I recently ran across a piece on the Ancient Faith blog by Fr. Stephen Freeman on the dangers of moral relativism in the modern age. He writes that we Christians must do more than lead moral lives--morality is really beside the point. Our spiritual life must be one that is focused on struggling toward Christ-like existence, toward divinity. Any sort of moral code would naturally proceed from that struggle, but it must not be the point of our existence, or even the point of origin. Fr. Stephen had many wonderfully articulate things to say in his essay, and I would encourage you to read the whole thing, but this passage stood out to me:
One of the failures of morality is that it seems so tantalizingly possible. And so we distract ourselves as we wrestle with our morals, condemning ourselves for what we somehow imagine that we can and should do.
But think carefully about the commandments of Christ: “Be perfect. Even as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Morality withers in the face of such a statement. Christ’s teaching destroys our moral pretensions. He doesn’t say, “Tithe!” (Priests and preachers say “tithe”). Christ says, “Give it all away.” He doesn’t just say, “Love your neighbor.” He says, “Love your enemy.” Such statements should properly send us into an existential crisis.
The disciples recognized this. “Who then can be saved?” They wondered.
Christ responded, “With men it is impossible. But with God all things are possible.”
The modern fascination with morality is a theological travesty for Christians. It is the reduction of the Kingdom of God to the Democracy of the Mediocre: “I give thanks to God, for I’m doing better and making progress!”
~Fr. Stephen Freeman, The Un-Moral Christian, Ancient Faith Blog, December 17, 2014
this is a really good quotation; thank you.
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