Goodness can only be declared and administered by God. Only he is able and fit to take such a position. No other governor of moral law is possible, whether by rule or consensus, since people always lack perfect knowledge and differ in their views and feelings.
Goodness does not exist because God wills it or because God created it or because God performs it. Goodness exists because it is what God is. He cannot rule by any other means; he cannot create in any other way; he cannot act with any other intention.
So the very basis of goodness in human life is the goodness that God is. This alone is the only ultimate intention that makes "good" actions good. As defined above, it is intention that makes an act moral or good, not the action itself.Jesus described the only real good intentions this way: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself." The love of God, the affirmation of his intrinsic and essential goodness, will alone guide and correct all other actions and areas of human life. Without this inner admission of God's goodness, good cannot be done, because goodness is always defined by intention.
Similarly, the love of our neighbors affirms the essential goodness of God since they are made for his love and his benevolence. Denying love to our neighbors denies the that intentions of God for good in this world, since that is what the creation is made for: people. People (as well as all creation) have value and goodness because they are made by and for a good God.
In this age, the more typical command is: "Love yourself with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Love God and your neighbor when it serves your self-interest." So rather than goodness being the foundation of action, personal desire becomes the foundation. The fundamental question switches from "What is good?" to "What is good for me?" or "What's in it for me?"
For example, one person goes to church, volunteers at a soup kitchen, and teaches their children to do what is right so that they will not be punished, but will be rewarded by God, or so that other people will see their goodness. Another goes to church, volunteers at a soup kitchen, and teaches their children to do right because they love God and their neighbor as themselves. One is a hypocrite, the other is devoted. The ultimate intention is what makes the action good.
A popular notion is that a person can just love their neighbor and not love God. The question would be, "On what basis can a person love their neighbor as themselves except with God as the source of goodness?" Invariably, such love picks out which people deserve love and which people can be overlooked. It must take from one group and give to the other. This is because without God as the foundation and administrator of goodness, personal preference and desire rule.
In the end, the question becomes not "What is good?" or "Who is good?", but "What is a person good for?" Is it for God's sake, so his goodness and light might be known and acknowledged? Or is it for the more typical reason: self-interest?
As Jesus said, "Many will come to me that day and say, 'Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons and perform many miracles?' But I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me you evildoers!'." (Mt. 7) This loving God with all that we are is more than just knowing about him, it is a person-to-person, conversational relationship that underlies the good intentions we are to have.
Another person to describe this is Paul when he wrote, "If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing." (1 Cor. 13:1-3) The love Paul is speaking of is the love that Jesus described: "Love God with all that you are and love your neighbor as yourself." Without this foundation and intention, no actions are beneficial or good.
Goodness flows from the intention to serve God because he is good and kind and loving. This is where most of my time is spent. In an age where people spend their days denying and hiding from God's goodness and seeking their own desires, I must take special time and constantly remember to affirm and seek God's goodness and love. From this "cleaning the inside of the cup, the outside becomes clean." From this rooting and planting by streams of living water, fruit grows. From this desire to imitate God, goodness flows.
Ironically, people have a internal story that says, "If I get what I want, then I'll be happy." This, of course, is a lie, disproved many times by many lives. Usually, we find if we always give people what they want they get "spoiled." The true story goes, "Seek God's goodness and love and influence and happiness will be thrown in, too" or as Jesus says, "Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well." (Mt. 6:33)
(My thanks to Charles Finney's Systematic Theology. This blog entry is not intended to prove, but to provide reasons to have confidence in God and his goodness. Also this entry is not intended to argue, but to clarify, most of all for myself.)
Lord, let me be good for you, or I will find that I have been good for nothing. Amen.
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