Tuesday, December 08, 2009

Just how good is good?

The American Humanist society called for all who don't believe in God at Christmas not to worry. Just be "good for goodness sake." My hubby took the time to craft some thoughts in response. The floor is yours, babe.


I have a few questions. Can someone be good just for the sake of being good?


In an isolated circumstance, sure. Long term, I don’t think so. I know I can’t. But I don’t feel bad because the apostle Paul, whom Jesus appeared to and who was caught up into heaven, couldn’t be good either (Rom 7:19).


The question is how good do you have to be to be good? Who gets to define “good” in the absence of God?



Does the definition change with time, culture or circumstances? Is there one definition, or do we each get our own? At some point, does the discussion become meaningless in the absence of absolute standards?


So where would we find absolute standards to measure good? Jesus said, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God.” (Mk 10:18)


It’s self-evident. You can’t be good unless you know what good is, and only someone who is good can tell you.


By the way, why even bother to be good if being bad is more fun...unless of course we’ll be responsible at some point to someone who is good. Something to think about.


Bottom line; not only do I need God to be good, I need God to even want to be good.


P.S. This has nothing to do with getting to heaven. For that you have to be perfect.

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4 comments:

  1. Sharon Hayes11:08 PM

    Tony, explain the P.S. - we can't get to heaven without Christ - He makes us perfect through His shed blood, not by our own perfection. I know this is what you believe too. Good post Thanks

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  2. Rachel Hauck11:19 PM

    Mom, that's his point. We can't be perfect without Christ. Like we really can't be good without God.

    :) Rachel

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  3. LivingforGod6:42 AM

    Great post! I agree with your mom that your husband should not just stop at the last sentence :). He should take this opportunity to explain the Gospel or at least make it clear that we can never become perfect on our own no matter how hard we try, but Jesus, the perfect Lamb's blood washes away our sins so that non-believers who happen to stumble on this post would understand the message of salvation through Christ. Just a thought :)!

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  4. Kristine McGuire7:24 AM

    I love this post! An excellent response to the argument to "Just be good for goodness sake." Thank you for sharing this.

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