Jesus told his followers to let their light shine in such a way that people would see their good deeds and give praise to the Father in heaven. Over the next four weeks at Every Nation Tallahassee we will be teaching people how to "Get Lit" and shine like Jesus in our world of ever-increasing darkness. I hope to see you there.
Most people want to see the world changed, and many desire to be saviors. Can anybody shine brighter than Jesus Christ and replace him as the light of the world?
While reading the June 25, 2007 edition of Newsweek, I came across an article titled “Angelina Wants to Save the World”. The story is about Angelina Jolie’s humanitarian work. According to Newsweek, since 2001, she has evolved from a carnal libertine into a 32-year-old mother of four and good-will ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, visiting populations in crisis in Sierra Leone, Darfur, Thailand, Ecuador, Pakistan and elsewhere. She attends the World Economic Forum. She donates one third of her salary to charity.
Is Angelina Jolie our savior? Does all of her “good work” make her a good person? Well, that depends on how you obtain your worldview on goodness.
If good works made us good, then everybody on the planet would be good after one good work. Even killers like Charles Manson, Ted Bundy and Adolf Hitler did at least one good work in their lifetime, and that did not make them good. Their sin made them wicked and evil.
Life teaches us and history has proven that humans are not good. All we have to do is watch one night of evening news to be reminded of the evil that exists in people. In fact, most if not all, world religions and cults have some type of “good works” system by which they try to obtain their righteousness in vain.
For example, Mormons believe they are saved by doing good works, like missions and tithing, and by following the beliefs of the LDS Church. Muslims believe they can tip the judgment scale in their favor by doing good deeds that are compatible with the teachings of the Qur’an and the Hadith. Chief among those are the Five Pillars of Faith that each Muslim must perform. They include reciting the Shahadah, praying, giving alms, fasting and making a pilgrimage to Mecca. Oh, and killing people for Allah will get you a special place in paradise with fine virgin women.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of "Do Good Works Make Us Good?"
