He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6:8)
I think about this verse whenever I write my syllabi for the semester, or when students request an extension of a homework deadline, or when I have to respond to an act of academic dishonesty. Managing a course well requires justice, kindness, and humility---and it often feels like pursuing one will obviate another.
It also makes me think of my annual faculty evaluation (and ever-building tenure & promotion evaluation), which has its own triad of requirements: teaching, scholarship, and service (plus the ubiquitous "collegiality" metric). I think that, ultimately, doing justice, loving kindness, and walking in humility are the keys to succeeding at those requirements; in other words, I have an arena in which to pursue the virtues that God wants me to develop, and I'll get good marks from my institution along the way.
A few textual thoughts:
- I think it's significant that God calls for us to do justice, but love kindness. I think it helps us approach people & situations with the right attitude, and gives us an insight into God's character, as well.
- Micah doesn't seem to think this triad is very weighty. "What is it that's so hard that God wants you to do?" he seems to be asking. "Why would you not want justice, kindness, and humility?"
- In the context, Micah has just asked, "How will I come before God [in the temple] and please Him? How can I possibly bring enough to sacrifice [even my own firstborn] to satisfy Him?" Then he answers by describing how he should seek to live these virtues in his life in relationship to others; i.e., it's not how he performs in the worship arena, but in the workaday world and in the community.
No comments:
Post a Comment