students of jesus

To carry our own ideas of goodness into the new world of God’s kingdom is to expect his world to conform to ours. Goodness is a fruit of the Spirit, the by-product of a gentle nurturing, perhaps years in the making.

Jesus was careful to separate himself from this world’s idea of goodness. When a young man of substance and power tried to address Jesus politely, addressing him as “Good Teacher,” the Lord shot back, “Why do you call me good? No one is good—except God alone.” Certainly the young man was correct, Jesus was (and is) the Good Teacher, yet Jesus immediately drew a distinction between an earth-bound view of goodness and a heavenly one.

Who could be against goodness? I’m totally in favor of goodness—right up until goodness sits on the throne and orders me to bow. Beware the goodness that takes the crown from the King of kings and demands worship. Beware the goodness of this age, and the wisdom of this age that tries to present a goodness divorced from the humility of worship, instruction, and servanthood. In short, beware when goodness masquerades as God.

"Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you." ~ Mr. Beaver

We repeat these words from C.S. Lewis so often because we still need this message: the living God is dangerously good, while our own ideas of goodness are dangerous in quite another way. It’s not about your version of good, or mine. The wisdom of this age wants to fashion a goodness after its own image, a safe goodness of which we are the judge. Our ideas of goodness may lead us to our doom. The wisdom of this age surpercedes our identity as God’s handiwork with the promise that we will become like God—all we need is the knowledge of good and evil. Never mind what shortcut we take, or the source of this knowledge. When we demand a god who conforms to our view of good and evil, we have made him over in our image.

What if true goodness is more frightening than the bad? When humanity saw true goodness among us, we ushered him to the cross. We employed the powers of government and religion in a vain attempt to muzzle him and continue ordering the world after our own ideas of what is right.

But what is right? What is good? Pilate asked Jesus “What is truth?” In the last hundred years the wisdom of this age has answered that question by concluding there is no such thing. We have moved beyond the question of truth, and we are stuck today on “What is good?” Each of us should tremble if we reach the same result as we did with truth—that we should be be left to choose our own ideas of good.

If we hold non-violence as the highest good, we will make Jesus over again in the image of Gandhi or Dr. King. If we hold personal freedom as the highest good we will fail to see the Law of God as David saw it—sweeter than honey. If we hold family as the highest good we will miss the startling words of our Lord, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.'”

Jesus demonstrates the goodness of humility of the human mind before the glory of God. Goodness is the fruit of walking with the Master of Life, of learning his heart, gaining his mind, and making room for his Spirit. We would be wise to give up our definitions of goodness until his work takes root in us. If we let him he will redefine love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.