GOAL?

This is where it was shot. The actual bridge in David Lean’s The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957). Far from Kwai. Far from Thailand. In Kitulgala. In Sri Lanka (where I was a few days ago with friends Vinodh and Suchi).

(Souvenir collectors completely dismantled the bridge, beam by beam, stone by stone, soon thereafter!)

In the movie, based on a fictional story by Pierre Boule, British Colonel Nicholson (Alec Guinness) is the protagonist who is a POW in Western Thailand. He is forced by his Japanese captors to lead his men in building a railway bridge over said river. Now you need to know that Nicholson is an outstanding officer, a man of the highest scruples, and unimpeachable integrity, committed to excellence in any mission he undertakes. So the bridge he builds, though it was to serve enemy purposes, is a remarkably excellent one, built with as much quality he could muster. So far so good.

But by the end of the film, Nicholson is obsessed with his bridge. His fellow British officers are planning to destroy it in an attempt to keep the Japanese supply trains from using it against the Allies. And Nicholson, so caught up with his goal—excellence in all he does—is in the utterly unethical position of defending the bridge—his bridge—from attack.

Consumed by the goal—his goal, his way—he forgot his purpose.

There's a chilling moment of realization, right before Nicholson, mortally wounded by another soldier, falls upon and detonates the bridge. That’s when he utters the famous line, “What have I done?”

Goal obsession or fixation. A good thing, except when skewed. And when the broader purpose is neglected, resulting not in good, but in damage to institutions and people and self.

In a famous study by Darley and Batson (1973), Princeton Seminary students were recruited to go from one building to another with varying amounts of urgency, some of them to deliver a talk on the story of the Good Samaritan. Along the way they encountered a man slumped in an alleyway, coughing and moaning. Ironically, very few stopped to help this actor, even when they were going to expound the story of the Good Samaritan. Some literally stepped over the victim on their way to their task.

Consumed by the immediate goal, the overall purpose and mission are hijacked.

That can happen to all of us.

The scribes were in danger of goal obsession. Wanting to be “great” in the religious schema, they forgot the greater commandments. Wanting to be “acceptable” before men, they forgot what it was to be acceptable to God.

In His teaching He [Jesus] was saying:
“Beware of the scribes who like to
walk around in long robes,
and like respectful greetings
in the market places, and chief seats
in the synagogues and
places of honor at banquets,
who devour widows’ houses,
and for appearance’s sake
offer long prayers;
these will receive greater condemnation.”
Mark 12:38–40

Their goals. Their way. Gone astray. “What have I done?”

Here’s God’s purpose. God’s way. The greatest commandments.

One of the scribes came and … asked Him,
“What commandment
is the foremost of all?”
Jesus answered,
“The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel!
The Lord our God is one Lord;
and you shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart,
and with all your soul,
and with all your mind,
and with all your strength.’
The second is this,
‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
There is no other commandment
greater than these.”
Mark 12:28–31

The larger mission of love!