RIGHT OR WRONG: What Does It Profit A Man To Gain The Whole World But …
There is a wonderful scene near the end of the trial of Sir Thomas More in the movie classic “A Man For All Seasons” that serves admirably to illustrate the contemporary application of Jesus’ well-known maxim: “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul?”
In the movie, More is on trial for his life because he refused as Lord High Chancellor of the Church of England to give his public approval to King Henry VIII’s divorce and remarriage. By maintaining his silence, More was able to escape Henry’s wrath for months because the law required silence to be construed as consent.
But Thomas Cromwell, More’s great adversary, bribed Richard Rich, an obsessively ambitious former student and apprentice of More, to give false testimony that his former patron had in fact announced that the King, as the head of the Church of England, “had not the authority, or words to that effect” to legalize the divorce and remarriage.
As Rich walked past More to leave the court, More stopped him and asked him about the chain of office around his neck. When told by Cromwell that Rich had been appointed Attorney General of Wales, More said these words from the Gospel of Mark to his betrayer:
“Why Richard. Our Lord said what does it profit a man to gain the whole world but lose his soul. But for Wales?”
It’s a long way from England under Henry VIII to America today, but not so far as to be irrelevant, especially if you work on Capitol Hill for a senator, representative or congressional committee, or for any enterprise that seeks to influence Congress, the President or any of the many executive branch departments and agencies.
Jesus enjoined His followers to “take up my cross and follow me.” He promised they would suffer greatly in this world for proclaiming the Good News that Jesus is Lord, but their rewards in Heaven with Him would be incalculable.
When Jesus rejected losing your soul in return for the whole world, He perhaps was thinking about His own temptation in the wilderness in the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.
There, Satan offered Jesus dominion over all the kingdoms of the Earth if only He would bow down and worship him. Jesus replied that, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.’”
More’s point to Rich was that he sold out for cheap, but even if Cromwell had bribed him with the whole world, betraying his former patron was also forsaking God to worship the Devil, the ultimate form of betrayal.
Capitol Hill is a place that offers many sorts of Wales in return for speaking half-truths, or ignoring inconvenient facts, or advancing at somebody else’s expense. Jesus also said “if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”
Saying or doing dishonest A in order to get unmerited B in return is moral relativism at its worst.