“For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” Paul (Romans 7:19)
“I should probably, probably not.” Olivia Rodrigo
I’m not a huge Olivia Rodrigo fan, but I definitely like some of her more upbeat songs for my running playlists. One of those is “bad idea right,” and for some reason, as I was listening to it while I was running the other day, I started thinking about Paul.
Specifically, Paul’s musings in his letter to the Romans on how even he, Saint Paul, so often finds himself doing the very thing that he knows is the wrong thing to do: the thing he doesn’t want to do, the thing he knows he’s going to regret.
If her song lyrics are to be believed, Olivia Rodrigo can relate.
If you don’t know the song, she is basically describing her plans to hook up with an old boyfriend, against all better judgment. This is the chorus:
“Seein’ you tonight, it’s a bad idea, right?“
“Seein’ you tonight, f**k it, it’s fine.”
It might not be Scripture, but it makes the same point, GenZ style.
The chorus is pointed enough, but it doesn’t stand by itself. Once I started listening with my theological lens, I heard how she describes so clearly the compelling types of self-justifications and rationalizations that all of us construct when we are preparing to make this wrong choice, which, in spite of all evidence to the contrary, somehow manage to look so appealing in the moment.
“Can’t two people reconnect?”
“I only see him as a friend.”
“I know I should stop, but I can’t.”
For Rodrigo, there is a burning need for something she wants now, in the moment, that is overriding any long-term considerations. She’ll deal with the consequences later; right now, she wants what she wants.
Sound familiar?
Even the song itself leads us to adopt an, “Oh well, why not” attitude. The beat is catchy, her tone is playful, and the whole thing sounds more like a joke than a problem. It all seems like it’s just not that big of a deal, which is another way that we self-justify: downplaying decisions and situations, and convincing ourselves that they don’t matter too much in the long run, anyway.
If something seems inevitable, why worry about it? Why not just give in, and deal with the consequences later?
Well, if I can stay with Rodrigo’s example for a little longer, it’s because of how things look the next morning. What seems like a good idea in a moment of self-indulgent weakness usually comes with a fair amount of regret in the light of day, when we see not just ourselves, but the other people around us whom our decision impacts. When we see the wreckage of our self-centeredness, lack of empathy, and short-sightedness. (And, harkening back to the song one last time, sometimes the person hurt most by these actions is ourself.)
These uncomfortable feelings are our inner wisdom—or maybe the whispering of the Holy Spirit—reminding us that, at our core, we are relational beings, and we are responsible for, and to, other people (and that we also have a responsibility of care for ourselves). And this is a good thing. We wouldn’t want to live in a world where each of us thought only of ourselves, our immediate desires in the moment, and never considered others’ feelings and needs in our decision-making. That’s a hedonistic, and ultimately lonely world.
2,000 years ago or 1 year ago—the language used to express the sentiment might change, but the very human experience is the same.
The appeal of a bad idea is universal.
Happy Lutheran 