Is moral excellence an end in itself? Should it be a person’s highest goal to achieve moral purity?

Ancient philosophers talked themselves dizzy trying to define virtue. They often saw it as a rigid idea—a truth that should apply equally in every case—so they constantly tried to perfect their understanding of it. But the concept remained elusive. The plane just kept circling, never quite touching down on the runway. Why? I think there are two reasons: 1) Because they looked only to themselves and the societies around them for this knowledge, and 2) because they thought that virtue was life’s ultimate end.

That approach might sound perfectly natural, but Christians see two problems in it: 1) Virtue doesn’t come from within humanity, but from God. 2) Virtue isn’t an end in itself; it’s the fruit of a life lived for an even higher purpose.

Some of the Greek sophists lived within a century or two of the prophets. But the prophets saw the world through a very different lens. They understood, “that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps” (Jer. 10:23). They realized that searching for virtue within humanity leads us astray, so they taught people to seek God “that HE may teach us HIS ways and that we may walk in HIS paths” (Isa. 2:3). They understood that virtue—whatever is just, noble, and excellent—isn’t defined by man, but by God.

And that helps us to understand why arete is not portrayed as the goal of faith in God: it’s the fruit of faith in God—something we “add to our faith.” In Deuteronomy, Moses repeatedly emphasized loving God first, and then he turned his attention to serious teachings about keeping God’s rules. The greatest command is not, “Obey God’s laws,” but rather, “You shall LOVE the Lord your God.” The fruit of THAT will be our obedience to his commands (Jn. 14:15). 

Moral excellence is not life’s ultimate purpose. It’s the fruit that grows out of a heart that actually, completely, lovingly, humbly trusts in God. Life’s purpose is to love him, and only from him can we find out what arete really is anyway.

- Dan Lankford, minister

In epic narratives, the focus of events and character development understandably falls mostly on a few key figures. But the secondary characters are often important, impressive characters in their own right. Characters like Nestor (the Iliad and the Odyssey), Sydney Carton (A Tale of Two Cities), and Commodore Norrington (Pirates of the Caribbean) are often really interesting in their own right, if we take the time to fully notice what their experience is like.

The Bible features quite a few people who show up in its accounts in similar kinds of “secondary” ways. And one of my favorites is Moses’ father-in-law, Jethro.

Jethro is one of those God-fearing non-Israelites that we occasionally meet in the Bible. He stands alongside Melchizedek, Cornelius, and the magi who visited baby Jesus. And yet, Jethro is unique because of the life and leadership influence that he had on Moses—the prophet who led Israel to salvation and a new identity in God.

Jethro is described as “the priest of Midian,” which might be a bit vague, but could be meant to say that he was a priest of God similar to Melchizedek (Gn. 14:18). He is first introduced to us by the name Reuel (Ex. 2:18), which means “friend of God.” He was the figure who gave Moses a home and a family after he left Egypt (Exodus 2:18-21). Moses turned to him for a blessing when he went to Egypt to do God’s will (Ex. 4:18), and, as Hebrews 7:7 says, “It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior,” which shows Moses’ standing with his father-in-law. Maybe it’s no surprise, then, that when we next see him, we’re told that he blessed YHWH (Ex. 18:10ff) and he was welcomed into the fellowship of Moses, Aaron, and the elders of the Israelites (Ex. 18:10-12). And then, when Israel had come out of Egypt, Jethro visited them and brought such wisdom that the people’s entire system of governance and justice was changed based on his advice (Ex. 18:10-27).

Who was this man, Jethro? He appears to have been a man of character, generosity, wisdom, and faith in God. Was he of the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob? No. Yet he appears to have been a God-fearer. And through him, God’s people were blessed with deliverance and truth.

I think we ought to be thankful for Jethro’s presence in the story, even as a “secondary” character. The Spirit never gives a word of negative commentary on him, and he is a strong supporter of Moses at key points in the long account of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt. He, along with several other God-fearing non-Israelites, show us that God’s favor is not determined by birthright, but rather, as the Scripture says, “the righteous shall live by faith” (Hb. 2:4, Rm. 1:17).

- Dan Lankford, minister

How serious are you about living like a Christian? And before we go any further, let’s be clear about what that question is really asking: It’s not about how serious you feel or believe that you should be about it, but about whether your life shows real Christian living. Maybe we could put it another way: If the God of the Bible—who knows all things, even our thoughts—were to describe your life, how serious would he say that you are about living the kind of life that a Christian should?

There are two eternal temptations for people who claim that Christ is their master: 1) To be so serious about morality that they convict every weakness or imperfection as a damnable sin, whether the Bible describes it as such or not. 2) To react to that by being so lax about matters of faith that we fail to live up to the standard of godliness to which we’ve been committed.

Neither of those are what we’re called to.

But it’s that second one that I think needs to be emphasized more in our current world. More and more, we seem to live in a world that takes an exceedingly casual approach to Christianity. It’s received with joy, but, all too often, at the cost of its requisite sobriety. And if we’re guilty of that, then we need to get our priorities straight and realign ourselves with true devotion of holy living that God has always required of his faithful ones.

• Many of us need a more thorough grasp of repentance—being truly brokenhearted when we sin, and not just shrugging it off and thinking, “Oops. Good thing that’s not a big deal.”
• We need to make real changes in our behaviors—getting self-control and actually doing the right things rather than excusing ourselves by just thinking, “I guess I need to work on that” or “I’m too tired/stressed/overwhelmed/committed/distracted for that sort of thing right now, but God understands.”
• We need a more serious approach to the Bible—that it’s more than supplementary material to our lives, it is the words of eternal life and of sincere Christian living. It’s worth knowing it deeply for our own sakes and for the sake of teaching others.

So seek the truth. Read it. Understand it. Face it honestly. Accept it. Turn toward it. And live it.

What does that require of each of us? It requires prayer. Work. Dedication. Thoughtfulness. Prayer. Hard choices. Repentance. Time. Prayer. Guidance and correction from spiritual leaders. Focus. Humility. Self-control. Prayer. Lots of Bible reading. Deep christian friendships. Accountability to others. And prayer.

If the gate is narrow and the way is hard, then we had better put our all into it.

- Dan Lankford, minister

In most areas of life, we’re looking for the sweet spot – that point of perfect balance. As employees, we don’t want to be overworked or underworked. As parents, we want to be in control without being too controlling. We want to be financially responsible without turning into Ebenezer Scrooge. We want to eat healthy, but also enjoy some indulgences. In so many ways, we’re seeking to find that sweet spot.

Sometimes the same is true when it comes to spiritual matters. In 2 Peter 1, Peter advises us to add “arete” or “moral excellence” to our faith, but doesn’t that pursuit require some balance? Can’t chasing excellence easily lead to burnout and exhaustion? Where is the sweet spot as we seek to add “arete” to our faith?

I think we should mention that the Bible endorses the idea of rest and respite. Jesus provides a great example of this. He made of habit of withdrawing into the wilderness alone to pray (Luke 5:16). Not even the Son of God thought it right to work Himself to death. Still, I wonder if the issue isn’t finding the sweet spot between excellence and exhaustion, rather it is properly understanding what sort of excellence is under discussion.

Often we measure excellence in terms of good deeds done, work accomplished, things achieved. That’s not exactly the kind of excellence Peter is talking about. “Arete” is moral excellence. “Arete” is virtue. So, Peter is not talking about the stuff you do, but the person you are. He’s not talking about how big our bank of good deeds ought to be, rather he is talking about the kind of character we ought to build. He’s not talking about how busy you are this week, but who you are this week.

Adding “arete” is not about finding the balance between achievement and exhaustion.  We’re not looking for a sweet spot, nor are we trying to work ourselves to death. Adding “arete” is about deciding that in every possible way I am going to strive to attain the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).

- Jonathan Banning – minister at Temple Terrace Church of Christ

When I was a teenager, I spoke like a teen, I thought like a teen, and I reasoned like a teen. That era of my life sorely lacked purpose. I just “went with the flow,” doing whatever seemed exciting, fun, or rewarding at the time. I didn’t think often or very seriously about how my choices would affect others or where they would ultimately lead me in life.

But when I became a man, I put away teenage-ish things. At least, I’m trying to.

One of the hallmarks of maturity is learning to live with purpose, on purpose. And if we’re going to add arete—moral excellence—to our way of life in the sight of God, then we must embrace a purpose more dependable than our own ever-changing whims and wishes.
The Bible gives us this wisdom in several ways.

When Barnabas first spent time with the saints in Antioch, he exhorted them all to remain faithful to the Lord “with steadfast purpose” (Ac. 11:23). And in the rest of the New Testament, we can see that they did! Antioch was a sending church. They commissioned, encouraged, prayed for, and supported missionaries that went all across the north coasts of the Mediterranean to teach about Jesus. They did what Barnabas taught, and many heard the Good News as a result.

This wisdom is woven into several of the metaphors used to describe God’s people, the church: a field (1 Cr. 3:9), a temple (2 Cr. 5:1), a priesthood (1 Pt. 2:9), the branches of a tree (Rm. 11), and household pots and containers (2 Tim. 2:20-21). Those things all serve a purpose beyond themselves. Branches bear a tree’s fruit. Pots and pans are made for specific uses. A priesthood serves their god’s/God’s pleasures. Et cetera. All of them serve an end, just as our existence serves an end: to give God glory.

The time for living life by whims and wishes is past, brothers and sisters. We should never expect that sort of thing of ourselves, even in our teenage years. Those who live with excellence will seek to know, understand, and fully embrace the purpose of glorifying God to motivate us to excellent Christian living. That’s the kind of arete that succeeds in spades and that doesn’t grow weary as years go by.

- Dan Lankford, minister

Three times in the Exodus narrative, an individual or group bows the head and worships God.

• The first is when Aaron announces that God has heard them and has come to set them free from slavery (Ex. 4:31).
• The second is when God explains the punishment he will inflict upon Egypt on the night of the Passover (Ex. 12:27). 
• The third is Moses himself, at the moment that Yahweh reveals himself as “a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty” (Ex. 34:6-8). 

These passages show us a pattern for worship. Not a pattern for corporate worship (church assemblies); rather, for personal worship. They show us the importance of worshiping God in our hearts and from our hearts. They show us worship as an act of the mind and the heart and the body, by which we laud and magnify God. At the moments in which they were truly impressed by God, the Israelites humbled themselves (“bowed their heads”) and lifted him up (“worshiped”).

Do you ever do that? Do you ever take a pause in your life to just praise God, either in your heart, through singing, by reading a psalm of praise aloud toward his throne, or by some other act of adoration? This is an important practice for his people, and it’s one that I fear (though I don’t know for sure) we neglect. Our worship assemblies are crucially important, but they are only a part of a whole life that is given in service and worship to him (cf. “spiritual worship,” Rom. 12:1).

The frequency and and depth of private worship may be a stronger indicator of our devotion to God than our attendance at worship assemblies. Like Paul and Silas praising God and singing hymns while in prison… or James’ prescription for a saint to “sing songs” when he is joyful… or the Psalmist who speaks of praising God for his wisdom “all the day”… Our daily lives ought to be defined by adoration and praise for God. It’s more than corporate religious activity; we too ought to frequently bow our heads and worship YHWH, just because he is worthy of adoration from our hearts.

- Dan Lankford, minister

Last Wednesday night, just about the same time that we were starting our midweek Bible study, an American Airlines jet collided in midair with an Army helicopter right in the middle of Washington, DC. Both vehicles burst into flame and went down into the Potomac River. News outlets and officials were fairly certain by the next morning that no one had survived the crash, and since then, that has been confirmed. Sixty-four passengers and crew from the plane and the three soldiers from the helicopter were all killed.

And then, just two days later, another plane—this one an air ambulance that was transporting patients out of Philadelphia—crashed nose-down into a Philly neighborhood. Seven people were killed either by the crash from injuries received from it. The plane was in the air less than one minute before it met its end, and again, there were no survivors.

Tragedies like these tend to generate ripples of worries that spread far beyond the scope of the incident. We worry that these incident indicate that the entire air travel system is broken or becoming dangerous. We worry that something malicious was done to bring down any or all of the aircraft. We worry that its happening in D.C. might indicate some sort of national-level attack. All of these concerns, and more besides, were heard repeatedly in the news coverage last week. And so, again, the ripples of worry about something like this tend to spread beyond the incident itself.

Here are three reminders to help us be wise about events like these:

First: That tragedies are an inescapable part of life. It’s a reality that we should accept. In fact, airplane incidents happen more regularly than we probably realize—some with fatalities and some without. You might remember Captain Sullenberger’s emergency landing in the Hudson River in 2009, or the door blowing off the Alaska Airlines jet in March of last year, or the Baltimore bridge that collapsed that same month. All of these just remind us that life simply doesn’t guarantee us perfect safety. And this has always been the case (cf. Lk. 13:4). That’s why our hope for ultimate safety isn’t in this life. It’s with God, in eternity.

Second: While tragedy is a reality that we will face often in life, we can’t allow ourselves to become desensitized to it. We must still allow ourselves to mourn the loss of life every time we see it. We mourn the deaths of some 70 people who died suddenly, praying that God will take their souls into his care and that they knew Jesus, by whom they may find rest. As the scripture says, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care” (Mt. 10:29, NIV). If God cares about the deaths of all of his creatures, then we must especially be willing to join him in caring about these people’s deaths.

Third: That while many things in life are increasingly predictably safe (these were the first 2 jet crashes in the U.S. since 2009), nothing is guaranteed. So let’s just take a reminder to be ready for our time to meet the Lord at all times, “because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Mt. 24:44).

We continue to live in this world, but our hope, as always, must be anchored behind the veil in the presence of a God who is both almighty and thoroughly good.

 - Dan Lankford, minister

Sometimes victory is the greatest enemy of excellence. That seems counterintuitive, but it’s nonetheless true. Often, our success does not lead to more success, instead it leads to complacency. I’m sure this phenomenon pops up in many different places in life, but I see it most often in athletics. 

I see it in the team who wins the championship one year but misses the playoffs in the next because they just don’t have the same drive and hunger to win it all. I see it in the phenom who finally makes it to the big leagues but stops working because they feel they have “arrived.” I see it in the player who is awarded that enormous contract and then never plays hard again. Sometimes victory is the greatest enemy of excellence. 

Might that also be true when it comes to spiritual things? I think that’s a temptation for all of us. We use our spiritual success as an excuse to slouch back into spiritual complacency. What’s that look like? Maybe a little like this…

“I conquered my temper, my worry, my lust, etc. Now I can just coast to the finish line.” 

“I built a beautiful marriage and raised good kids. My work here is done!”

“I helped convert my dear friend. I worked on them through my teaching and my example for years and they finally responded! I’ve done my duty in evangelism.” 

“For the past two decades I’ve been that person who made every visitor feel welcome, I’ve opened my home liberally, I’ve been a picture of hospitality. Time for someone else to take up the mantle.” 

These are not small things! These are tremendous spiritual victories! Yet, if we’re not careful, victory becomes complacency. Adding “arete” to our faith means that we continually press on toward excellence despite our accomplishments. It means that, like Paul, we forget the things that are behind and press on toward perfection. It means we refuse to allow what has been done to distract us from what still needs to be done (Philippians 3:12-14).

- Jonathan Banning, Minister — Temple Terrace Church of Christ

“Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound.” (Phil. 4:11-12)

When you receive money—a gift, a paycheck, or some kind of support—what’s the first thought that goes through your head? As believers, I really believe that our first thought ought to be a prayer: “God, thank you for this gift.” As Paul was grateful for the support he received from the Christians in Philippi, we ought to be grateful for the providence of God in our lives, at whatever level of wealth he provides. Like Paul, we learn to be content with God himself first, and then we will naturally be content with whatever blessings he provides.

So here’s today’s challenge question: When you receive money, is your first thought, “I hope this is enough” or “What’s if this isn’t enough?” Or… Is it, “God, thank you for graciously providing for me/us”?

I hope that more and more of us are able to learn true contentment, whether we have little or much, and whether we live on little or much. In any and every case, the secret to contentment is to be content with God himself first. And once we’ve got that figured out, the rest of contentment will take care of itself.

- Dan Lankford, minister

The month of January has shown us some dramatic behavior of the natural world.

Fires that started in Los Angeles on January 7 have continued to burn and to spread. Nearly 16,000 structures have been destroyed and 28 lives have been lost. Mercifully, rain was predicted for the area this weekend, but the damage that’s already done is staggering.

Then there are the winter storms which have blanketed balmy Southern states with far more snow and ice than they are used to. All-time record snowfall in some areas like coastal Alabama and southwest Texas brought dangerous road conditions that led to the deaths of at least five people and the complete halt of a lot of infrastructure.

Times like these serve to remind us that while we may applaud ourselves for great human accomplishments, we remain nowhere close to omnipotence. In fact, we can be overwhelmed by the very things that we need and enjoy. Fire is a gift that brings warmth, sanitizes, and helps us prepare food. But right now, it’s a major threat to life. Snow is a gift of moisture to the earth and a thing of pure beauty. But right now, it’s a roadblock to human movement.

We need to occasionally be reminded of all that out-powers us. We can have some dominion over the natural world, but we will never have total control. That remains solely in the hands of the one who created it and rules it with just the sound of his voice (cf. Mk. 4:41). And so when we see the great power of God’s world, we bow our heads and worship him: the creator, the sustainer, and the sovereign ruler of it all.

- Dan Lankford, minister