It's amazing to me who the world exalts as a role model in our society today. The standard for righteousness is being reduced, if not lost, as our nation continues to ignore the truth contained in the Bible.
What makes the Bible unique is it teaches that no one is good without Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Romans 3:10, 12 says, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who does good, not even one.” It is this teaching about humanity that offends so many people. Apostle Paul reminded the church at Ephesus that there was no amount of good works they could do to ever earn their salvation. He writes in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is a gift of God—(9) not by works, so that no one can boast.”
So, what am I writing? Am I saying that people should never do good works? Not at all! The Bible teaches us that people are saved to do good works. Christians should do more good works than anybody else on the planet. Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” The difference is that our good works don’t make us good. It is the new nature that Christ gives us, and it is the transforming work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts that makes us good.
The key to doing good works is the right motive. Without Christ, I believe our motive for good works is more about feeling good than actually helping people. In other words, it is selfish.
What is Angelina’s motive? Newsweek reports, “When I was famous for being just an actress, my life felt very shallow,” she says. “You’ve done nothing of any social relevance, and yet you have all these people interviewing you. You don’t even know what you’re talking about. You’re just trying to find yourself.” She pauses. “Traveling really did save me. I was just...happier. It was feeling that I was doing the right things with my life.” Could her motive be more about being happy than helping people?
Good works can make you feel good but they don’t make you good. I know what I am writing is controversial and not well-received in our humanistic culture where people put more trust in man than God. The simple fact is that truth has a tendency to be offensive. My simple goal is to teach truth even if it means being unpopular.
One final thought about good works. The main way you can determine the motive behind a person’s good works is by watching who gets the praise. Matthew 5:16 says, “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” The good works that really count are those that give praise to God and not to people.
Hey, I know good works almost always impact people in a positive manner. And yes, I know good works are much better than bad works. I am aware that many people have been helped by Jolie’s humanitarian efforts. Her work around the world is a good thing, but it does not make her righteous. The truth is that her sin makes her immoral.
If she was righteous, her good works would bring praise to God. After reading the article, all the praise for Angelina’s good works went to her and not to the Father in heaven. Without Christ, our good works may get us favor with humans, but it will never get us favor with God. Without Godly motives, our righteous acts are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). There is only one standard by which we can judge and determine righteousness, and that standard is the Lord Jesus Christ.
My hope is that Angelina would receive Jesus as her Lord and Savior by repenting for her sins and asking God to forgive her. If so, maybe her efforts would do more than make her happy and do good things for people. What if her labor actually led people to Christ and transformed them for eternity? What if her work actually taught people how to live like Jesus so they could obey His commandments and experience personal prosperity instead of poverty?
If so, our Father in heaven would get the praise through her good works.
2 comments:
Good message.
I think the direction Jolie is going in is great. Many celebrities seem to only think of themselves and their fame and fortune, but just by her admitting that her life feels "shallow" seems to be a sign God is tugging at her heart.
This is why as Christians we need to try to be the best examples we can so that when God is drawing people in like Angelina Jolie she will want to be a Christian, and not be resistant.
Perhaps Jolie is moving in the direction of God, but many go through entire lives seeking meaning and being willing to accept "truths" and never knowing THE TRUTH.
Her pull is obvious. All is empty and meaningless until we commune with our Creator. Solomon knew the end-game to every other pursuit leads to emptiness. May she discover the God if the universe and be one to challenge the standards in Hollywood and bring revival to the entire industry.
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