We are a litigious society.
We can and will take anyone to court.
From coffee that’s too hot to decorative Christmas lights, it appears noting is off limits. And a look at any TV programming schedule further reveals our obsession with the law through the abundance of legal-focused shows from ‘Judge Judy’ to the latest true crime documentary. We simply can’t ingest enough legal content.
And we appreciate the technicalities associated with the law and accept them as wholly reasonable; for we are a society fraught with loopholes. We admire the savvy attorney who is able to locate and highlight some obscure exception in defense of their client in much the same way we search for our own escape clauses.
But just because something is technically legal does that make it right? Should these secular stipulations be the sole basis by which we live our lives? These are questions we spend far less time considering, unless we suddenly find ourselves wronged by the results.
“Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I’d be a slave to my whims.”
Paul takes the supposition that ‘legal equals appropriate’ to the logical extreme and discovers it leads to bondage. Bondage to our capricious impulses that can overtake our lives if not properly buttressed by eternal truth. For there must be more than our incomplete and sometimes subjective mortal laws.
Furthermore, we experience true fulfillment when we are striving towards an ideal, vice seeking to get away with things. Living merely to maximize your own gain leaves you empty, and because you are constantly taking advantage, you will assume everyone else is as well. Nothing will satisfy because nothing is genuine, and there is always more. Alternatively, noble pursuits (those endeavors rooted in a timeless ideal) bring with them purpose and fulfillment unavailable elsewhere.
We already have the answers to the test. We recognize timeless truth and the ethic it lends to help us discern. Let us live accordingly as adherence to righteous ethic brings righteous fulfillment.