Good for Goodness Sake!
04/01/09 15:55
This last holiday
season the American Humanist Association spent
$40,000 dollars for an ad campaign, placing these ads
on D.C. buses: “Why believe in a god? Just be
good for goodness sake.” What a waste of money!
How could anyone in his or her right mind be good
just for goodness’ sake? The very first
question I have for the AHA is: Could you please
define goodness for me? What is goodness? Where can
one find it? Is there a storehouse for it; or is it
just everywhere? Well, I know for certain that
it’s just not everywhere, because badness
exists just as well. But why are some things bad? Is
it because they are not good? Sounds simple enough
for me. So, if you’re not being good, then
you’re being bad –right? Or, does the AHA
want us to believe that some folks aren’t being
bad or good? Then what are they being? And if they
are not being bad or good, what is the incentive for
being good. Haven’t we heard of many injustices
being done to good people? Haven’t we seen bad
people prosper and live in extreme wealth and
comfort? What is the point of being good and what
rewards are there for doing so? Telling us to be good
for goodness’ sake is like telling us to think
of a plate of food when you’re hungry. Now,
that’s confusing!
Goodness is a reality; there should be no argument about that. Where things start to get foggy is when we try to define it. One person says this and another says that. It is sort of like when we try to define what love is. A couple married for over 25 years defines it one way; a teenage boy with his girlfriend in the back seat of a car defines it another way. Get the picture? How then, do we define what is good? A football player who runs fast, hits hard and has endurance to finish the game is defined as a good player. Should we then define a mugger who can run fast, hit hard and endure through the whole mugging as a good mugger? When someone is spoken of as a “good liar” we don’t consider that person as being good! The AHA wants us to be good for goodness’ sake, but they have failed to tell us what goodness is –that’s not good!
There was a man who came up to Jesus and asked Him, “Good Master, what must I do to enter eternal life?” and Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.” In essence, Jesus was asking the young man, “Do you believe that I am the Son of God?” For if the young man thought that Jesus was good, then he could trust that Jesus wouldn’t lie to him about such important matters. Jesus was telling him and all of us that goodness comes from God alone. Goodness cannot just exist of its own accord; it is only logical that it has a Source. If goodness did exist of its own accord, then the logical conclusion would be that evil would always exist as well. If that were the case, then I want to go back to an earlier question; what reward is there in being good for goodness’ sake? Being good for goodness’ sake is a pipe dream. Why? Because those who would be good for goodness’ sake would eventually have to become self-righteous –and that is not good! “Thanks but no thanks, AHA. I am going to be good for Christ’ sake –because that is what He wants for all of us. Plus, He promised to reward us for doing good and that’s more than what you can offer!”
Goodness is a reality; there should be no argument about that. Where things start to get foggy is when we try to define it. One person says this and another says that. It is sort of like when we try to define what love is. A couple married for over 25 years defines it one way; a teenage boy with his girlfriend in the back seat of a car defines it another way. Get the picture? How then, do we define what is good? A football player who runs fast, hits hard and has endurance to finish the game is defined as a good player. Should we then define a mugger who can run fast, hit hard and endure through the whole mugging as a good mugger? When someone is spoken of as a “good liar” we don’t consider that person as being good! The AHA wants us to be good for goodness’ sake, but they have failed to tell us what goodness is –that’s not good!
There was a man who came up to Jesus and asked Him, “Good Master, what must I do to enter eternal life?” and Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.” In essence, Jesus was asking the young man, “Do you believe that I am the Son of God?” For if the young man thought that Jesus was good, then he could trust that Jesus wouldn’t lie to him about such important matters. Jesus was telling him and all of us that goodness comes from God alone. Goodness cannot just exist of its own accord; it is only logical that it has a Source. If goodness did exist of its own accord, then the logical conclusion would be that evil would always exist as well. If that were the case, then I want to go back to an earlier question; what reward is there in being good for goodness’ sake? Being good for goodness’ sake is a pipe dream. Why? Because those who would be good for goodness’ sake would eventually have to become self-righteous –and that is not good! “Thanks but no thanks, AHA. I am going to be good for Christ’ sake –because that is what He wants for all of us. Plus, He promised to reward us for doing good and that’s more than what you can offer!”
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