In his classic work of Christian philosophy, City of God, Saint Augustine articulated a foundational way to think about responsibility. The concept of “ordo amoris,” or rightly ordered love, is one of the ways the early church scholar and bishop reckoned with human finitude. As Augustine understood, a life well-lived is a life that puts first things first. This “ordering” was one of the ways Augustine defined virtue. Expanding on this idea in his work On Christian Doctrine, Augustine says, “Now he is a man of just and holy life who forms an unprejudiced estimate of things, and keeps his affection also under strict control, so that he neither loves what he ought not to love, nor fails to love what he ought to love, nor loves that more which ought to be loved less, nor loves that equally which ought to be loved either less or more, nor loves that less or more which ought to be loved equally.”
Ordering the Heart
The idea of “ordered love” is implicitly baked into the human experience. Augustine’s “ordo amoris” articulates how a limited individual can operate responsibly in a world where a myriad of duties and relationships fight for attention. Of course, it doesn’t take reading Augustine to understand this concept. Any parent would agree that it would be wrong to love the neighborhood child down the street more than their own flesh and blood. Similarly, it would also be understood that to love one child more than another child in the family constitutes an injustice. Consciously and subconsciously, all human being’s attempt to order their affections in a way that is both responsible and practical. When this order is thwarted, disarray typically follows.
While “ordo amoris” may not often come up in casual conversation, it has a long history in the Catholic tradition. As Christian theologians have noted, virtue is not only about doing the right things, but also about doing them in the right order. In more abstract terms, as Augustine argued, the love of God comes before earthly love for the Christian. Centuries after Augustine used the doctrine in defining virtue, Thomas Aquinas expanded on the concept in his theological work. Aquinas, who called the idea “ordo caritatis,” or “order of charity,” went a step further than Augustine. Aquinas understood the Christian ethic to love all but attend to what is possible. For Aquinas, the virtuous man or woman will “love all people equally,” but must “chiefly” consider those who are more closely united by reason of place, time, or circumstance.
The order of life matters, and a failure to take this into account is a primary cause of many hardships. Practically, creation functions this way. We rake the leaves before sprinkling the grass seed in the spring. Similarly, a misplaced love of vocation can lead to estranged children and a bitter spouse. And there are analogies in the political sphere, though these must be drawn carefully. We can safely say, however, that the citizens of South Carolina would be far from thrilled if state funds were used to pave roads in Texas.
It is therefore not a surprise that our current Vice President, J.D. Vance, used this concept in defending the new administration’s immigration policy. As Vance articulated, any leader of a nation owes different responsibilities to those within the nation than it does to those outside of its boundaries. American resources are limited, and these differing responsibilities ought to guide our use of them. The concept itself is not controversial. But if the concept of “ordo amoris” is not controversial in most settings, Vance’s comment certainly was. Because of the context, this isn’t surprising—immigration policy is a contentious issue. To be fair, Vance’s remarks were also confusing because he used the term “compassion” instead of “responsibility.” I’m not sure that either Augustine or Aquinas would agree that we should have more “compassion” for those within our borders. Regardless, the Vice President’s comments created a mini firestorm that brought this classical Christian concept back into the public discussion. While immigration policy will likely continue to be debated and even litigated, I for one say that it is about time that this ancient theological concept makes its way back into the public imagination. In an era of record burnout and frayed communities, the concept of “ordo amoris” can provide a healthy framework for a well-ordered life.
A Personal Disordered Heart
The reintroduction of “ordo amoris” into modern society was timely for me. A little over a year ago, I suffered a severe burnout. It wasn’t that my attention had turned to bad things. Instead, I was trapped by the notion that I could be all things to all people. In practice, this meant trying to give one hundred percent to my family, my job, my friends, and even the acquaintances outside my main community. I was serving as a pastor, and I thought this meant running myself into the ground in the name of love. After my body and emotions finally gave out, I began the process of challenging some long-held beliefs about what the good life looks like. I had always assumed that a life well-lived was measured in how many people showed up to your funeral. It turns out I was wrong; a life well-lived entails accepting your inherent, creaturely limits.
Burnout can come in many shapes and sizes. Sometimes, the burnout comes from over-extension, like in my case. Other times, burnout can happen when someone is operating in an environment that doesn’t fit their giftings and the strain over time slowly eats away at their well-being. In most cases, however, the burnout comes when too much attention and energy is being spent in areas of life that are draining. In a study done last Spring, forty-four percent of Americans said they felt burned out at work. A majority of people, fifty-one percent, said they felt drained all the time from their employment. The problem is so severe that some experts have been referring to the current state of work as the “Great Exhaustion.”
Burnout Culture
James Berry is the chair of the Behavioral Medicine and Psychology department at West Virginia University. According to his research, sixty percent of American workers feel “moderately burned-out.” Berry’s research is focused on the underlying factors of this problem that seems particularly problematic in today’s younger generations. In his research, Berry found that several social factors create an unstable foundation for emotional well-being. Social isolation, weak communication between workers and employers, and a lack of purpose fueled the increase in stress.
It is undisputed that burnout is at a record high, but our society has struggled to find meaningful solutions to the crisis. The standard suggestions do little to combat a more deep-seated problem. While eating meals regularly, trying to maintain some social support, and regular exercise are certainly helpful, something more foundational is needed for today’s stressed-out and disconnected Americans. It is against this backdrop that the ancient philosophy of “ordo amoris” could prove helpful.
Human Flourishing
The Christian teaching on heart order seeks to lay a foundation for flourishing. While Vance’s critics mistakenly interpreted the philosophy as unloving, the truth is that as limited, finite creatures, we must order our affections and actions. Unfortunately, our culture has been thrown off balance by a confusion of proximity. Because of social media and the transient nature of many modern careers, it is often difficult to evaluate where our attention should be focused. Who is closest to us? Is it our neighbor down the street or the one we are interacting with on social media a continent away? These are complex questions that we’ll need to work out in our own contexts and communities, but the principle remains that proximity leads to greater responsibility. As Christ taught, the neighbor next door or the wounded man lying in front of us demands our action in ways the sufferer a world away does not. If we act on this principle, our loves will go to work and be matured and deepened as we come to know those who call out our compassion.
When British politician Rory Stewart criticized Vance’s comments as “bizarre,” it betrayed the fundamental misunderstanding of human nature common today. According to Stewart, Vance’s comments fly in the face of Jesus’ teaching about the Good Samaritan and laying one’s life down for others. While such self-sacrifice is certainly a teaching of Scripture, it is not the whole story. It must be remembered that Jesus invested in twelve men and limited his ministry to a small backwater in the Roman Empire. For critics of Vance, it would also make sense to question why Jesus led a geographically “small” life. As Augustine explained, “since one cannot do good to all, we ought to consider those chiefly who by reason of place, time, or any other circumstance, by a kind of chance are more closely united to us.”
Ordo Amoris and Burnout Culture
While the public conversation around “Ordo Amoris” has been limited to immigration in recent days, the concept’s implications for reorienting our attention and affections in a global, digital culture are powerful. Stewart’s condemnation of Vance’s comments shows how the modern world has created an unstable story for people to live in. As James Orr wrote in First Things, Stewart’s comments show “us that for late-stage liberalism’s cosmopolitan egalitarians, hierarchies of the heart are as suspicious and objectionable as any other.” Orr continues the argument by citing philosopher Bernard Williams who “once remarked that the man who, when faced with the choice of saving his drowning wife or a drowning stranger, hesitates to consider which course of action would contribute more to the overall good of humanity.” While love for all is an admirable trait, responsibility for all is a recipe for disaster. This disaster can take many shapes, but burnout is one of the most common. We are simply not created to be all things to all people, and a failure to understand this stretches humanity past our natural capacities.
It’s in this context that this ancient Christian philosophical idea might remedy the Western state of burnout. My own story is at least one case in point. After I experienced burnout, a wise friend encouraged my wife and I to make a list of the five main things we wanted to spend our time on. The list included things like family, deep friendships, our church community, and meaningful work. After making the list, the next step was to order these areas from numbers one to five in importance. For both of us, our family came first. While it hasn’t been perfect, this ordering of responsibility now serves as a filter through which we make decisions. A night out at a church meeting or with friends must be filtered through this list of “loves” to evaluate if our time is being spent well.
The ordering of loves or responsibilities will look different for different people in different stages of life. I imagine that when our children are teenagers, our priorities may change in some ways. The ordering of loves, therefore, is not a rigid way to keep outsiders at a distance; it is a way to manage the human heart and body in a way that is sustainable. Too many of us lack the ability to manage the heart. As our screens bombard us with distant images and possibilities, proximity and responsibility become afterthoughts when making choices about how we ought to act. Our neighbors, family members, and local institutions are neglected while our attention is anywhere but present. This leads to a flipping of heart order where we neglect our neighbors and our aging parents and oldest friendships. While this is destructive to the fabric of society, it damages the human soul as well. A damaged soul leads to a burned-out human.
Wendell Berry once said that “most people are looking for a better place, which means that a lot of them will end up in a worse one.” A chronically disordered heart leads to a life-long search for something that can’t be found. A disordered heart fails to see what is most important and fruitful in each season of life. The truth is, a person that is surrounded by deep friendships, connected with family, and invested in their community is less likely to burn out. Yet as our society proves, it is difficult to simply create a healthy environment from an unhealthy one. But the ancient concept of “ordo amoris” can guide our approach. The end of burnout culture begins with a heart that is rightly ordered. Only then can attention and passion be directed in the most life-giving ways and only then can a healthy culture emerge from a disconnected and attenuated one.
Image Via: BiblePics
