Moral decisions require more than values

Reflections on a church

Friends, I have been thinking lately about something that has been bothering me for a while. I have been uneasy about our national conversation concerning values, thinking that something is missing, and I think I have finally defined my problem.
Back in the dark ages when I was at Perkins School of Theology (1975-1979), one of our required courses was Moral Theology. I took this class my first semester at Perkins, and I was terrified. It was my first class in any kind of theology, and I worked like a dog because I needed to prove to myself that I could cut it academically. (Being a music major as an undergrad was not exactly the ideal preparation for graduate theological work.)
I remember a guideline that made a profound impact on my thinking—so profound that I remember it 30 years later. There are three ingredients necessary for a “fully reflective” moral decision: virtue, value and obligation.
Bingo! Values, considered in and of themselves, are insufficient for moral decision-making. They are an important piece, but only one piece. Values have to be informed by the virtue question and the obligation question.
Because of what I value, virtue (to be a good person) would mean what? Because of what I value, I am obligated to do what? 
When we have conflicting values, and we all do, we must ask the virtue question and the obligation question to resolve the conflict. This exercise is valuable whenever values are conflicted: in the debate about family values in this country or the evacuation of the Gaza strip. 
I think our obligation as Christian leaders is to sharpen our thinking and raise the level of our national conversation on values, using the tools of our theological tradition.