The Tale of the Really Good Man

The Tale of the Very Good Man

There once was a man who lived in your city.  He had a beautiful home with a well-manicured lawn.  The flowers were always in bloom, the grass was always cut and stayed green year-round, and the bushes were always trimmed.  He was even so thoughtful as to plant the right kind of flowers in his yard to attract hummingbirds and bees and other wild things that needed food on their sojourn in life.  He showed incredible attention to detail and delighted in the results!

Just about anyone you asked would have said that this man was a very good man.  He was admired by his neighbors for how good he was.  He never stole from anyone or cheated others.  He knew his neighbors and would help them anytime he was asked, whether it was borrowing a tool or helping them complete a job at their house.  When he went on walks with his dog, he always picked up the waste it left behind so that someone else wouldn't step in it!  

This man served the poor and the homeless on a regular basis.  He would go downtown to be involved in feeding programs.  He was on the board of several non-profit agencies that helped the community and the city to become a better place to live, including helping those who are homeless and destitute.  When people thought of a list of people who were having a positive impact on the culture and the city, his name was always on that list.

This man supported his government completely. He paid the exact amount of taxes that he owed each time they were owed, and he didn't complain about doing it.  He spoke well of government officials and was available to provide council from the perspective of the community when it was needed.  He used his innate leadership ability to rally government officials to his causes, which were good causes to rally to, and was always available to them.  He was in the truest sense a true community leader.

And you wouldn't know it, but this man had a regular quiet time early in the morning.  He not only read his Bible but memorized verses, passages, and sometimes entire chapters of it.  He could quote it exactly in many situations requiring wise council.  His determination in life was to live a life marked by following what the scriptures told him to do.

This man went to church every single Sunday.  He would sing the songs, sometimes out of tune like the rest of us, but he would really engage with the regular singing.  He would sit in the front row or one row back so that perhaps his zeal would influence others in the worship service and make them have a more worshipful attitude.  He was quick to tithe from his wealth without complaining and was glad to give to the cause of the church.  On nights and weekends he would give his time to the upkeep of the building because, after all, somebody had to do it.  Many times he would get his family members involved to help him in this endeavor, and the family served together.

Behind the scenes at his local church this man was also a leader.  He sat on several committees and gave council on how the money should be spent.  Upkeep of the church building and helping the community were his priorities, and he gladly helped to steer the funding into the right place.  He had a close relationship to the pastor and was always able to give Biblical council to him and to others.

When it came to prayer, it seemed this man always had the right things to say.  People admired how he prayed because of the eloquent words.  Surely someone who prays like that is speaking directly to God, and God must be listening!  His prayers were so good, in fact, that others around him were often intimidated to pray out loud themselves because they knew it just didn't measure up to his.  So in any instance where a group of people prayed, this man was always asked to lead them.

And wow, could this man dress up!  He came to church each Sunday in the best clothing because, after all, he was doing it to honor God.  During the week he also dressed for success and was admired for his style.  He would stand out in any crowd because of the fine clothing he wore and how he carried himself in it.  This man had it all.

This man also loved missions.  He was overjoyed to get to carry the news about God to people who had never heard the name of God before that time.  He would willingly jump on airplanes, boats, trains, taxis, and would spare no expense to get to a remote destination where no one had heard.  In his mind, going to all of that trouble to convert a single person was completely worth it.  After all, what if that person became the next Billy Graham?

Power?  

Admiration?

Influence?

Money?  

Prestige?

He had all of those things.  But there's one important thing in life that he lacked.

He had no relationship with God.

How can that be?  Here is a man who has everything and is doing the right things and saying the right things.  He reads and knows his Bible, attends church, does missions, fights for just causes in his community, and is a good person overall!  Doesn't that get him any credit?  

Sure it does.  Here on earth he had all the credit he could stand in the eyes of man.  In the eyes of God, though, he was bankrupt.

You see, the person I described for you is a Pharisee.  He didn't know God at all.  He just thought he did.

How is it possible to spend your whole life on serving God and working to please Him and yet still not know him at all?  How can a person like this wind up permanently separated from God in hell?

Actually, it isn't that difficult to do.  The Pharisees, after all, gave us a roadmap for a life like that.  It requires self-discipline and a healthy dose of really good, really right activity.  If you have been in church any amount of time the Pharisees have largely, and rightly been villainized as the resistors and eventual oppressors of Jesus.  They are remembered for their judgmental attitude toward those who didn't live for or know God.  Certainly our modern-day Pharisees still are that way.  I think we forget, though, that on the surface many things would have looked right in their lives.  Moral?  Yes.  Mission-minded?  Yes.  Bible-based?  Mostly.  

How many who call themselves Christians these days are actually Pharisees in the Lord's view?  Personally I believe that our churches are filled with them these days.  These people do a lot of things for God, but do not actually have any relationship with Him at all.

In one of the more frightening passages in all of the Bible, Jesus said these words about our modern-day Pharisees.

Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. 22On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ 23But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’

What does this passage tell us?  There are people who will actually say that "Jesus is Lord" of their lives who do not get to Heaven.  There are people who do the work outlined in the New Testament such as prophecying and even casting out demons who do not know the Lord.  There are people doing these very things who are not living out God's will for their life.  They are just doing a bunch of things.  Christianity is a checklist to them and the Bible helps them to update the checklist.  Christianity is not a relationship to these folks;  it is just daily tasks to fulfill.

This is why we who call ourselves Christians need to regularly check our motives.

Pastor AW Tozer said it this way:

"Christians, and especially very active ones, should take time out frequently to search their souls to be sure of their motives.  Many a solo is sung to show off;  many a sermon is preached as an exhibition of talent;  many a church is founded as a slap at some other church.  Even missionary activity may become competitive, and soul winning may degenerate into a sort of brush-salesman project to satisfy the flesh.  Do not forget, the Pharisees were great missionaries and would compass sea and land to make a convert."

What are your motives for doing the things you do in the name of God?  It may be time to make an honest examination of those and come to terms with them.  After all, Jesus clearly said that it is not in being a good person that we make it into Heaven.  In fact, many good people will be locked out.  That should make us quite nervous.  But beyond being nervous, our main concern should be around knowing the Lord more and more.  If doing things is preventing us from knowing God more, maybe it is time for a big change.

In the next post we will take a closer look at whether you are living the life of a "good person" rather than as a disciple of Jesus.  But you and I must do something about it right now since tomorrow is never guaranteed.