10/03/2016
"Patience is a virtue." We're all familiar with that
cliché, and many of us know that patience is
listed by Paul in Galatians 5:22-23 as among the
fruit of the Spirit. So there's no disputing that the
Christian ought to be patient. But as with most of
the virtues, the biblical writers assume that we
know what patience is and don't give an explicit
definition. But do we?
Could you define patience if you were asked? And,
to make things more tricky, could you do so
without simply citing examples of patience?
Starting with the basic definition of patience as
"waiting without complaint," we will address
some key questions. Why is patience a virtue?
What are the different varieties of patience? Why
is patience so difficult at times? And how is
patience developed?
Why Patience Is a Virtue
When defined as "waiting without complaint,"
patience might seem to be a morally insignificant
trait. What's so virtuous about not complaining?
In itself, not complaining carries no particular
virtue. Suppose a person awaits the arrival of a
friend from out of town, and she spends the time
happily reading or watching television. We
wouldn't say that, simply because she's not
complaining, she exhibits patience in this case.
Something else must be required to make one's
lack of complaint virtuous. That something is
discomfort. It's because a circumstance is
uncomfortable for someone that we find her
refusal to complain remarkable and thus regard
her as patient.
So to improve the initial definition above, to be
patient is to endure discomfort without
complaint. This calls into play some other virtues,
specifically, self-control, humility, and generosity.
That is, patience is not a fundamental virtue so
much as a complex of other virtues.
An example from the life of Christ illustrates this.
Jesus was very patient with his disciples. They
were sometimes thickheaded, lazy, selfish, and
slow to believe. Even from a merely human
standpoint, we can see how frustrating they must
have been. How much more irritating it would be
for God Incarnate to interact daily with these
men. In spite of Jesus' miracles and words of
wisdom, they were focused upon themselves and
wavered in their belief about who he really was.
To say that was uncomfortable for Jesus would be
an understatement. Yet do we find him railing at
his disciples over their foolishness and stupidity?
Or making fun of them when they make
mistakes?
Occasionally he does remark that his disciples are
slow to believe, or he asks rhetorically how long
they will fail to have faith in him, but these are
always appropriate reminders about just what
was at stake for them. These were fitting and
useful rebukes, not petty venting.
Notice that Jesus' refusal to complain about his
irritating disciples can be described as an exercise
of self-control. Surely he would have been justified
in blistering them with insults. It's worth noting
that his omniscience guaranteed that every
possible joke and embarrassing remark was at his
disposal on any particular occasion. This makes
his self-control even more admirable.
His refusal to complain also involves humility, the
conscious decision to lower himself by not
exercising his right, as the holy man he was, to
judge and dismiss his friends because of their
faults. We might even say this is a form of mercy.
Finally, Jesus' refusal to complain about his
disciples is generous. In spite of their vice and
thick-headedness, he remained no less
committed to them and served them increasingly
as their failures became more outstanding.
