Improving Life with the Push of a Button

The Box (2009)
(Spoiler Alert - The Wikipedia reference link completely describes this movie)

"A suburban couple, Norma (Cameron Diaz) and Arthur (James Marsden), face a moral dilemma when they receive a gift that bears irrevocable consequences. With the press of a button, their simple wooden box will bestow $1 million; however, a stranger somewhere else will die, at the same time. The box will be theirs for only 24 hours, and as time ticks away, Norma and Arthur confront the depth of their humanity as they consider their choices."  (Google.com description)

Perhaps you're  asking yourself, "Would I push the button?"

Perhaps your conviction is, "I would never push that button."

And, of course, maybe you just consider the whole thing ridiculous. It's just a movie thriller with an absurd premise. Entertaining?  Sure.  But only in a mind-numbing, I-just-want-to-sit-with-a-glass-of-wine-and-not-think-tonight kind of way.  The production didn't win any Oscars, but maybe it serves to trigger some questions especially since pushing the button is just the first of many choices presented to this couple.

A million dollars and a stranger dies. The button-pusher never knows who it is and the payment is all cash!  (Of course, in this movie, the IRS doesn't care about banking regulations - I did say absurd!)

What makes one decide to push or not to push?

Is it the million dollars?  What if it was ten million dollars?  What if it was ten thousand dollars or maybe only ten? Do we have a threshold?
Is it the anonymity?  The button is pushed in the privacy of your home. Nobody knows if you pushed or refrained from pushing.  No one is there to judge. You don't know who dies.  In fact, nobody knows you have a box!

Certainly this is a moral decision and I'd wager that most of us would stay on the high road as we consider our answers.

But (there is always a 'but', right?), what if it's a promotion at work?  There's no death involved and there isn't an incredible windfall. Do we push someone out of our way?  Do we stretch the truth to make us look better or to make someone else look worse?  We're just trying to get ahead in the world. The promotion helps our family after all.  It's just business.

Or what if it's something as simple as cutting someone off for a parking space?  Again, no great amount of cash and nobody gets hurt - pressed for time is all. So what if the other guy has to walk a little further. What does it matter, really?

We are faced with choices every day.

How often to we choose to push the button?

And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17