Desperately needed are doers of good

A well-intended friend asked me about the behavior of good Christians.

“Good Christians” is an oxymoron that should be challenged every time we hear it. An oxymoron is an expression that combines two ideas that are completely incompatible. An example is the expression “thunderous silence.” People who use the expression “good Christian” are either terribly ignorant of Christianity or have had a temporary lapse of understanding.

In traditional Christianity, the privilege of being called a Christian is a gracious gift, completely unearned. Even Jesus himself was uncomfortable with being called “good” and reminded his admirer that God alone is good. According to New Testament teaching, every person “falls short,” “misses the mark” and owes a debt that is beyond payment. None of us can work hard enough or do enough good deeds to earn the title “good Christian.” Old Testament prophet Isaiah describes us as “sheep that have gone astray.”

I find the Bible description of my makeup so true that whenever I begin to judge the behavior of someone else, I am reminded that a loving God has taken me out of the stone throwing game. For someone to suggest that I am a good Christian is embarrassing. I am not. I never have been, and I never will be.

Equally true, according to the Bible and church tradition, flawed people can be doers of good. In fact, that is what the life of a follower of Jesus is about. It is about the doing of good. The faithful follower of Jesus is convinced that the doing of good is key to making the world a livable place in which shalom (peace) is found and in which menuha (joy and happiness) is achieved.

Christian thinking has competition.

We live in a world dominated by science and the scientific method. Scientific research and discovery are telling us very important things about our existence here on this earth. I am very pleased and impressed with what scientific research is discovering. I am a daily benefactor of modern science. However, science coupled with economic prosperity is promising all of us a utopian existence based on a crass materialism. The competing system has no soul and no ethic beyond survival of the fittest. Its end is chaos rather than utopia.

The very first story that is told in the Bible is about the response of the Israelite God to the chaos that he found. He found a world that is described as without form and useless. According to this endearing myth, God did not choose to fight chaos; rather, he chose to enter into a process of doing good. At the end of every day, he was pleased with what he had done. On the sixth day his good work was the making of human beings, both female and male. We are told that God made humankind in his own image. I have embraced the interpretation that God, in creating human beings, shared his powers of doing good.

The Christian perspective is further informed by Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount.” After calling his followers “light of the world,” he urged, “Let your light so shine before people that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Jesus assumed that his followers would be doers of good. The Apostle Paul affirmed the intent of Jesus when he wrote, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” The doing of good is the centerpiece of Christian ethical behavior. The doing of good is the Christian’s calling.

This column is a theological treatise. I call it a theological treatise because it fits the definition. Every time we have a serious discussion about an important subject, we are doing theology and every person who participates in the discussion is a theologian. I have long believed that good theology suffers when it is professionalized. I invite every reader to join in the discussion. What is the role of the doing of good in achieving shalom and menuha?

The underlying thesis of this discussion is that all human beings are flawed and have no claim on the title “good” for themselves. However, with all of their shortcomings, human folk still have a capacity to do good and should be challenged to do good. It is the only way that shalom and menuha have a chance on this earth.

And how shall we define good? I do not have a good definition, but I know it when I see it. I have hundreds of stories. You be the judge. A volunteer goes to a school and spends time working one-on-one with a student who is struggling to learn to read. A child receives a life-saving operation at a Shriner’s Hospital and the child’s family is never sent a bill. A volunteer gives two weeks of time to help build another Habitat for Humanity home. A family gives shelter to another family when their home is washed out by a flood. Rotarians raise and give millions of dollars for the eradication of polio worldwide. People give regular gifts to a local food pantry. A person does regular food shopping for a homebound senior.

Add to the list, and then go do what you know to be a good. Together we can make our neighborhoods, our communities, our nation and the whole world a much better place.

The Rev. Howard Bess is a retired American Baptist minister, who lives in Palmer. His email address is hdbss@mtaonline.net.

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