THE INEVITABLE DESTINATION OF MORAL REFORM

In “The Philosophy Fad: Quoting Marcus Aurelius Doesn’t Make You a Stoic,” John Stonestreet and Roberto Rivera have written:

·       Believe it or not, the hottest philosophers in this new publishing trend are the Stoics; for example, the book, How to think like a Roman Emperor: The Stoic Philosophy of Marcus Aurelius.

Stoicism, along with the renewed interest in the ancient moral philosophers, represent a back-to-morality movement. There is good reason for this. Self-centered, self-help answers have failed, and it has become obvious that loving others and living morally provides many benefits.

I certainly applaud this return to morality. However, I do not share the optimism of its adherents. While helping others can warm our heart, after a while, the initial glow begins to fad and the same help can turn into drudgery.

What then is to keep the moral venture on track. One advocate had admitted that he had initially derived great satisfaction by giving to a certain charity. However, he had recently lost the glow and concluded that he had he needed to transfer his giving to a different charity in hope of regaining his initial glow.

He failed to see that his initial glow was a mere pointer to the transcendent, to the ultimate reality. Also, as the Apostle Paul had written, the moral law inscribed within our conscience, would also reveal an uncomfortable but necessary truth:

·       Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:19-20)

While the implanted moral law can lead us into valuable service to others, it also exposes our sins. How? Eventually, as we try to live according to the moral law, we also discover how we fail to live up to it no matter how hard we try. As a result, we feel guilty and even begin to see how we have co-opted this law for our own benefit so that we can feel that we are superior moral people.

If we are honest with ourselves, we find that we embody the same self-righteousness that we had long disdained in others. If we are fortunate, we also find that we are sinners in desperate need of the forgiveness of the Savior.

While I encourage others to follow the implanted moral law, they are reluctant to see where it leads, since it leads to Christ (Galatians 3:22-24). In fact, all roads lead to Christ, if we follow them to their logical conclusion.