DO GOOD. C'mon. Do it.

We now arrive at the second half of our brand motto. Do good. In the marketing world this is a "call to action." I think, we in the Christian community, grind our gears over this. As a relatively new Christian myself, I can only opine on what I've observed over the course of my time as a Christian.

Frequently, it is as though we are at odds with ourselves. Culturally, we are competitive, we try to earn, work, strive, gain, and generally do things for something in return. Therefore, speaking for myself, I've found it a tremendous relief and sometimes confusing promise that Jesus makes.

He offers us salvation, and life everlasting, a reprieve, a do over, a new lease on life, and access to a power greater than ourselves. For what? Faith. The exchange is for faith. Weird. So weird. The truth is, that Jesus went to the cross and died for us. I love the following verse:

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

Essentially, He died knowing we'd be bitter, ungrateful, stubborn, sinful, argumentative, selfish, and generally disobedient.

He died anyway. So, herein lies the rub.

I cannot and will not present myself as a learned bible scholar and theologian. But I am a saved Christian, and this is the best deal in town. This death on the cross needn't any additive work from me. God loves unconditionally and that is fully expressed in Jesus' death on the cross.

Now, this brings me to my point. I could probably burn through thousands of pages dissecting this collision of works v. faith, but I won't. Many people who are much smarter than me have already done this. So, the point:

We cannot earn our salvation through good works. We cannot buy God's love. We can't impress Him or make Him love us more. He loves us just as we are. However, the spirit of Doing Good is beautiful and is good in and of itself.

The moment we decide that we are going to do good in the world and not evil is a tremendous one. Seems silly, almost arbitrary really. Most of us wouldn't give it a second thought. And maybe that's the point. Shouldn't we give Doing Good a second thought? We just assume that because we aren't committing overtly evil acts on a regular basis that that is enough. Maybe it is.

But, this brings me to Solomon:

"I know that there is nothing better for men than to rejoice & do good things while they live." (Ecclesiastes 3:12)

Maybe it's good for us to do more than just not be evil? From where I sit, this truth is something that benefits society at large, but has a powerful benefit for us at the individual level.

You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord. (Leviticus 18:19)

Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. (Matt 7:12)

And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. (Luke 6:31)

In my opinion, the call to do good in Leviticus is very powerful. When we look at the word love and understand that it is an action word, the gravity of that statement comes to bear.

Love is more than a feeling:

"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; ⁵ does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; ⁶ does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; ⁷ bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never fails."  (1 Corinthians 13:4-8)

This beautiful prose from the Apostle Paul to those in the Corinthian church is a wonderful expression of the act Christ did. He went willingly to the cross (the ultimate work) which was the expression of the description of love seen above.

It is our hope, that if we, and those of you who follow our brand and our journey become moved by the Spirit and inspired by Jesus' work on the cross undergirded by what Paul illustrates in that verse from Corinthians.

So Do Good.