Aristotle famously reasoned that our habits shape our virtues.
He taught that the development of good, solid, healthy habits are what enable us to make the right choice in our moments of decision.
It's our daily devotion to the push-ups, the sit-ups, and the jogging, that suddenly pays off when someone is seriously injured on the hiking trail and we have to run 5 miles to get help.
So what happens when we are in the break room at work and someone tells an off-color joke that's demeaning to a certain segment of humanity?
Do we have the courage to speak up?
Most people let these things slide, reasoning that it's not a big deal, that it would be unpopular and uncomfortable to speak up. Albeit small, it's a failure of nerve.
In fact, a big reason our country is in the place it's in is because of a rampant, widespread failure of nerve. In politics, business, and family life, we have not been careful enough to form habits that lead to the virtues needed for us to stand up in the face of injustice, dishonesty, and moral transgression.
This Sunday we run into an example. His name is Herod. And we will read about his failure of nerve as he allowed John the Baptist to be killed. We will be reminded of the ways his moral failings are more imitated than shunned in our modern world.
And we will see that the shaping of habits is crucial for us as we endeavor to live virtuous lives that affect our world in positive ways.
That's why I believe in church.
We are a community of people dedicated to the formation of godly habits - habits of prayer, of scripture study, of holy community, that form us into a people of generosity, altruism, hopefulness and courage that help us make good decisions, that produce better communities.
When we are grounded in good habits, we make good decisions.
What are the habits we need to make? Or break? In order for us to be prepared to make the right choice in our moments of decision?
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