Trying to Help

When India was under colonial rule by the British, there was a problem with cobras.  Too many of them, if that was not obvious when I said the word "cobra".  Their solution was to put a bounty out on cobras.  Anyone who turned in a dead cobra was paid some money.  But pretty soon the good people of India figured out that it was much easier to raise cobras than catch cobras.  So a number of secret cobra farms sprung up around New Dehli.  Eventually the British rulers realized that their bounty system was not fixing the cobra problem and ended the program.

So what became of the cobra farms?  Because there was no money to be made in raising cobras, the cobra farmers let the snakes go.

Economists have a name for this.  When due to unintended consequences a possible solution actually makes matters worse.  It's called, "The Cobra Effect."

The point of the story is that everything that we try is 100% improvement.  Sometimes in spite of our best intentions, things go horribly wrong.  The prohibition of alcohol in the 1920s was meant to reduce alcoholism and its negative effects, but it led to a massive increase in organized crime.  Widespread use of antibiotics have cured many diseases but have created super germs in their wake.  The automobile has brought the freedom of transportation to many and with it a host of environmental concerns.

In each of these examples, there were no pros and cons to weigh out.  People never saw the downside coming.  It would be an example of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called and "Unknown-Unknown".  It is a case where we don't know what we don't know.

So what's a person to do?  Doctors may have it right in the Hippocratic Oath when they pledge to "First Do No Harm".  And that isn't a bad place to start, but do we not feed hungry children because we don't want to foster a culture of dependency and entitlement.  Somehow that doesn't feel quite right.  

I think that first and foremost, we need to be ever mindful of the still small voice of the Holy Spirit.  We need to seek out God's will in everything that we do.  As Christians we need to be secure that God has a plan and we are part of it.  We need to be secure that God has a best path if we have the faith and patience to discern it.

And we need to be aware that in this world, some problems don't have perfect solutions.  Just like some medicines come with side effects, some problems come with unintended consequences.  So let's all agree to be a little generous with each other.  Let's all agree that  when things are up in the air we need to come down on the side of Grace, We need to come down on the side of Mercy.  We need to come down on the side of Love.

Watch this video from Pastor Chris.

We are called by God to help relieve suffering in the world.  We are called to lift up those around us so that they can see God's love through us.