Simply This: Do Good And Not Evil
Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. He who does good is of God; he who does evil has not seen God.
One of the great temptations in writing about faith is to conflate faith with doctrine. Particularly to someone like myself, who enjoys reasoning and analyzing questions of all kinds, there is a certain pleasure which comes from scouring Scripture for textual evidence that this or that viewpoint is “correct”.
I would be lying if there weren't a certain sense of “See? I told you so!”
This is something of an error, and arguably is even the sin of pride. It certainly opens the way for ego to intrude where it does not belong.
I do not believe that the goal in any reasoning about faith should be doctrinal correctness. I believe the goal should be righteousness.
Put simply, we should be discerning ways to live better lives in closer communion with God. We should not be elevating our own egos, claiming authority we do not possess, and thus putting distance between ourselves and God.
Put even more simply, we should focus on doing good and not evil. That must always be the priority, not the rationalizations we mold into various religious doctrines.
What do I mean by “doctrine”? I mean exactly what the word itself means: the contrived and intellectually constructed perspectives and opinions about faith, about Scripture, and even about God. I speak of that which is invariably the work of men and not of God.
Regardless of how any of us approach various religious doctrines—the importance of rituals, the meaning of the Eucharist, ecclesiastical authority, or the “correct” interpretation of the various prophecies found throughout the Old and New Testament—the final testimony of anyone's faith is what they do with their life.
All who have even a passing familiarity with Scripture know Jesus’ teaching about good trees bearing good fruit, and bad trees bearing bad fruit. Do we pause to contemplate what manner of fruit we bear? Are we bearing good fruit or bad?
It does not matter how pious our prayers are, or how constant our devotions, if we are not putting our faith into action. It does not matter how many times we speak of loving our neighbor as we love ourselves if we do not show that love through deeds.
We must actually strive to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and minister to the sick.
We must actually show compassion towards the poor.
We must actually be merciful and not vengeful.
Jesus teaches this repeatedly throughout the Gospels. He chastises the Pharisees for elevating the traditions of elders above the teachings of Mosaic Law. He berates them for tithing mint, and dill, and cumin, while ignoring the far more crucial matters such as mercy and justice. He calls out those who are boastful in prayer and contemptuous of others, while praising those who are instead humble and who focus on repentance.
Time and again, Jesus puts reality ahead of ritual, and every person's reality is the choices they make, the actions they take.
Time and again, Jesus emphasizes the substance of a life lived over contrived doctrines.
Indeed, as Jesus Himself observed, the futility of doctrines was a truth preached by Isaiah.
Nor was Jeremiah kind to those who kept doctrines in their mouths but had not God in their hearts. His prophetic teaching was kinder to honest sinners than to such posturing hypocrites.
The Apostle Paul reiterates this, teaching in Romans 14 not to make our faith a stumbling block to others. Like Jeremiah, Paul calls out the hypocrisy of doctrinal correctness in the first chapter of his letter to Titus. Doctrine must never take precedence over mercy, love, or justice.
No matter what people believe, our calling is to lift them up. No matter what people believe, their good acts are still good acts. No matter what people believe, their evil acts are still evil.
Faith does not sanctify sin, nor does a lack of faith subvert saintliness.
Put simply, doing good moves you closer to God, while doing evil moves you away from God.
Note that I speak here of “doctrine” and not “theology”. Indeed, a theological criticism of theology itself would be the acme of hypocrisy. Theology, properly apprehended as the study of faith (and therefore of Scripture), is essential to the development of one’s faith. The better we understand God's Word, the better we apprehend God's Law, the better our capacity to make good choices instead of evil ones.
Yet how we live our lives must be the foundation for all our introspection about faith, God, God’s Word and God’s Law. How we live our lives must be the foundation for any of our reasoned religious doctrines.
What we say and what we do establish whether or not we are God’s light into a darkened world. What we think is meaningless until we give it substance through speaking and doing.
How can we hope to invite Jesus into our hearts while living lives which harden our hearts? I do not see how we can.
How can we love our neighbor as we love ourselves while looking down upon our neighbor with contempt? I do not see how we can.
How can we love God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind while putting our own egos first in anything? I do not see how we can.
Some might criticize my thinking here, claiming I am promoting the idea that “works” are how we “earn” our salvation. In truth I am arguing something far more fundamental: that our outward choices both illuminate and transform what is in our hearts.
There is no good choice that can erase even the smallest evil choice. There is no man on earth who can, by his own efforts, purge the stain of sin from his life. That power lies with God and God alone.
Yet even in the depths of sin and unbelief, we are still called to do the right thing. We are still called to charity, compassion, and mercy. We are still called to lives of faith and transformation.
If a single righteous choice moves us one step closer to God, is it not sensible that we should make that choice? If a single righteous act opens our heart to God even just a little bit, is it not sensible that we should do that act?
We cannot, through our choices, be magically made into righteous people. Yet our choices can still be righteous, and by making righteous choices we can still aspire to righteousness.
Righteousness is not a transaction but an orientation. Good deeds will not earn anyone a place in God's Kingdom, but choosing good deeds over evil ones will put everyone on the path where God is waiting to lead us into His Kingdom.
No amount of theological circumlocution can move us along that right path. No contrived doctrine can shorten or make straight that path.
Some religious doctrines may help describe the path, but we should never conflate the development of doctrine with walking the path. Walking the path means making choices and taking actions.
Religious doctrines do us no good, and serve no good purpose, if we are not first and foremost committed to living good lives and making good choices.
Do doctrines such as the nature of the Trinity matter? Absolutely, but only if we are first inclined towards God. If we live uncharitable, unkind, unmerciful lives, we are moving away from all apprehensions of God, rendering such doctrines moot.
My prayer this day is that I will remain mindful that living faith is always the first priority. My prayer this day is that I will focus first and foremost on doing good and avoiding evil. My prayer this day is that I will inspire others to make good choices and strive to live Godly lives, without getting bogged down in abstract and esoteric points of religious doctrine.
My prayer for you this day is that you also will remain mindful that living faith is always the first priority. My prayer for you this day is that you also will focus first and foremost on doing good and avoiding evil. My prayer for you this day is that you also will inspire others to make good choices and strive to live Godly lives, without getting bogged down in abstract and esoteric points of religious doctrine.
How we live our lives must be the foundation for all our introspection about faith, God, God’s Word, and God’s Law. How we live our lives must be the foundation for any of our reasoned religious doctrines.
Religious doctrines do us no good, and serve no good purpose, if we are not first and foremost committed to living good lives and making good choices.