Lesson from 24

I am an avid watcher of the show 24. Let me give a brief description of the show before I go into lessons learned from season 8. Here is Wikipedia's summary of the show. “The series begins with him working for the Los Angeles Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU), for whom he is characterized as a highly proficient agent, but one taking a 'ends justify the means' regardless of the perceived morality of some of his actions. Throughout the series most of the main plot elements are political thriller like in nature. A typical plot has Jack Bauer racing against the clock as he attempts to prevent multiple terrorist plots, including Presidential assassination attempts,nuclear, biological and chemical threats, cyber attacks, as well as conspiracies dealing with government and corporate corruption". The 2 hour series finale is next Monday and I am very interested to see how it will end.

“Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals.’” 1 Corinthians 15:33 (ESV)

This verse has been lived out in multiple ways over the past years, but this season is the focus. President Taylor has been trying to put together a peace treaty that stands the chance to be the first of its kind. However, she has found herself teaming up a previous president, President Logan. Logan’s presidency ended with great embarrassment. He is prideful and is seeking to get his name back in a positive light and talks President Taylor into following a crooked path to reach a world changing end. It has the feel of “the end justifies the means” mindset for Taylor and Logan.

The tragedy is that President Taylor finds herself justifying behavior and decisions that are out of character. The carrot seems so good that she has now begun to walk down a ruinous path that has cost many people their lives. She now had put herself in a position that she described on last night’s show as “telling lies to cover up lies”. All because she began to keep company with Logan. “Bad company corrupts good character”.

I know this is only a television series (one of the best ever) but we can learn some great lessons if we choose. Evaluate your life right now. What relationships are you allowing to mess up your character? What carrots are you chasing that have convinced you that it is worth throwing your character out the window? Your  decisions could very well cost people their lives – that is their eternal life. They might decide that your Christianity is not worth much based on your character. As the Lord told the prophet Haggai to tell the people, “Consider your ways”.