scale. The alternative with the highest score wins.

   But what if your decision involves how someone else will react? In some cases, as in making some business transactions, the course of action still may be pretty clear. We need to utilize legal documents and representatives to prevent those with evil intent from harming us. But it’s that other class of questions, the ones that involve interpersonal issues, that really challenge us.

   Perhaps people have disappointed us in the past. Even people of good character can disappoint us or react in an unloving way. What shall we do? Shall we assume that people will always react that way? Shall we hide away in our safe little world and refuse to take a risk because we fear (see The Year of Fear) that we might be hurt? That is certainly an option, but it is one that leads to loneliness. The better approach, in my view, is to just take the risk and within reason give people the benefit of the doubt.

7. Choose best alternative

Now let’s return to the example of Peter walking on the water. What were Peter’s options? He had only an instant to cry out before he would sink. (We will not debate whether or not he could have survived by swimming in that storm.) As in this case with Peter, there are times when we have very limited time to think. We must simply act or even react.

How did Peter address his urgent need? He identified the problem (he was sinking); he determined that his need was both urgent and important (he had to do something fast); he saw one resource and alternative (Jesus); and understood the consequence (life or death). He chose Jesus and lived. People still do that today of course, but more on that later.

One trick for making some decisions is to decide in advance. Certain things, often categorized as temptations, seem almost overwhelming (I Corinthians 10:13) the moment they are presented. Car salesmen routinely exploit this human weakness. But many of these courses of action can be understood, weighed and resolved before the opportunity presents itself. In that way, we are not swept away trying to make a tough decision in the heat of the moment.

Logic vs. Wisdom
Even after carefully reasoning our way through this process, we still can be unsure. The problem is that something is still missing. Good decisions require more than just following a logical approach. Consider Solomon. As king of Israel and a man famous for his great wisdom, he was presented with a dilemma. Two women each claimed to be the mother of the same baby. Which one was the real mother? These days the process of determining the answer is easy. Just do a DNA test. Back then, wisdom did what science couldn’t. Should he call witnesses or order a fact-finding investigation? Solomon knew he had all of the witnesses that he needed.

The king ordered his guard to cut the baby in half and give a piece to each woman. He knew that the real mother would give her son to another rather than suffer the pain of seeing him killed. When one woman did just that, Solomon knew that she was the mother and ordered the baby given to her.

So where did Solomon get this ability to make these kinds of judgements? Was he born with it? Did he learn it? Neither. He received it in response to his desperate plea for help. Not unlike Peter, young Solomon asked God to deliver him from his problem.

And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child.... Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad.... And the speech pleased the Lord.... And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. (I Kings 3:7-13)

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119:105)

Ultimate Decision
Did you ever consider that in many ways the future of mankind has turned upon decisions made in two gardens? It was in Eden (Genesis 3:3) where Adam decided to go into ruin with his precious bride rather than to obey his Creator (Genesis 3:6). There, sin entered into the world and death by sin (Romans 5:12). Then it was in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36) where Jesus surrendered His own will to the Father (Matthew 26:39, 42, 44) to redeem His precious bride (Revelation 21:9) from death and to give her eternal life—undoing what the first Adam had done (Romans 5:15, 19; I Corinthians 15:21, 22).

Who or what is your God? Is it money, power, pleasure, or fame? We have considered some big decisions, but none compare to this one. Where will you spend eternity? “Oh,” you say, “I don’t believe in an afterlife. Besides, what does a baby in a manger really have to do with our lives anyway?” That baby stands to confirm that ultimately you will not be given the choice to be your own god (Romans 14:11), and you are not the one who defines good or evil (Romans 14:12). The standard was created and certified by Someone much greater than us. And as with the case of Peter, the right decision is clear.

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mark 8:36, 37)

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Romans 10:13)

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

News from Home
This year has been a blur, full of very big decisions. I decided to renovate the house for possible sale and am seeking the Lord’s direction in this. Since March, the place has been a construction zone, but it’s finally about done. I would like to remarry, but that big decision is taking time. I remain in the same group at IBM.