Winning at Any Cost: The Danger of Ends-Justify-the-Means Christianity

The God We Claim vs. The God We Trust

I do not serve an impotent God. My God can move mountains, calm the seas, speak universes into existence, and rain fire from the sky. My God can harden the hearts of the faithless and turn the people of Nineveh to followers. He is not turned away by hungry lions, fiery furnaces, Egyptian challenges, or false prophets. We have countless examples in scripture of a God that commands the unfathomable power of the Heavens—so why do we treat Him like He is impotent?

Christians, primarily in the modern Western world, treat our God like He is fragile—like we have to fight His battles for Him, as if a misspoken word or cultural ideal will shatter His hold on His people. We act like the threats we face today are novel—they are not. As Ecclesiastes reminds us, "There is nothing new under the sun," and God is not phased by our current culture wars.

We think abortion is an unprecedented crisis—when twice in scripture newborn babies were slaughtered wholesale (Exodus 1:15-22 and Matthew 2:16-18). We think homosexuality is new, when in the ancient worlds of Greece and Rome, these were common behaviors, often to the point of depravity. We act as if the world speaking against Christianity will somehow undermine God's hold on the world, when we have seen His people literally exiled (an act that no civilization was expected to survive) only to endure and thrive in the long run.

The Compromise of Fear-Based Christianity

Yet, when met with resistance and what we call "persecution" today, many Christians will do whatever it takes to move their moral agenda forward. Stances on abortion, LGBTQ+ rights, and prayer in schools have become single-issue litmus tests for many voters who are willing to swallow any amount of vile behavior as long as those issues are advanced. Many will not consider anyone who does not share their values on these key issues—no matter how many other detestable things they do.

This isn't just in politics either. Homes are broken, churches divided, and friendships ruined over views on these issues. We've created a Christianity that justifies almost any means—dishonesty, character assassination, hateful rhetoric, and even violence—if it achieves what we've decided are "godly" ends.

What Jesus Actually Prioritized

There is one issue that Jesus considered most important, and it wasn't any of our current hot-button issues. When asked what was the most important commandment, Jesus answered:

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40)

He then went on to explain, through the parable of the Good Samaritan, that the neighbor He is referring to is not the one who thinks and acts like you do—it is the one that mere interaction with is considered unthinkable. The one that thinks, worships, loves, and lives in opposition to everything you value. Your neighbors are the very ones you disagree with most. We are to love them, above all but God.

This is, according to our Lord and Savior, what really matters. He says this is all that is needed to Live—that all the law and prophets are summed up in that ideal.

Christ's Example vs. Our Methods

Jesus didn't condemn those who sinned; He didn't pursue an agenda to oust the Romans from Judea. Instead, He commanded we turn the other cheek and even welcome persecution. That was the norm until Constantine made Christianity the official religion of Rome in the 4th century.

Fast forward 1,700 years, and we now have Christians claiming they are being persecuted because they are being asked to serve LGBTQ+ customers in their businesses, or insisting that if prayer were allowed in schools it would protect students, or that the reason we have so much division in our society is that God is not being included—all while showing judgment and hate for their neighbors.

The Call to Abandon Agendas

What I'm calling for here is an abandoning of EVERY Christian agenda. Every single one. There is nothing that is worth division. As Jesus told us, "Stop pointing out the splinter in your neighbor's eye while ignoring the plank in your own" (Matthew 7:3-5). Division is Satan's strongest weapon.

Who do you think will draw more people to the Lord: the one pointing out where an unbeliever is "sinning," or the one that they trust and spend time with? However, don't let that fool you—God didn't call us to create Trojan horse relationships, friendships with an agenda. If you befriend someone, it should be in love and genuineness—not with the intention of winning their trust to thrust Jesus on them.

Just like the other agendas I call us to abandon, wanton throwing of the Gospel is just as damaging. Jesus called us to love, and to show love. If we do that, we have been obedient.

True Power vs. False Control

There is nothing else we are called to do except to be obedient as we are led. If God calls you to share, share. If He doesn't, then live authentically. It is not for us to know God's entire plan. Perhaps you are to demonstrate God's love, and another is tasked with sharing His word.

All we can do is look for opportunities to love others authentically and follow the leading of the Spirit. That is true power; that is the true path of godliness. Behavior modification is the domain of this world's rulers and powers. I serve a God infinitely more powerful than that—He owns the cattle on a thousand hills (Psalm 50:10).

My God can do whatever He chooses—there is nothing He NEEDS from me. It's hard enough for me to do what He calls me to do and love—I don't need to try to do His job too.

The Real Question of Faith

When we feel we must win at all costs—when we justify dishonesty, hatred, or division for the sake of advancing our moral agenda—we reveal something troubling: we don't actually trust the God we claim to serve. We're acting as if the future of Christianity depends on our political victories rather than God's sovereign power.

Consider the words of Gamaliel in Acts 5:38-39 when the early Christians were being persecuted: "Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."

Do we believe that? Or do we think God needs our compromises, our anger, our division, and our political maneuvering to accomplish His purposes?

Living Like We Believe in an All-Powerful God

What would it look like if we actually lived as if we believed in the all-powerful God we claim to serve?

We would:

• Stand firm in our convictions without demonizing those who disagree
• Trust that loving our neighbors is more powerful than controlling them
• Value unity in Christ above uniformity of opinion
• Reject any means—no matter how effective—that contradicts the character of Christ
• Care as much about the born as the unborn, the immigrant as the citizen, the poor as the wealthy

When we compromise Christ-like character to win cultural battles, we've already lost what matters most. Our God doesn't need us to win at all costs. He calls us to be faithful, not successful; to be loving, not dominant; to be Christ-like, not merely right.

The greatest witness we can offer to the world isn't winning every cultural battle—it's showing that our faith in God's sovereignty is so secure that we don't need to.