The Godly and the Good
At a school program a few years ago I heard Dr. Erwin Lutzer say, “Many parents want to have good children, but they don’t want to have godly children. Because they fear their children might miss something.”
I’ve been thinking about that statement ever since.
While Dr. Lutzer’s statement was directed at the rearing of children, I wonder if we, as God’s children wouldn’t sometimes rather be good than godly.
The question is sometimes raised as to whether we can be truly good without being godly. Agnostics would say yes.
We all know good people who don’t acknowledge a relationship with God. They may be cheerful, helpful and moral. And sometimes the godly people we know can be crabby and cantankerous.
The godly know they are not by nature good–they need God. We need the righteousness of Jesus Christ. To say we are “Christian” is to admit we are broken and in need of God.
If we would rather by good than godly, is it because we also think we might “miss something?”
It’s true–we would miss His forgiveness, His righteousness, the adventure of journeying in His Will, and eternity in His presence. Who would want to miss all that?
