Question 1: The “Royal Priesthood”…that’s quite a vocation we bear! Wright asserts that worship is central to Christian virtue. It must be learned, however. While spontaneity has its value, in limited fashion, worship is best approached through training over time. The analogy of the match and the candle was quite effective here.
- Where have you previously “struck a match,” only to see it die with nothing to light?
- What “candles” have you found useful to keep the fire burning?
- Where has this occurred in your faith life, specifically?
- As a result of this, can you name those worship practices that now have become “second nature” and therefore “virtuous?”
Question 2: Wright promotes our function as “rulers,” flowing out of this royal priesthood. “…the early Christians were becoming the agents of God’s sovereign rule through their work in announcing Jesus as Lord.” Transformation is the result. The virtues that accompany our role as rulers include the work of evangelism, justice, beauty, and freedom. “Freedom, like authenticity, is what we are promised when our desires and longings completely coincide with God’s designs and plans for us as fully human beings.” “To accept appropriate moral constraints is not to curtail true freedom, but to create the conditions for it to flourish.”
- How has this alignment of virtues (partially or otherwise) allowed you to function as a ruler of God’s sovereign kingdom?
- Name a specific situation where this “freedom” has brought about transformation, either in you or someone else.
Question 3: In this brief section, Wright discusses faith and virtue, active in love…specifically, acts of service. This, too, is a habit or “second nature” that characterizes Christian virtue. Indeed, this was a different way to be human, as the emergence of the early church shows.
- What particular habits of love – service – have made the greatest impression on you?
- What specific service opportunities have you participated in that further deepened your faith?
- Why was this so important to you?
Question 4: Wright identifies several distinctions between pagan virtue and Christian virtue. Foremost, however, is the distinction that Aristotle’s tradition led ultimately to pride, while Christian virtue is shaped by the cross and leads to humility. “The Christianly virtuous person is not thinking about his or her own moral performance. He or she is thinking of Jesus…and how best to love the person next door.”
- So, in terms of moral discourse, what do you see as the value and role of non-Christian traditions?
- How do we integrate our Christian values with other traditions, without compromising or de-valuing our core virtues?
Question 5: “God’s work of rescuing, restorative justice must happen in us in order that it can happen through us.” “It is thus more or less impossible to speak of God with any conviction or effect if those who profess to follow Jesus are not exemplifying humility, charity, patience, and chastity. These are not optional extras for the especially keen, but the very clothes which the royal priesthood must ‘put on’ day by day.” Wright addresses the long-standing divisions between those who cultivate their own holiness (in the absence of promoting justice) and those who are passionate for justice but treat personal holiness as an unnecessary distraction. Wright presses for integration.
- How has the Lutheran Church traditionally approached these two aspects of faith? Where is the ELCA presently headed on this?
- What are your personal goals in relation to holiness and justice?
- How might we more effectively partner with those whose values and strengths are different from ours?
Question 6: Here, we have chapter sex…I mean, six! Wright discusses and connects humility, patience, chastity, and forgiveness. As he suggests, love holds them all together.
- Take a moment and review his emphasis on each.
- Which of these present the greatest challenge to you?
- To our society?
- Which present the greatest satisfaction and reward to you?
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