Pretty Good People (revisited)

Let's go back a ways.

My sister recently commented on a Facebook note I wrote about a year and a half ago. She said that it had really impacted her, and she still thought about it fairly frequently. I was kinda surprised by this, but I read through it and found myself somewhat convicted by my own words. Thought I'd share what I had written. Hope you can get something good out of it.

The note reads as follows:



Have you ever asked someone what they think of the way they live their lives, what they think of their moral character? The answers you get are somewhat amusing (if you have the right sense of humor), because they're all the same. Most everyone thinks that they're a pretty good person. Not a really good person, not a bad person. A pretty good person.

The reason everybody says this is because it's easy to think of someone who you can call a worse person. The guy who cheats on his wife can say he's still a pretty good person because he doesn't deal drugs. The student who cusses like a sailor and drinks like a fish can say he's still a pretty good person because he doesn't cheat on his tests. Anyone can come up with a rationalization that puts them in the middle of the herd and makes them a pretty good person. Because no one wants to believe that they're doing something wrong, but nobody wants to be too good.

Here's the bad news. Our goodness isn't based on how the people around us act. It's based on the bar that God sets for us. And that bar is very, very high. Check it out...

"But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity or of greed because these are improper for God's holy people. Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving."
~Ephesians 5:3-4

When I read this I realized that I fall way short. I'd always thought of myself as a pretty good person. I don't get smashed or do drugs, I don't sleep with girls, I don't murder or burglarize. Those verses, though, reminded me of how high the bar is and how often I fail to meet it. It's not a trite little Wheaton phrase like "being broken for God" that makes you feel all spiritual when you say it. It's something much more visceral, much harsher, much less roll-off-your-tongue-at-a-revival. It's the simple fact that but for Jesus, I would be a miserable failure.

Hence, a call to action. Don't get caught up in the trap of thinking that you're a pretty good person. Don't let yourself and your faith stagnate because you're an alright guy (or girl). Instead, "throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and [...] run with perseverance the race marked out for us." (Heb 12:1) Live your life in a way that is as pleasing to God as you can possibly make it, and keep a sharp eye out for things that hinder and entangle you. It's rarely easy, and not always a lot of fun, but it's the only route to true joy and lasting peace.

"Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise,"
~Ephesians 5:15