Quick, what Christmas song is that phrase from? If you said “Santa Clause is Coming to Town”, you are correct. But the reason it is in the news is because it is part of a new advertising campaign for a humanist groups that says, “Why believe in god? Just be good for goodness sake.” Their stated goal is to help other people who don’t believe in god find friends and likeminded people to share the Christmas holidays with.
Rather than getting into the “Christmas wars” in our culture, I am more intrigued by the idea that we should try to be good without God. My questions is, good by whose definition? Who gets to decide what good is? Who has the authority to choose what good will be for everyone? And better yet, can anyone really be good without God’s help?
A brief use of a concordance or word search in a Bible program tells the following about goodness:
God created the world and declared it good- Genesis 1
We are to give thanks to God because he is good- Psalm 106:1
God is good and therefore only does good- Psalm 119:68
It is good to praise God- Psalm 92:1
God alone is good- Luke 18:19
No human can do good without God- Romans 3:12
We are supposed to do what is good in God’s eyes- Deuteronomy 6:18
There is moral chaos when people do what is good (right) in their own eyes- Judges 17:6
Good actions come from a good heart- Matthew 7:17-18
The Holy Spirit produces goodness in people’s hearts- Galatians 5:22
Every good thing we have is from God- James 1:17
The good news is we can know God through Jesus Christ who created us to do good things- Ephesians 2:10
God works out all things for good for those that love him- Romans 8:28
When I read about people trying to make sense of this world without God, I don’t get angry at them. Instead I pray for them because they are fighting against the very person who loves them and gave his son, Jesus, to make it possible for them to know and love him. They cannot live the “good life” without the “good news”.
Have a happy Thanksgiving!
Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
Rather than getting into the “Christmas wars” in our culture, I am more intrigued by the idea that we should try to be good without God. My questions is, good by whose definition? Who gets to decide what good is? Who has the authority to choose what good will be for everyone? And better yet, can anyone really be good without God’s help?
A brief use of a concordance or word search in a Bible program tells the following about goodness:
God created the world and declared it good- Genesis 1
We are to give thanks to God because he is good- Psalm 106:1
God is good and therefore only does good- Psalm 119:68
It is good to praise God- Psalm 92:1
God alone is good- Luke 18:19
No human can do good without God- Romans 3:12
We are supposed to do what is good in God’s eyes- Deuteronomy 6:18
There is moral chaos when people do what is good (right) in their own eyes- Judges 17:6
Good actions come from a good heart- Matthew 7:17-18
The Holy Spirit produces goodness in people’s hearts- Galatians 5:22
Every good thing we have is from God- James 1:17
The good news is we can know God through Jesus Christ who created us to do good things- Ephesians 2:10
God works out all things for good for those that love him- Romans 8:28
When I read about people trying to make sense of this world without God, I don’t get angry at them. Instead I pray for them because they are fighting against the very person who loves them and gave his son, Jesus, to make it possible for them to know and love him. They cannot live the “good life” without the “good news”.
Have a happy Thanksgiving!
Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name. For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
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