August 31, 2015

  • Jesus and The Christian Burden to Do Good Works

    Lately I've been struck by how often Jesus emphasized good works in his teachings. Not only did he often mention them, but he had certain standards for how they were to be carried out. And those standards are not at all easy.

    For a Christian, we usually get more concerned about things like not sinning, or persecution, or whether God/Jesus are real and faith. I don't think too many of us worry about our good works not pleasing God. And yet, consider the following obligations:

    1) Good works are to be secret. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told the people to give freely, but also not to take credit for the good they did. God is the one who will see and reward.

    2) Good works are to be aimed at the least of these. There's a well-quoted parable where the sheep are told "Whatever you did for the least of these, you did unto me." The list of good works are hard good works. Going to see the sick? Going to prison? Um, Jesus, I wouldn't last 2 minutes in prison, how can I go there? But he specifically said he wanted those done.

    3) Good works are to be unrepaid. There's a certain type of cheeseball movie trope where the guy helps some woman in distress and voila it's the Queen of Bumbleville, the hottest, richest woman in the land! But that's not how it's supposed to work in God's plan. Jesus specifically said go help people who can't repay you. Less helping the rich, beautiful, and talented, more helping the poor, ugly, and stupid? Jesus, do I have to? And yet, that's the calling.

    I'm writing this because I want to do a better job doing actual good works. It's too easy to throw 10% of my money in Jesus' direction and call myself a saint. But that's not enough to be fully worthy of the name Christian. Just still thinking it over.

Comments (3)

  • the most important words that man ever spoke was about forgivness.

    Forgive them , they know not what they do.

    If for some reason he knew of the effects of jupiter and saturn on human behaviour he would have known that because of these effects humans can act like complete dorks at times.

    I think the world would be a better place if Jesus had of told the reasons why to do things rather than just telling people to do them.

    Thus the error of religion is the lack of reasoning behind it.

    Hey i'm not jumping on yourthought process, nor on Jesus's ... and why is pride a sin? Why is speaking about ones great deeds not a good idea.

    And if Jesus was around today would he not have been labelled a Narcissist?

    PEace and best wishes to you from Dublin -Ireland

    Owen

    • Ha, I think Jesus would definitely have been called a Narcissist! In the Gospel of John, he often sounds cocky...good point.

  • All three points are excellent, and I need to keep them in mind at all times.

    I've been on week-long home repair mission trips before, but I would love to pursue a longer-term trip maybe abroad. Not sure of what kind, or where, but something. And of course there are many countless opportunities to serve locally.

Comments are closed.

Post a Comment