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One of my favorite movie scenes comes from 2012’s Argo. Ben Affleck’s protagonist is a CIA officer who specializes in clandestine operations. He’s in the CIA Director’s office trying to get the agency’s approval to use the fake Hollywood production of a Star Wars-esque science fiction film for an Iranian hostage extraction. His character contends, “There are only bad options. It’s about finding the best one,” to which the Director counters, “You don’t have a better bad idea than this?” Bryan Cranston’s character dryly admits, “This is the best bad idea we have, sir. By far.”
I think of that phrase so often it’s become second nature but, more than that, it’s become woven into my beatnik Christian spirituality. Aren’t you aware of the problems with broadening out the viable reasons for divorce? “This is the best bad idea I have, sir. By far.” Don’t you see the problem with Roman Emperor Constantine literally overseeing the Council of Nicaea? “This is the best bad idea I have, sir. By far.” Isn’t it obvious how celebrating erotic pleasure may go awry? “This is the best bad idea I have, sir. By far.” There are only bad options. It’s about finding the best one.
No doubt some people will think this notion of “the best bad idea” as merely another way of saying, “The lesser of two evils.” It’s true there’s a lot of overlap between their meanings. Both have this sense of making a hard choice between less than ideal options. Nevertheless, it seems to me there’s a crucial difference. The lesser of two evils means choosing an evil and going with it. The best bad idea means it’s wrought with peril–this thing could go sideways a thousand different ways–but there’s nothing explicitly wrong. Ethically speaking, that’s a truly enormous difference.
Having earlier defined sin as that which is detrimental to human flourishing, I believe Jesus was the one and only human without sin. All of His followers? We’re pretty well hosed this side of eternity. Here Paul’s do/do not tongue twister from Romans 7 comes to mind.1 The human condition is we’re beloved yet hurt people who lack full grace and wisdom. We often don’t know how best to follow Jesus in this beautiful yet broken world and, even when we do, we don’t always do it. Oftentimes the spiritual journey is about finding the best bad idea and going with it.
The original beatniks were all about creativity and experimentation. There’s a reason they loved having jazz music with their poetry slams. The free-flowing style put ’em in the right headspace. Christian culture, on the other hand, tends to be rigid, structured, and perfectionistic. Quite often Jesus followers function as though they’re petrified of thinking, feeling, believing, saying, or doing anything wrong.2 Beatnik Christianity consciously walks in the steps of the Beat Generation by taking more of that improvisational approach to experimenting with the best bad idea.3
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Romans 7:14-20 reads, “For we know that the law is spiritual; but I am of the flesh, sold into slavery under sin. I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. But in fact it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin that dwells within me.”↩
They have to know with absolute certainty the exact right thing to do, then they have to do it precisely. Ugh. How exhausting!↩
Mistakes will be made and ya know what? That’s OK.↩
