I know, it’s a curious title for a devotional. Perhaps even a bit ominous. 

Professor Alasdair MacIntyre surveyed how different people have understood virtue throughout history. Morality today, he writes, “is in a state of grave disorder.” Although we are not without hope, he makes a rather stark conclusion that we are living in “the new dark ages.”*

He may have a point. We’ve never had more information, but we’re short on wisdom. We’re even short on common sense. We’ve never had more tools for communication, but we’re short on understanding. Many modern technologies are used to kill, not heal. And what should cause us shame is often celebrated.

I put together a post and podcast on this subject. You can link to it below. But for this devotional let me just focus on one thing.

Times have changed. And times are changing. That happens. It’s normal. But no matter the churning world around us, the disciples of Jesus are to emulate their Master.

The apostle Paul points us in this direction in Philippians 4:8: “whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

The word for “excellent” is the same one that is translated elsewhere as “virtue.” And remember that this is Paul. He was put in prison, flogged, exposed to death, beaten with rods, pelted with stones, and shipwrecked three times. That’s the guy who is telling us to intentionally cultivate virtue.

It’s not a word we use often. So perhaps it’s time for a comeback. Speaking about (and striving for) virtue doesn’t make us superior or perfect. It simply shows that we are, with God’s help, trying to be faithful.

Oh, and just in case it isn’t obvious, humbly cultivating virtue in the footsteps of Jesus is the true “alternative lifestyle.”

Perhaps we are entering a new dark ages. Perhaps not. In the end, it doesn’t really change who we are called to be or what we are called to do.

Seek virtue.

---

Notes and extra content:

—New: “Virtue as we enter the new dark ages.” Click here to read or listen, or tune in to ‘The Pulse Podcast with Matthew Ruttan’ wherever you subscribe.

—Here’s what’s happening at Westminster Church this Holy Week.

–*Alasdair MacIntyre, After Virtue, 2nd ed. (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1984), 256, 263.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.