Goodness

What does it mean to be good?  Is it charity work? Is it helping the homeless and the needy?  Is it walking the neighbor’s dog?  Is it paying your bills on time and having good credit?  It is getting regular exercise and eating healthy?  Is it saying please and thank you?  These are all good things, but to be good is a very different thing indeed.

According to Jesus in Mark 10:17 – 27 none of the things mentioned above are indicators of goodness.  Only God is good and goodness can only come from Him.  In the story of the rich young ruler a wealthy young man comes to Jesus asking what he needs to do to gain everlasting life.  He boasts of all the “good” things he had already done.  Jesus tells this young man to give up his entire wealth to the poor and to follow Him.  The story ends with the rich young ruler leaving saddened by Jesus’ request.  We do not know if he heeded Jesus’ advice or not.  But the lesson Jesus is imparting is very clear.  Actions do not dictate goodness; rather, it is the motive behind the action.  In our society we have a prescribed list of actions that are deemed “good”.  Though these actions appear and are good, if the motive is self-serving then it negates the element of goodness.  What were the motives behind the rich young ruler’s actions?  He believed that:

1.       In doing good, he was good.

2.       In doing good, he expected to receive good in return. 

3.       In doing good, he earned a place in heaven.

Here is where he got it wrong.  He did not lie, kill, steal, commit adultery and he honored his parents.  These things were noble, but it did not make him good.  He believed that his goodness was determined by his good actions and this entitled him to good rewards.  Here is what he got the most wrong.  He believed that he could earn his way into heaven.  That power belongs to Jesus and no one else.  What is alarming about this story is that the rich young ruler attempted to be good without having a relationship with God.  This is why Jesus exposed his flaw in valuing earthly things over a personal relationship with Him.

We do this all the time.  We ask God for things in our life that we desire without bothering to maintain consistent and quality contact with Him daily.  When we do “good” things that make us “good” we believe we are entitled to the things we have asked Him for.  When we aren’t doing “good” things, we bear guilt.  These attitudes reveal self-reliance instead of God-dependence.  And that was Jesus’ point.

What are the things you must give up to follow God?  And are you willing to do it?

To being wise,

Meredith, Jennifer and Marisa