Aristotle is famous for his law of the golden mean. He believed that virtue is found in the middle of two vices. Courage, for example, is found between cowardice and recklessness. Too much courage and you are reckless too little, and you are a coward. Our world is filled with the disdain of virtue by cowards and reckless men and women. The challenge for us in a time like we are in is how do I know what courage is. Some say it’s staying home. Others say it’s not wearing a mask. Look to Jesus. Aristotle and his followers didn’t see or understand that the golden mean isn’t our idea of courage, but rather, it is the reality found in the person and work of Christ. We need to know Christ and understand his ways.
How this looks practically, I think, is best explained by Martin Luther, who faced a pandemic of his own.
“You ought to think this way: “Very well, by God’s decree, the enemy has sent us poison and deadly offal. Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me, and I have done what he has expected of me, and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely, as stated above. See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.
I love this because it tells us to think of our neighbor. Wear a mask and wash your hands. But it also says if your neighbor needs help even if they are sick, you don’t stay away. The law of love is more compelling than self-preservation. Love sometimes looks like wearing a mask, and at other times it looks like walking into a house where everyone has COVID to bring a meal or medicine. “If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me.” Our confidence as Christians should make us loving and not brash. We should be filled with common sense (grace) and ruled by love. Our courage is found in Christ, the golden mean. We can be brave and have courage only because he conquered death for us. My favorite poet says it this way Death used to be my executioner but has now become my Gardner because the only thing death can do is plant me into everlasting life.
So go out into the world today unafraid of death because our hope is not in our own goodness but in the life-altering power of Christ who conquered sin and death. Until He is done with us, nothing can take us, and when He calls us home, nothing can keep us.
Have courage and be brave today.
This article originally appeared here.
