How do we do the right thing at work? Part 2 of a series

Recently we told you we were staring a new series on “doing the right thing;” you can read the first post here.  There we began to unpack what it means to have “Christian” ethics. Here we’ll start looking at different approaches people have taken to trying to figure out what the right thing is.

1) Rules.

The first approach, “command ethics,” asks,

“Is this action right or wrong in itself, according to the rules?”…..This set of duties/rules may be given by divine command, natural law, rational logic or another source. In Christian ethics, we are interested in commands given by God or logically derived from God’s self-revelation in the Bible.

2) Results.

The second approach focuses on consequences and asks:

 “Will this action produce good or bad results?”…. The most moral course of action may be decided by:

• What will result in the greatest good?
• What advances one’s self interest best?
• What will produce the ends that are most in accord with God’s intent for his creation?

Not all systems of “consequence ethics” are Christian ones, but this does not mean that God is uninterested in consequences any more than the fact that not all sets of rules are Christian ones means we should not think about Biblical rules.

 3) Character.

The last approach focuses on what kind of a person does good actions and asks:

“Is the actor a good person with good motives?” In this approach, the most moral course of action is decided by questions about character, motives and the recognition that individuals don’t act alone because they are also part of communities that shape their characters and attitudes and actions. This is often called virtue ethics. Since the beginning of the Christian era, virtues have been recognized as an essential element of Christian ethics.

How do all of these approaches apply to Christians?  Should we look more at rules, results, or character? We’ll talk about that next, starting with what the Bible says about ethical rules and commands.