The Highest Virtue
I remember watching a film in college about aboriginal people somewhere in South America or Africa. Apparently they were completely cut off from “civilized” society and had their own value system, a system that was strange indeed. They were cannibals, which I had heard of before, but what was really interesting was what motivated them. 
When they targeted their victims, they didn’t kill them right away. What they did was befriend the person through a gradual process over a period of time. Then when the victim was completely convinced of the sincerity of the tribe, the cannibals would kill them and have a feast with the body. Strange indeed; and stranger still was what the narrator kept saying over and over: “treachery was their highest virtue.” I didn’t really understand it at the time, but it stuck with me, and I came to realize what it meant. It wasn’t enough to kill and eat their victim; they didn’t regard human flesh as a delicacy. It was the feeling they got from being treacherous. 
That was what they achieved; they fulfilled their desire to be treacherous. They were probably serving some aspect of idolatry. The “god” they served desired them to be treacherous and they fulfilled that desire without realizing that they were being deceived through the treacherous influence of that god!
And we should all be familiar with who that was and still is today. Scripture tells us that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one: Satan, the devil, the spirit that animates this world in various ways. (1 John 5:19) He is treacherous; we should know that. But do we? Americans and Westerners in general, are informed by a view of “nature” that discounts, ignores, or ridicules the notion of a supernatural reality. And in some respects that posture influences the Church. People can believe in God, but their appreciation for what is supernatural is often limited. We can believe in God—and the devil—in abstract terms, but the reality of something that is beyond the natural world is an abstract notion; there’s a disconnect. What constitutes the supernatural is somewhere else; it doesn’t have a real perceivable impact on the here and now that we experience with our five senses. Why should that matter (assuming that what I’m saying is valid)? We believe in God; in Jesus Christ our Savior, in the reality of His death and resurrection. Why do we need to take seriously the supernatural reality depicted in the Bible as something that continues to be relevant? In answer to that question, there are two facets of this circumstance that I want to emphasize: one negative and one positive.
On the negative side is the danger that this entails, as well as the limitations it places on our efforts. Failing to acknowledge this reality allows the self-conscious evil that we refer to as Satan to do what he does without being detected. We don’t take his involvement seriously enough; so instead of responding to his efforts through concerted prayer, and bolstering our confidence through a pointed understanding of scripture, we try to address what’s confronting us by emphasizing our own capacities. At the same time we may not look to the Lord for His perceivable involvement either, and only seek Him as an afterthought. Sort of “anointing” what we’re doing without taking full advantage of our relationship with Him. This is exceptionally important when we’re doing something that directly promotes the Gospel; like starting a church or training people to participate in declaring the “good news” of Jesus Christ. Almost every church that I’ve been affiliated with has gone through periods of dissension, and some have failed completely. And I would suggest that situations such as these were often being influenced by the supernatural without that dimension being fully appreciated. In such situations emotions can erupt in a manner that is out of proportion for the circumstances, and this can result in serious setbacks for a church or any Christian organization. Bad feelings, the emergence of cliques within a body of believers, arguments over doctrine; all these things can be fueled by the influence of evil that informs our reality. And the approach that’s often taken by this “entity” is to exploit our weaknesses; hitting us where it will do the most damage. Problems within our lives and our churches need to be addressed in a way that acknowledges this dimension of adversity, and relying on the perceivable support of our Lord to counteract the evil one’s strategies. If we’re doing something that promotes the Lord’s interests we should expect push back, and the exploitation of our weaknesses. What I’m saying is that human existence is supernatural, and failure to recognize that is dangerous because the evil reality that informs this world has an agenda of exploitation and destruction. 
The temptation is to look at the obvious exclusively; go with what you know, not with what you’ve been told about in a book. We do this at our peril. This reminds me of an assessment of the recent solar eclipse that took place on a news program I was watching. The astronomer was explaining that having a complete eclipse was possible because the diameter of the moon and our distance from the sun enabled this phenomenon. His assessment was that it was “good fortune” that allowed this, it just happened to be this way. What are the chances that it would just be this way? Wouldn’t it be more reasonable to recognize design brought about by a self-conscious mind? But our mainstream culture doesn’t promote recognition of the supernatural. What I’m saying is that not only should we acknowledge the possibility of the supernatural as playing a role in our lives; we should expect it and seek the Lord accordingly.
An obvious support for what I’m suggesting is found in scripture. The Apostle Paul recognized Satan as the source of a variety of setbacks in his promotion of the Gospel. Failure to enter into an unchurched area, his own compromised health, even the the efforts of other people to impede his progress were understood in terms of the influence of the devil. (1 Thessalonians 2:17-20, 2 Corinthians 11:12-15, 12:7-9) Likewise, the Apostle Peter emphasized the supernatural resistance confronting believers when he said:
“Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. (1 Peter 5:8-9)
The danger for us in assessing these expressions is to dismiss them as obsolete: the product of an ancient, premodern culture that didn’t understand the world the way we do in the 21st century. This is something that we might do unconsciously, and it’s tricky because sometimes the ideas of the ancient world should be regarded as obsolete. People of the ancient world thought the earth was the center of the universe; they didn’t understand that lightening was just a natural phenomenon, and they thought that there was a nether world beneath the surface of the earth. However, to dismiss the reality of Satan, and the evil spirits that serve his purposes, is precarious indeed. If there is no devil than who confronted Jesus in the wilderness? If there are no evil spirits then what was Jesus doing when He cast them out of people during His earthly ministry? Has modern christianized culture evolved into something different in this regard? If it has then maybe a rethink is in order. I’m not suggesting that all churches should promote deliverance ministries and look for an evil spirit behind every door. Some churches emphasize supernatural phenomena (both good and bad) and focus on this in their activities. That’s not what I’m suggesting. What I am saying is that all churches should recognize the validity of the supernatural element in their practice of the faith and seek the Lord accordingly in everything that they do.
The positive side of acknowledging the supernatural in our churches involves recognizing the Lord to be at work in all of the activities of the church.
A worship service should be conducted with the hope—perhaps the expectation—that there will be an encounter with the Lord during that service. The maintenance of the physical environment of the church should be engaged as a service to the Lord and His agenda, even to the point of seeking Him on various aspects of that effort. Everything pertaining to serving the Lord should invite His involvement. Everything we do regarding the church is a service to the Lord and His purposes, and everything we do regarding the church can be part of the process in which Christ is formed in us. Paul made this clear when he recognized the church as the body of Christ. We all have “gifts” endowed to us by our Lord that enable us to serve His purposes. And the diversity of these gifts, as well as the value of them, needs to be understood and appreciated by all concerned. (Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12) Collectively we constitute the body of Christ and our call to maturity as Christians is realized in this context. This is the nature of the church. This should be familiar territory for anyone who’s been in the Faith for any length of time. However, what I’m emphasizing is that the church is supernatural. We encounter the Lord as individuals and as a church. The gathering of the church and engagement in its activities should be regarded as a supernatural encounter with God. This is especially the case when we gather together to worship Him and delve into His Word. We should expect our God to show up when we gather together!
This expectation isn’t just for those who emphasize the charismatic gifts of prophecy and speaking in tongues. Every gathering of like-minded believers should expect to encounter the Lord after the fashion that is familiar to them. This is the positive aspect of appreciating the supernatural in our approach to our faith. We should expect the Lord to show up; we should look for that sense of His presence as we sing of Him and to Him. We should hear Him speaking as the sermon is presented. If this is not our posture then even the most elaborate church services are lacking. Relying on regimens of long standing such as liturgies of various types, or utilizing the latest high energy “accoutrements” that are currently in vogue will fall short if the conscious goal of the effort is not an encounter with Almighty God. We need to expect this encounter, to look for it and to anticipate it.
This was made apparent to me when I attended a church service recently. It was a large gathering of several hundred believers and the approach to leading worship utilized the latest techniques for stimulating an enthusiastic participation by the church body. Several vocalists led the singing backed up by a variety of musicians. The lighting was orchestrated for effect, and video photographers roamed through the sanctuary shouldering their cameras with the images being displayed on large screens flanking the stage. It was lively and exuberant and I was enjoying it until something happened near the end. I really felt the presence of the Lord emerging as we continued to worship Him, but then that feeling waned and I watched as fog (probably a mist of saturated air) began to float out from the ceiling under an array of colored spotlights.
My assessment—and this is purely circumstantial—was that the effort to create an artificial mood undermined the supernatural response of the Lord to the worship. I don’t think you can manufacture an encounter with God in that fashion. You can get people excited, garner their attention, put them in a position to listen, but you can’t artificially create an encounter with the Lord God.
Why is that? I would say it’s because our worship is directed to a person: Father God. And the Lord embodies within Himself what personhood is all about. This is difficult to appreciate because our personhood is flawed due to sin. Hopefully we’re all on the mend because our Savior has made a way for the restoration of our humanity and reestablishing our personhood. And the fundamental feature of that personhood, embodied in the Lord and reflected in each of us is the highest virtue indeed. The highest virtue that should inform our lives is personified by our Father; and it is enabled in us by our risen Lord through the Holy Spirit. It’s something that can’t be manufactured through artificial means. It is engaged through an encounter with God that comes from the heart. That highest of virtues is LOVE. Embrace it! Embrace Him!
God’s blessings to you and yours!