When the 'Good' Are Not Godly

“‘Good’ people can often be ungodly,” a radio preacher said recently over the airwaves as I prepared to head to work.

I thought about those words as I drove to the carpet manufacturing mill where I earn a living. Psalm 1 describes godly and ungodly people:

“Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

“But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

"And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

“The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

“Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

“For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.”

Some of us may think ungodly folk are only those people who exhibit evident sinful lifestyles. There are, however, plenty of “good” ungodly people. They don’t beat wives, “run around on” husbands, abuse children, steal, lie and curse. Some “good” ungodly people may hold to higher personal standards than many Christians maintain. But “good” people are ungodly if they have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. Christ makes a person righteous (the righteous have “right standing” with God) when that person believes in Christ as Savior, repents for his sins and commits to follow Christ. One cannot earn his way to heaven by being “good”; therefore, a “good” person is ungodly if he places his faith in his personal goodness rather than in the grace of Christ. “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

“Some people are better by nature than others are by grace,” someone said. A person born with a gentle nature might appear to be a Christian but may not have given his life to Christ. Perhaps such a person learned to “go along to get along.” Maybe he quietly participates in the predominant ethic of the culture he lives in so he can more easily live his own “self life.”

I feel sad to hear someone say about a family, “Well, they’re not Christians, but they are good people.” The person commenting may mean this: “Good people don’t bother anybody. We need to visit jails to convert bad people and go to the streets to find drug addicts. Those people need to be saved. They hurt our society. They break into our houses and steal jewelry, gun collections and TV sets! Good people don’t bother me.” The statement “They’re not Christians, but they are good people” hints that the one making that declaration may be buying into the lie that doing good deeds will earn someone a place in heaven. Christ died for the down-and-out and the up-out-out. We all need a Savior. Who is “good,” anyway? Jesus said, “None is good, save one, that is, God” (Luke 18:19).

I am glad that Christians visit jails and help drug addicts, but good people who don’t know Christ are just as lost as murderers, addicts, pimps, prostitutes and drug dealers who don’t know Christ. Good people who accept Christ may not have to deal with breaking the same kinds of habits that bad people do when they convert, but non-Christian “good” people are often in bondage to self-reliance, self-indulgence and unbelief in the same ways “bad” people are.

Remember the story Jesus told about a rich man? That wealthy man boasted, “And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God” (Luke 12:19-21).

In Jesus’ story, the rich man was probably a “good” but ungodly person. Though he “succeeded” in this world, he neglected to prepare for eternity.

“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:17-18).
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2009 11 07: a response to the above article by Father Tom Parsons, an Anglican priest in North Carolina:

The trick here is to define "good." Remember, Jesus told the man, who called Jesus good, that only God the Father is good. The Bible, in most cases, is speaking of righteousness when the word "good" is used. Righteousness, according to St. Paul, is an imputed quality based upon faith. "Abraham believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness." Faith and righteousness are connected for Christians. "Good" is a worldly concept which should be recognized but not confused with "righteousness" before God. A person may be "good" and his goodness be of value to society and still not be righteous before God. As in most cases, faith is the key.  --Fr. Tom