Society
is torn. There is so much acrimony and division these days over political
ideologies, race, gender, religion, and most anything people can imagine to
divide up over. I would have thought that was clear, but in a recent social
media post by the Southern Poverty Law Center showing a photo of a toddler in a
KKK outfit, comments came back defensively denying that we are in significant conflict.
We are even in conflict over whether we are in conflict. One clear indicator of
our divisions, hate crime, is indisputably and dramatically on the rise.[i]
When the
present day is all shouting and spin, it helps to draw wisdom from the past,
including the spiritual wisdom of folks like St. Paul. Much that is implicit in
Paul’s swirling metaphors and pleas for people to treat each other more kindly
is out front and explicit in Aristotle. That’s because Aristotle was a prosaic philosopher
while Paul was a poetic mystic. But they agreed on some basics.
Aristotle
said, Humans are political animals. He
didn’t mean we like jockeying for power in partisan contests. He meant we are
wired to live in relationship with a community.[ii]
It is not good for the man to be alone. Genesis
2: 18 Aristotle taught that we are all born with a destiny, not to do something
or acquire something, but to become someone. We are each on our way toward
becoming the person we were made to be – though whether we become that person
or not is up to us. It depends on how we live. We are all meant to become fully human. We become fully human
through the development of our characters. A character is a deeply engrained pattern of behavior. Aristotle
called a good pattern an arête or
virtue. We form and strengthen virtue though life in community. Modern philosophers
like Emanuel Levinas, Jurgen Moltmann, and Martha Nussbaum and depth
psychologists like Melanie Klein and Donald Winnicott agree that we become
ourselves through relationship and conversation. That is why the Bible is
consistent in saying we are called to live in covenant with one another.
Pause
here to notice the difference in how we understand our city, state, nation, and
world. They are not a necessary evil, not a regrettable infringement on our
individualistic liberty, but the field on which we exercise virtue and become
who God made us to be. Aristotle thought the city-state should be organized
precisely for the purpose of growing virtue – not maximizing wealth but growing
virtue.[iii]
The Pilgrims founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony to be a society where
Christian virtue could flourish. Calvin did the same in Geneva.[iv]
The forefathers forged American democracy with the notion that participation in
democratic processes – if we do it right – would grow our characters. There are
always people who want to withdraw from the fray and take refuge in the private
life of self, family, and friends. They deny any responsibility for what
happens in the public square and embrace passivity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBIxScJ5rlY Similarly, many hope the
Church will be a sanctuary where we do not think about real life issues of
justice and mercy. But those escapist strategies deny our nature as wired for
community and the role of the Church in expressing the moral side of public
issues.
The 19th
Century French sociologist Alexis de Tocqueville did a classic study of
American society, Democracy In America. He
examined the American character with the question: why does democracy work
there when it hasn’t fared well elsewhere?[v]
He found that we were doing democracy quite well but that American culture had
a tragic flaw that would likely sooner or later spell the doom of democratic
society – individualism. Think I Did It
My Way. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6gBw-tK82E Or My Life. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h3JFEfdK_Ls
Spiritually,
individualism denies our nature as wired for community and rejects the hard
task of becoming fully human through relationships. Politically, individualism
is the path to the everyman for himself riot
that, according to Thomas Hobbes,[vi]
we establish government to overcome. The Biblical book of Judges recounts one disastrous story after another, explaining each
with this recurring one-liner explanation, In
those days there was no king in Israel and each man did what was right in his
own eyes.[vii]
But de
Tocqueville said there was one hope for us. He believed our participation in
voluntary associations, especially and above all churches, would allow us to cultivate the civic virtues necessary to live together in peace and govern
ourselves wisely. For Alexis de Tocqueville a church is a gymnasium in which we
strengthen the virtues without which civilization is impossible. I would agree
but say that cultivating those virtues is not just for a political purpose – it
how we grow into the likeness of Christ.
And we, who with unveiled
faces, contemplate the glory of our Lord, are
being transformed into his image with ever increasing glory. 2 Corinthians 3: 18
For those whom he foreknew,
he also predestined to be conformed to
the image of His son so that he might become the firstborn of many
brethren. Romans
8: 29
Do not merely look after your
own interests, but also the interests of others. Have this attitude in you that was in Christ Jesus. Philippians 2: 4-5
The goal
of the Christian life is to become fully human as Christ is fully human, to
cultivate in ourselves the qualities of character that made Jesus the Christ.[viii]
If de
Tocqueville is right that the virtues we learn especially in Church, but also
other voluntary associations, are necessary to democratic society, is it any
coincidence that the decline in Church attendance and membership in other
voluntary associations has occurred at the same time as the current dysfunction
of our political life?[ix]
If the departure from the Church produces this political disarray, then
political disarray is a symptom of an even more serious spiritual malaise in
society. That’s what Parker Palmer says in Healing
the Heart of Democracy.[x]
Palmer argues that we need to form groups to intentionally practice the
virtues that are essential to civic life.
This
brings us back to St. Paul. It is often said that Paul junked the law in favor
of a libertine life in which all is forgiven so anything goes. Not so! Paul
shifted from the rule-based ethics of the Torah to a virtue-based ethics like that
taught by Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Cicero, and other great minds of the
Ancient World. Instead of thou shalt do
this and thou shalt not do that, Paul
wrote, But the fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5: 22-23 Paul
rejected rule-following ethics in favor of growing a character with a skeleton
of strong virtues.
Paul’s
virtue ethics became the basis for Christian morality to this very day.[xi]
The foundation of Christian moral life is The Three Theological Virtues (Faith,
Hope, & Love)[xii]
and The Four Cardinal Virtues (Prudence, Temperance, Justice, and Fortitude)[xiii].
We grow more like Jesus through practicing these seven virtues intentionally in
our relationships with each other. Church is the best place to work on forming
our characters, but we spend most of our time in the secular world, so that is
where the virtues must be practiced day in and day out.
Any understanding
of Christian morality begins with knowing and understanding the Big Seven Virtues. The words don’t
always mean exactly what we might expect from how they are used ordinarily. So,
we need a bit of vocabulary clarification.
Faith is not holding the right
theological opinions. It is closer to what psychoanalyst Erik Erikson called basic trust. It is the capacity to trust
others enough to be in relationship with them. At the psychological level, it
is the first step in psychosocial development. But theologically, it is even
more important. It is trust in God which amounts to trusting Reality itself to
be meaningful and good. Without trust, we live in fear and loathing. Faith set
us free from that misery and makes life possible. Faith in the coherence of the
world is the essential foundation for science. Faith in the meaningfulness of
words is the foundation of language. Without faith, we are lost.
Hope is believing in the good no
matter how hidden it may be. It is only
with the heart that one sees rightly. The things that are essential are
invisible to the eye. Antoine de Saint-Exupery. Hope is the heart seeing
the invisible beauty of the world, and daring to believe that it will one day
flourish. There is in all things visible
. . . a hidden wholeness, wrote Thomas Merton. Hope is the antidote to
despair. Despair is suicide, mass violence, addiction, and cynicism. Hope is
the Man of La Mancha dreaming the
impossible dream. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGsYrpejAYw
The
practice of all the virtues is rooted in the transcendent hope for our own
transformation into the likeness of Christ. We
are God’s children now. It does not yet appear what we shall be. But when he
appears, we shall be like him. I John 3: 2 Emily Dickinson said:
Hope
is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all
And sweetest in the Gale is heard
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
Love in this sense is not romantic
or sentimental. It isn’t the special affection we feel for our lover, friend,
or child. It is appreciating and caring for another person just because they
are a person. It is loving their humanity. That applies to all people equally.
Other kinds of love single out people for preference. They are not wrong, but
this kind of love is the greatest love of all and is the foundation for doing
all other loves well.[xiv]
This love extends to everyone. It is what we mean by the Baptismal Vow to seek and serve Christ in all persons.
Prudence is the “mother of all
virtues,” the virtue without which none of the others is possible. in day to
day speech prudence means being careful -- but not in moral theology. Prudence
is the wisdom to see things as they really are – not as we wish they were, not
as we are afraid they might be, but as they really are – not through the lens
of any ideology or prejudice. It is daring to look reality in the face. There
is a crude but apt illustration in the movie LBJ, when the President says to
his fellow Texan, Senator Ralph Yarborough, Ralph,
you’ve got a goooood heart, but s%$* for brains. Faith, hope, and love
would all be a fantasy if they were just make believe, and not facing the world
as it is, people as they are. Prudence sees thing as they are and acts wisely
in the situation, like a gambler knowing when to hold ‘em, when to fold ‘em,
etc. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jj4nJ1YEAp4
There
are two things we have to know first before any other prudence/knowledge is
possible. First, we have to know ourselves because everything else we see, we
see through the lens of our own psyches. The Ancient Egyptians and Ancient
Greeks inscribed the proverb everywhere know
yourself. The Greeks had story after story of people who had been told true
prophesies, but rushed headlong into disaster because they did misread the
prophesies – misread them through the lens of their own selves. We have to know
ourselves to see rightly.
The
second thing we have to know is how much we do not know. Certainty closes the
mind. Curiosity opens it. Wisdom is possible only if we are not too sure of
ourselves, only if we dare to turn to wonder. We are usually wiser when we
wondering.
Temperance in moral theology isn’t just
about how much you drink. It’s balance. Parker Palmer says that the big truths
of life are usually paradox, two conflicting propositions or attitudes. For
example, he talks about the wisdom of chutzpah
and the wisdom of humility. They are both essential to a well-lived life.
But they pull in opposite directions. It is hard to hold the tension, to live
in the tension; so, we tend to drop one half and live in the other. We may be
brash fools or timid shrinking violets. A virtuous life has both chutzpah and humility. That is just one
example. Life is full of paradox. It can only be lived fully if we are
disciplined and strong enough to hold the tension. https://onbeing.org/blog/autumn-a-season-of-paradox/ Political extremism of
either right or left, like religious fanaticism, is a flight from paradox and
therefore reality. Temperance is wise action, right action the Buddhists call it, in the actual situation. It is
knowing what time it is. It is restraint when restraint is needed, boldness
when boldness is needed. Think of the Serenity Prayer. http://www.beliefnet.com/prayers/protestant/addiction/serenity-prayer.aspx That is temperance.
Fortitude is strength and courage. It
is determination to live bravely. For God
has not given us a spirit of fear but of power (fortitude) and of love and of a sound mind (prudence).
2 Timothy 1: 7 This is a particular time of anxiety, a time when the spirit of
fear seizes so many and they lash out in anger against the people and the
forces they perceive as a threat. Fortitude is living boldly out of faith
instead of cringing or reacting in fear. Let us not be naïve. Practicing the
virtues isn’t easy. It will get us into all manner of trouble. But as Zorba the
Greek (Nikos Kazantzakis) said, Trouble?
Life is trouble. Only in death is there no trouble. Theologian Paul Tillich
called it The Courage To Be. Life
takes courage. We grow in courage thorugh daring to take the risk to be
virtuous.
The
imperative sentence Jesus spoke most often to his disciples was do not be afraid. Notice he did not say
do not feel afraid. He said do not be afraid. Do not live in fear. Do not
act out of fear. Do not let fear block the gate between you and your real life.
Scott Bader-Saye has written an excellent short book on how the fearless life
of a disciple sets us apart from the fear-based culture of our time, Following Jesus In A Culture Of Fear. https://www.amazon.com/Following-Culture-Christian-Practice-Everyday/dp/1587431920 When I
see all the racist, nationalist, nativist, religious and other forms of hatred
rampant today, I find that when we scrape the veneer of hatred just a little,
we almost always find cringing fear beneath it. Fortitude – strength and
courage – are essential to the fully human life. That’s why we pray over our
confirmands, Strengthen O Lord your
servant . . . ‘
Justice is a tricky word indeed. We
generally speak of four kinds of justice: distributive (a fair division of
resources); procedural (a level playing field process in which all voices are
heard); restorative (putting people back in the position they were in before
suffering a wrong), and retributive (punishment that fits the crime).[xv]
Clearly justice is at the core of
Biblical morality. Let justice roll down
like the waters and righteousness like an overflowing stream. Amos 5: 24; Follow justice and justice alone that you
may live in peace . . . Deuteronomy 16:20.
The four
kinds of justice listed above make sense in a society but what is justice as a
personal characteristic? What is a just person? We cannot hope to make a just
society without just people. Three sources help us understand how justice can
be part of who we are inside. First, the Bible links justice to right
relationship. Think of proper boundaries, such as an employer who does not
abuse power in relationship to employees. It involves promise keeping, but in
the Bible, it also means care for the needy. Their need constitutes a
relationship, makes a claim upon us. Listen
to the weeping of my people. Jeremiah 8: 19.
Second,
our old friend Aristotle sees justice as a kind of balance related to temperance.
A just person wants only what is fairly his own – in terms of wealth, fame,
attention, etc. The just person wants others to have their fair share.
Injustice is overreaching, greed if you will.
Third,
the theologian who translated Aristotle into Christianity was St. Thomas
Aquinas. He said, Justice (is) . . . the
habit by which one renders to each his right or due with a constant and
perpetual will.[xvi]
But what is their right or due? Here’s the Christian spin: Jesus commands
us to love our neighbors as ourselves. And who
is my neighbor? the lawyer asked. Jesus answered with the story of the Good
Samaritan – wrong race, wrong religion, wrong nationality – but he showed love
across those lines of difference. The neighbor is anyone we have the
opportunity to help. Luke 10: 25-37 According to St. Thomas, the habit of offering such help with a constant and perpetual will is
the mark of a just person.
Conclusion. This is a challenging time. Challenging
times are the crucible in which character is formed. I invite you to imagine a
society, not a utopia, but a society in which the Big Seven Virtues prevailed
more often than not. We would not always agree, but we would manage our
disagreements according to the virtues. We would not avert our eyes from facts
that do not fit our ideology. We would not let fear override our natural
impulses of compassion We would practice loving others as ourselves instead of
putting ourselves first.
Now
imagine practicing for that kind of public life in our congregations. Imagine
treating each other according to the teachings of Christian morality. Church is
rightly said to be a hospital for sinners, not a resort for saints. We would be
foolish to expect congregations to be populated with people who have mastered
the virtues. But we might expect congregations to be populated by people who
are working on them. We might expect congregations to make striving for the
virtues a norm of church life. If we did that, parish life might become de
Tocqueville’s moral gymnasium.
Now
imagine yourself, growing day by day in each of these virtues. It would not
make us richer or more powerful, but it could not fail to make us wiser and
happier, kinder and more serene. That is the life to which Christ invites us.
May we have the wisdom to hear his invitation and follow his call.
[i] Hate
crimes increased in 2016, especially religious based hate crimes, with violence
against Jews significantly higher than violence against Muslims. 2016’s
increase of 5% was considered significant. So, far cities of over 250,000
population are reporting a 20% increase in hate crimes for 2017!
[ii]
Literally he meant we were wired to live in a polis, a self-governing city-state in which the people decided how
things should be done.
[iii]
Marcus Aurelius said that these virtues were the true goods of life, as opposed to wealth
or things that conduce to luxury or prestige.
[iv]
Most of us would say the coercive approach of Massachusetts Bay Colony and
Geneva were not a good way to help people internalize virtue. But the point is
they worked from the premise that the name of the game is shaping the soul.
[v]
The French Revolution had seen a democracy movement collapse into a reign of
terror. Another wave of democratic revolutions would sweep Europe in 1848 but
all be beaten down. Democracy in Europe was still decades away in de
Tocqueville’s day. So, Americans were a curiosity.
[vi]
17th Century English political philosopher, author of Leviathan
[vii]
Judges 17: 6; 18: 1; 19: 1; 21: 25.
[viii]
The common notion that Christianity is all about going to Heaven and avoiding
Hell is unfortunate. Biblical Christianity, which is also traditional orthodox
Christianity, is a religion focused on who we become for the sake of our
relationship with God, and that relationship happens at least for now primarily
in our relationship with each other.
[ix] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowling_Alone
[xi]
In the 18th Century, philosophers like Kant attempted to reconstruct
a rule-based ethics based on reason. That was not a total failure but it was
mostly a failure. Philosophy today has returned to virtue ethics. The leading
example is Alasdair Macintyre, After
Virtue.
[xii]
1 Corinthians 3: 13
[xiii]
Wisdom of Solomon 8: 7; Plato, The
Republic; Aristotle, The Rhetoric;
Cicero, De Officiis; Marcus Aurelius,
Meditations.
[xvi]
Tomas Aquinas, Treatise On Justice, Question
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