Dear Church,
This past Sunday, I quoted an article from First Things (a wonderful monthly journal that deals with Christian faith in the public square). The article was written by Michael Novak and the quote involved nobility of spirit.
My conclusion was that we do not speak of nobility of fortitude often because we do not speak often of those character attributes we do not value. And, I fear there has been a death of nobility and fortitude in many places within our culture. But, thankfully not in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Here is the quote several have requested from Sunday’s sermon:
“Yeast in dough. That is the image our American ancestors saw when they thought about planting the germs of beauty and nobility in their new culture. One only has to look at L’Enfant’s original plan for the buildings and parks of Washington, D.C., to grasp how much attention our nation’s founders paid to splendor and simplicity, to virtue and nobility and beauty. The founders’ dream was to build a republic that would live long, prosper, and inspire a noble spirit in its citizens. The public buildings of the capital city as built solidly lift up this dream.
A republic is not worth dying for just because it is prosperous, “not if its self-satisfied citizens live like pigs. Nor is a republic worthy just because its citizens enjoy political freedom” not if those citizens dissipate their freedom in decadence, promiscuousness, and self-centeredness. Indeed, no republic will last long that ceases to strive for nobility of spirit, virtue, and self-sacrifice. Put another way, tyranny begins within the mind and the soul. If in that mind and soul there is no moral difference between the truth and the lie, and no moral difference between deeds good in themselves and deeds evil in themselves, then what is the argument for preferring liberty to tyranny? Opinion soundings show that a great many Americans no longer can express, or even recall, the ideas, specific virtues, and moral strivings on the embodiment of which this republic depends for its continuance.”
- First Things: The Truths Americans Used to Hold, Part 1: Where’s The Yeast?
Blessings,
Buster