2024-07-17 A Meditation on Radical Morality

“30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”” (Rom 9:30-33 ESV)

Some of the most radical thought in the Church is around the idea that morality will take care of itself. We are willing and able to fight on a platform that need not be appalled or frustrated at the open-ended nature of the question: what will they DO with these freedoms I fight for, I earn for those folks back home, I hold up and salute. The soldier is persuaded, if not that Man is naturally inclined to aim heavenward, to be upward mobile as far as the rules of the road, then instead that a nervous laugh accompany all talk of Morals: these Morals, after all, we invent and pile on ourselves, by our very nature.

Ask anyone who has felt sincere, un-Machiavellian love, and they respond that the immediate desire is to shape up. The immediate desire is to put our best side forward. The immediate inclination is to invent some rules ‘round here. Rules that honor the King. Rules not evil in themselves, borne in a plethoric milieu of inspired eager service. Service of that old curmudgeon’s matter-of-fact testimony: I’m the one relied upon to pipe up a bit about an ethical code. I’m the one counted on to fight against the tides of not war-time “do your bit” but liberalized “do your thing” mentality. Yes, we would invent these souls if they were not already real. We would also correct that nervous curmudgeon, who worries that logically-speaking it is only patent and clear that Man in his natural state will not uphold a sense of shame around a King like Jesus, will not live into a framework guilt-ridden, will be of a celebratory Nature rather than a meticulous hoarding or collecting nature: we collect good deeds, even more than good vibes. We collect in that easy nod towards the church friend who says “let’s go a month, nothing untoward, nothing immoral”. Of course, always one to sign on the dotted line.

If only that prospect wasn’t robbing us of the Gospel, a Gospel better left to dare to fight and obsess and deliberate and Take Seriously an even deeper War, an even deeper Cause, an even deeper Swords-Drawn Mindset. That it all was a bit quaint. That even we who do appreciate and love our brethren and sistren, can be tempted to add the caveat: this one is a bit immoral. This one—who loved us, who showered no guilt, no accusation, no ill-begotten judgment upon us, is after all a bit of a sneak. A bit of a lost soul. A bit of a one not acquainted with Upright Cause.

The fight is to the strong, and the strong are made thus strong because they fight for that very nature of Soul, of neonatal-to-the-grave Importance, Puzzle-Piece fitting in, of each and every blessed Creature of our God and King. Who rule by an always-hated, always-persecuted, always-judged, Absence and Gone-Missing claim on a moral high ground. Let us love them, and see if they don’t alight upon some Good Perch in and of themselves, not fussing around their rectitude, but upright nonetheless for the sake of being Lovers and Enthusiasts and Patrons of the Crown, of Life-Affirming no-nonsense Togetherness. Of a Family Life Together born in the wretched dungeons of the moralist’s weaker war.