Getting Virtue (How to be Good)
“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself … Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped” - Phil 2:3, 5-6
Is it possible for us to simply be selfless and humble? Is this passage saying, “Jesus took on humility, so you do the same … go on, just do it”? This raises the question of how we obtain virtue.
The word virtue comes from the Latin vir meaning “man”. It is used to refer to ideals of human character. Man is made in the image of God, from whom all virtue is derived. Man as a fallen creature is deficient in virtue. Given that our moral improvement (sanctification) is God’s work it doesn’t rub that men can take this process on themselves, that they can take the initiative to overcome their sinfulness. We are encouraged to participate in our sanctification but surely this needs to be understood in the context of God’s gracious work in us.
It is characteristic of our age that we try to get benefits by focusing on effects and not causes. I first understood this through reading First and Second Things by C S Lewis and it has stuck with me ever since. Lewis’ point was that although we want civilization, it can’t be preserved just by looking after it. Civilization is a ‘second thing’. We have to pursue something else, a ‘first thing’, in order for this to take place.
It seems that the same principle is true in our pursuit of virtue and that this is precisely where this passage is leading us. It encourages our moral improvement, to shun selfishness and conceit and to take on humility, but it points us to “the attitude … which was also in Christ Jesus”. What attitude is it referring to? I think it is pointing us to the triumph of His faith, that he was able to deliver Himself totally to the Father. It was this confidence that allowed Him to take on humility, to be a servant, because He knew that the Father would look after Him. The same is true for us.
Christ’s moral excellence is something to observe and imitate, but the realization of it in us should be seen as the result of God’s work, and not an end that can simply be pursued in itself. When we talk about the pursuit of virtue we are talking about the pursuit of holiness, of being like God, and this does not take place apart from the work of God.