If Jesus could be described in one word, what would it be? Holy or loving come to mind. Miraculous is fitting. Savior or prophet describe him. But I think the most accurately descriptive word for Jesus would be “good.” Jesus was good.
In the book of Acts you will find one of Peter’s sermons. “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” Then Peter describes “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, how he went about doing good . . .” This was Jesus’ life: doing good.
I have a friend who has an African grey parrot for a pet that mimics and converses. Whenever my friend leaves the house and as the door is closing, he hears a raspy admonition, “Be a good bird.” Fascinating and also charming. Isn’t that what our parents told us whenever we stepped out; isn’t that how we still encourage our children: “Be good.”
In a conversation Socrates had with a young military graduate, the fledgling soldier told Socrates that his teacher had told him to put the best men in the front and rear, and the worst men in the middle.'
'Well and good. But did he tell you how to distinguish the good and the bad men?' When the embarrassed lad said no, Socrates replied, 'Then you'd better go and get your money back.'
What is it to be good? What does the Bible say? You will find an answer in the mouth of the prophet Micah: “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with God.”
The late Peter Gomes, at the time minister to Harvard University, was once on a commencement platform with Jimmy Carter. Making small talk, Dr. Gomes said, 'My gosh, you certainly have earned the moral accolades of the century with your conduct as ex-president and all the good works that you do.' He smiled sweetly and said, 'If all the people who respect me today had voted for me yesterday, things might have been considerably different.'
Gomes commented: “As president, Jimmy Carter exemplified mercy, kindness, and humility out of his genuine Southern Baptist piety, and what did we think of that? We laughed at him, and we thought him ‘unpresidential.’ If everybody today who respects Jimmy Carter had voted for him the second time around, the course of American history might very well have changed. That is probably why we didn't vote for him: we couldn't risk the change. We couldn't afford the change. We dare not have a real Christian in public office.”
In 2011, the Public Religion Research Institute commissioned an interesting survey. It asked Americans of all faith backgrounds to respond to the question: Could a politician who behaved immorally in their personal life still serve their public office with integrity. Only 30 percent of white evangelicals said yes, the lowest of any group surveyed. In October 2016, five years later, the Institute released a new survey that asked the same exact question. Astoundingly, 72 percent of white evangelicals responded that, yes, a politician who behaved immorally in their personal life could still perform their public duties with integrity.
In his novel East of Eden, John Steinbeck wrote: 'I believe that there is one story in the world, and only one. Humans are caught—in their lives, in their thoughts, in their hungers and ambitions, in their avarice and cruelty, and in their kindness and generosity too—in a net of good and evil. There is no other story. Anyone, after they have brushed off the dust and chips of their life, will have left one hard, clean question—Was it good?'
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