Jesus was approached by a young wealthy man of status and authority who asked Him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life (Mk. 10:17)?" An evangelical Christian would respond, "accept Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior." But Jesus surprises the young ruler and us by replying with His question, "Why do you call me good?"
When we talk about morality, we are talking about those behavioral boundaries that shape persons within communities. These boundaries will be different for different communities. How one defines "good" and "bad" "right and wrong", "righteous and sinful" is dependent upon the community in which they relate to others.
A community is a network of relationships. My son, Anthony, primarily relates to a community on the Internet through the XBox gaming system. It's the main way he visits with friends. Many are scattered across the country and some are overseas in other countries. They all come together for one purpose, to play the video game. They shout, laugh and jeer one another in male comradery. And how does the gaming community establish what is "good" in their estimation? A kill shot with a double tap to a zombie's head is "good." To have the highest number of kills against alien armies invading Earth territories is "good." To join a game with others as a teammate and help them win, watching your teammates' backs is "good." And to share insights and gaming skills with newer players is always an appreciated "good."
So you can see "good" behaviors that lead to the quality of goodness will vary from community to community. For a real shock read about the male rites of passage of the Sambia of Papa New Guinea (http://www.ndnu.edu/about-us/mission_diversity/documents/Herdt-RitualsofManhoodMaileInitiationinPapuaNewGuinea-cln.pdf). Our western sense of what is good causes shame to even read about the abuse of Sambian boys to make them into men.
Christianity is a community centered around the belief that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Messiah promised through Israel. This belief goes far beyond Israel's hope in a religious and political savior. Christians believe that Jesus is God. Therefore His teachings and example are of the highest authority for this community of "little Christs." He chose apostles to go and make disciples of all nations, to baptize them into the body of Christ, His church, and to teach them to obey everything He has commanded (Mk. 16:15-16; Mat. 28:18-20). Since these apostles were given His authority, the authority of His name, and His promise to be with them in this ministry, the apostles' teachings too have been revered as authoritative for the life of the church (Acts 2:42; Eph. 4:19-22).
Today there are "Red Letter Christians" who hold that those parts of the New Testament that are from Jesus' mouth are their chief authority (http://www.redletterchristians.org/start/), especially the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5-7. Another set of Christians may say the teaching "God is love" is their chief authority. Anything that does not resemble love is not of God and can be excluded from church doctrine (1 Jn. 4:7-21). This is what we in clergy circles call "a gospel within a gospel." It is when one part of scripture is the canon, the measure, by which all other parts are read.
I feel John Wesley's gospel within the gospel is found in Galatians 5:6, "the only thing (in Christ) that matters is faith working through love." Faith in Christ drives our loving actions, for it is Christ's love which compels us. Our gratitude for salvation in the cross and resurrection of Jesus makes us want to serve Him and please Him. We die to our old selves, serving our own selfish and sinful inclinations, and rise to live a new life as Jesus' slave. He is Lord. Jesus is our master. But our obedience comes not out of fear, but love. Perfected love does not fear God's judgment. Perfected love recognizes God as loving and merciful, right and true, powerful and ultimate (1 Jn. 4:17-19).
Where does one get these ideas that define how we think about ourselves as Christians? It is from a community of faith reading, interpreting and applying the writings of the bible. Faith Communities shape how we understand ourselves before our God. Many people read scripture, but find it difficult to understand. The Holy Spirit directed Philip the evangelist to an Ethiopian eunuch reading the prophet Isaiah.
When Philip ran up to [the chariot], he heard him [the Ethiopian eunuch] reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, "Do you understand what you're reading?"
"How can I," he said, "unless someone guides me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
To move toward a biblical understanding of Christian morality, one must do so in the context of a community that helps them to understand.
I belong to a United Methodist community of faith, but I am the product of many communities, not all of them faithful to Christ. For instance I am influenced by the community of Rock music fans. I lift my smart phone with the Zippo lighter app to sway to great songs, keeping a rock 'n' roll tradition going back to the 1960's and 1970's.
What communities, what networks of relationship, are shaping you?
Who is helping you to understand what is "good?"
Jesus told the rich young ruler, "there is only One who is good-God (Mk. 10:18)."
Here is the full account from the New Revised Standard Bible, the approved text of the National Council of Churches, of which the United Methodist Church is a part.
"As he was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, ‘Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ 18Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. 19You know the commandments: “You shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honour your father and mother.” ’ 20He said to him, ‘Teacher, I have kept all these since my youth.’ 21Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money* to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’ 22When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.
Then Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, ‘How hard it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!’ 24And the disciples were perplexed at these words. But Jesus said to them again, ‘Children, how hard it is* to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.’ 26They were greatly astounded and said to one another,* ‘Then who can be saved?’ 27Jesus looked at them and said, ‘For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible (Mk. 10:17-27).’"
What is most telling about this story is what Jesus cites as the moral laws to follow to be "good." Note that these are from the ten commandments, but the list is missing the commands about our relationship to God. Read Exodus 20:1-17 and compare. You will find outward laws cited by Jesus, that which can be judged by men, but not inward behaviors, those that are known by God and the person. Jesus exposes the rich young ruler's inner disposition. His love of money is greater than his love of God.
In the pursuit of morality, we must decide what we are really living for. We must decide which community voice will help us pursue our goal in life. We must learn to filter out the voices that pine for our attention and distract us from our pursuit. We must dedicate ourselves to learning the traditions of our faith community so we can be formed to read the scriptures for ourselves and apply the Word to our lives.
For myself, I believe each Christian has an ultimate goal to become as Jesus is. This requires me to get to know Him, both personally and within community, through study, prayer, worship and service.
"For those whom he [God] foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family (Rom. 8:29)."
Is it vain to pursue becoming just like Jesus? Perhaps on my own strength, it is. But with God, all things are possible.
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