Practicing Hesed (6): Moral Oscars
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things. Philippians 4:8
Excellence – What’s with that little gold statue shaped like a truncated human? Why is there such a big fuss over the Oscars? Or the Golden Globes? Why are we so enthralled by a group of people giving themselves awards?
Perhaps our fascination comes from every person’s desire to be recognized. All of us want to be excellent at something, and so the world accommodates that built-in human compulsion by offering a never-ending list of awards. You can get an excellence award in spelling or in hog-tying, in business or in story-telling. But none of these awards even come close to what Paul has in mind when he uses the Greek word arete.
Paul’s word is not about awards, at least not about the kind of awards that we seek. Paul’s word is about moral worth; the kind of virtues that reflects the character of God. That, says Paul, is real excellence. Forget the trophies and the plaques, the titles and the honorary degrees. Without moral excellence, life is pornographic (a Greek word that means, “written in evil”). If you are chasing excellence that does not include moral perfection, you might as well be craving ego intoxicants.
Did you notice that Paul changes the phraseology here? It is no longer “whatever.” It is now, “if there is any.” Any aspect of moral excellence is worth contemplating. Any action and thought pleasing to God is worth celebrating. Paul doesn’t say, “Wait until you get the Lifetime Achievement Award.” He says, “Start meditating right away on anything that pleases God. Make any virtuous act the center of your attention. That will push you in the right direction.”
The startling fact of God’s excellence award is that it is available to everyone. Not a single human being is any less equipped than any other to achieve moral perfection because moral perfection (arete) is a matter of will. God’s award is based entirely on our choices, not on our talents, circumstances of background. Every choice pleasing to God is an arete choice. The only thing that prevents you from receiving the arete award is your decision not to get it. Think about that.
