How Good is Good Enough?
I've had some interesting Facebook discussions today, so I figured it might be helpful for me to copy, paste, and edit some of what I've been saying...
A majority of Americans probably agree with a common statement that goes something like this: "good people go to heaven and bad people should go to hell." But few of us really take the time to think about the next logical question, “HOW GOOD is good enough?” What measuring stick do we use?
How many lies can I get by with telling before I slide over into the “bad” category? How self-centered can I be? Does it matter if I “fly-off-the-handle” just this once? How judgmental toward others can I be? Is it okay that I horde my resources and show no generosity to those who have nothing? The standard for "how good is good enough" can get pretty fuzzy real quickly. Seriously!
Followers of Jesus simply believe that NONE of us are “good enough.” In Romans 3:23, Paul says that we have ALL fallen short of God’s measurement for goodness. In fact, the first three chapters of Romans are basically devoted to the fact that every human is, at his/her core, sinful. I know this is unpleasant to hear... It sounds judgmental, but it is definitely true of me, and I assume that deep, down, you know it is true of you, as well. Every human being has acted in disregard to God's standard of goodness.
Because we have all made choices to do our own thing and ignore God’s ways, we ALL deserve to be separated from God now and in the afterlife. I don’t deserve His presence after all that I have done to reject Him. Which brings us to the question of hell. I don’t like hell and quite frankly, I wish it wasn’t even in the Bible. But it is! As someone who believes that Jesus told the truth, I can’t get away from the reality of hell.
In fact, it is the very reality of my sin and the very reality of hell that makes Jesus' death and resurrection of UTMOST IMPORTANCE. On the cross, Jesus voluntarily took upon Himself my punishment... my death penalty. The cross makes absolutely NO SENSE, if I don’t first understand my own predicament (and that of the entire human race).
So, every other religion leaves it up to the person to DO enough good things to somehow tip the scales so that our “good deeds” outweigh the bad. But when you really think about it, these attempts are absolutely maddening! How can you ever know for sure? You simply cannot!
A majority of Americans probably agree with a common statement that goes something like this: "good people go to heaven and bad people should go to hell." But few of us really take the time to think about the next logical question, “HOW GOOD is good enough?” What measuring stick do we use?
How many lies can I get by with telling before I slide over into the “bad” category? How self-centered can I be? Does it matter if I “fly-off-the-handle” just this once? How judgmental toward others can I be? Is it okay that I horde my resources and show no generosity to those who have nothing? The standard for "how good is good enough" can get pretty fuzzy real quickly. Seriously!
Followers of Jesus simply believe that NONE of us are “good enough.” In Romans 3:23, Paul says that we have ALL fallen short of God’s measurement for goodness. In fact, the first three chapters of Romans are basically devoted to the fact that every human is, at his/her core, sinful. I know this is unpleasant to hear... It sounds judgmental, but it is definitely true of me, and I assume that deep, down, you know it is true of you, as well. Every human being has acted in disregard to God's standard of goodness.
Because we have all made choices to do our own thing and ignore God’s ways, we ALL deserve to be separated from God now and in the afterlife. I don’t deserve His presence after all that I have done to reject Him. Which brings us to the question of hell. I don’t like hell and quite frankly, I wish it wasn’t even in the Bible. But it is! As someone who believes that Jesus told the truth, I can’t get away from the reality of hell.
In fact, it is the very reality of my sin and the very reality of hell that makes Jesus' death and resurrection of UTMOST IMPORTANCE. On the cross, Jesus voluntarily took upon Himself my punishment... my death penalty. The cross makes absolutely NO SENSE, if I don’t first understand my own predicament (and that of the entire human race).
So, every other religion leaves it up to the person to DO enough good things to somehow tip the scales so that our “good deeds” outweigh the bad. But when you really think about it, these attempts are absolutely maddening! How can you ever know for sure? You simply cannot!
Followers of Jesus, on the other hand, believe that Jesus has already taken our punishment. For Christ-followers, it is not about doing-and-trying-and-keeping rules, it is about being so much in awe of Jesus and what He did for us that we WANT to follow Him... We WANT to love others as He has loved us. It is no longer about what I have to do, it is about what I GET TO DO!
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