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Distinguishing the Should from the Could
by Gerald R. Chester, Ph.D.
On one occasion when the airline industry was in turmoil, Herb Kelleher, the CEO of Southwest Airlines at the time, was at a social gathering. An airline industry pundit commented to Herb that Southwest could make a lot of money flying international routes. Southwest had the capability to offer international service and Herb knew of the opportunity. But Herb was not distracted by what Southwest could do; rather, he was focused on what Southwest should do. He responded that Southwest flies short-haul—meaning short-haul domestic flights. Herb made a distinction between what his company could do and what it should do. He could have modified his business model to provide international service, but he was not willing to put the core business at risk to make the requisite changes.
In a notoriously unprofitable industry, Southwest Airlines has historically been profitable. Herb knew the risks of the industry and that he had a sound business model; therefore, wisdom was to stay the course. Flying international routes was a risk he was not willing to take. In other words, he knew he could fly domestically and internationally but believed that he should only fly domestically.
What you should do is always a subset of what you could do. The challenge for everyone is to distinguish the should from the could. But how do you do that?
In today’s culture, which seems to celebrate independent decision making, most people approach the question of should vs. could assuming they need to figure it out by themselves. In other words, the assumption is that each person is the sole determiner of how he or she chooses to live life or manage his or her workplace responsibilities.
Some people, however, hopefully are wise enough to follow the biblical dictum found in Scripture:
Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors they are established. (Proverbs 15:22 NKJV)
Clearly, this text supports the value of counsel over independent thinking in making decisions.
Notwithstanding the value of wise counsel, there is another way to gain wisdom regarding questions of should vs. could. Consider the role of authority figures in your life. (I refer to authority figures as commissioning agents.)
A key principle of God’s universe is delegated authority. Every aspect of life falls under divinely appointed authority. Parents have authority in families. Organizational leaders have authority in organizations. Political leaders have authority in public policy. Indeed, in every area of life, all humans are under authority, and even authority figures must give an account to the Lord (Colossians 4:1). In this sense, there is no true independence.
The assumption of human independence is one of the deceptions that confuses humans and blocks them from seeing the importance of submission to authority. Romans 13 declares that all authority is divinely ordained, therefore God ordains even dysfunctional authority. Though not a pleasant thought, it is nevertheless true.
Given that God is intentional and strategic, God uses authority figures as a tool to execute His will. If it is His will that we distinguish the things we should do from the things we could do, then surely God-ordained authority will be a tool to help us.
An example is the story of Moses and Jethro recorded in Exodus 18. Jethro was a pagan priest and Moses’ father-in-law. At the time, Moses was on assignment from God to deliver the Israelites from bondage in Egypt. While on this assignment, Moses had left his family in Midian where he had been in exile. But now Jethro brought Moses’ family to him.
While visiting, Jethro saw Moses spending his days resolving disputes among the Israelites. Jethro noticed that Moses functioned as the lone judge and was overloaded with work. Jethro wisely concluded that this was not good and that, instead, Moses needed to deputize men to handle the simple matters and limit his involvement to the more complicated cases. This would enable Moses to have more time to proactively teach the Israelites the ways of the Lord and spend less time reactively handling disputes.
To guide Moses in whom to select to handle the simpler matters, Jethro gave Moses the C4 principle as a hiring criterion (Exodus 18:21).
Jethro was an authority figure in Moses’ life. Though a pagan priest, Jethro was sovereignly placed over Moses as his father-in-law and was used of the Lord to direct Moses into distinguishing what he should do from what he could do. Moses was handling all the dispute resolution work by himself, so he clearly could do it, but Jethro helped Moses see that he should delegate the simple work and limit his work to the complicated cases. This story illustrates how authority figures are used of God to help us differentiate the should from the could.
None of us, in and of ourselves, has perfect discernment in making decisions— decisions such as, whom to marry, where to live, what career to pursue, what job to take, when to leave a job, what church to attend, what car to buy, where to vacation, what standard of living to embrace, and so forth. We all see through a glass darkly (1 Corinthians 13:12); therefore, we need help.
Independent decision making, particularly on major issues, is an example of deception. Like Moses, we need help in distinguishing our should from our could. And like Moses, the authority figures whom God has sovereignly placed in our lives as commissioning agents to help us distinguish the should from the could are of extreme importance.
To properly engage commissioning agents, we must recognize that they are authority figures (for example, parents, teachers, managers, spiritual leaders, civil authorities) sovereignly placed in our lives to help us align with the will and ways of God (Romans 13:4). Even pagan commissioning agents can be used by God to do this, just as Jethro did for Moses. We must learn to submit because submission to them is really submission to God.
Submission is a mark of humility. To submit requires us to set aside our will and ways to comply with the will and ways of another. This is a fundamental trait of true disciples of Christ (Matthew 16:24). To submit to Christ requires submission to the commissioning agents God has placed in our lives.
Genuine submission is marked by teachability. The role of commissioning agents in our lives is to train us to live holy lives before the Lord, which is the only proper way to live in light of the free gift of eternal life in Christ.
In common paradigms of Christianity today, submission to commissioning agents is not popular. One reason is that people simply do not want to submit. But there is also a valid concern about abusive commissioning agents. Clearly, this can happen, but God’s will is not thwarted. Just as the pagan priest Jethro was used to guide Moses, so God can work through unsaved, even idolatrous, authority figures.
But dysfunctional authority should not be blindly followed. Commissioning agents can be abusive. God’s safeguard is other commissioning agents and Scripture. If a believer is asked by an authority figure to violate Scripture, then the believer should not obey (Acts 5:29). In other words, as a maxim, you should seek to obey authority unless the authority asks you to violate Scripture. Please note that this safeguard is not to be used as a license for disregarding authority. The safeguard is to be used very prudently and with guidance from other commissioning agents and wise counsel from advisors.
Always remember that commissioning agents will be used by God to guide us into His will and help us distinguish the should from the could. If you cannot distinguish the should from the could, you will be easily distracted and, most likely, pursue work assignments and relationships because you could, not because you should.
To live a life of obedience to God requires that we distinguish the should from the could and choose the will of God, which is the should. May the Lord give us all grace to live submitted to our commissioning agents and to listen to wise advisors who can help us differentiate the should from the could and align with the will and ways of God.
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