Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote:
In times of established order, when the law rules supreme and the transgressor of the law is disgraced and ostracized, it is in relation to the tax-gatherer and the prostitute that the gospel of Jesus Christ discloses itself most clearly to men . . . In times which are out of joint, in times when lawlessness and wickedness triumph in complete unrestraint, it is rather in relation to the few remaining just, truthful, and human men that the gospel will make itself known. (Ethics)
This makes immediate sense to me, though I somehow had failed to grasp it before encountering this text. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been, since the beginning, counter-cultural. So, in times of great moral decay, it seems natural that Christ would find allies in all who do good, whether they are believers or not (see Mark 9:40). After all, everything good rightfully belongs to Christ in the first place. Thus, times of wickedness provide the church with the opportunity to reclaim for herself and for God that which is hers by nature. And God can receive glory in this way, as the church, as his ambassadors, represents him as the original do-gooder, the one who created things and "saw that it was good" (Genesis 1).
This truth that Bonhoeffer so eloquently articulated more than 50 years ago seems particularly relevant today. In this world of ours, rife with corporate greed, irresponsible use of resources, religious terrorism, political chaos, genocide, slave-trading, and so on, it is indeed becoming almost trendy to care for the environment, to consume ethically, to be a voice for the voiceless, and to even be a sort of civilian diplomat in world affairs. (The word "trendy" may be an unfortunate one here, but one need only look to the recent proliferation of celebrity philanthropists, such as Brangelina, to get the point.) Sadly, the church of Jesus Christ often seems to be (slowly) following the trends, rather than leading the way. And what is even more discouraging is that many leaders within the church are resisting the trends, even denouncing them, in the belief that the true, Christ-crucified Gospel is being compromised for the sake of making the church more attractive to the world. What we are frequently missing out on is the opportunity to point the increasing number of "do-gooders" in our world towards Christ by showing how every good and perfect gift has its true origins in our Father in Heaven. The ultimate motivations for living green is knowing God as the benevolent Creator of every green thing on Earth. The ultimate motivation for trying to stop war and genocide comes from knowing how God became a part of his Creation, a human being, and died so that we might have life.
And I say, so what if the church wants to correct her public relations problems? Is that really such a bad thing? Yes, if we water down the message of Christ, then it is. We must preach Christ and him crucified. But, I would challenge anyone to demonstrate to me how promoting good environmental stewardship is in anyway antithetical to that message. Yes, Jesus did warn us to exercise caution regarding our motivations, that we should not do things for the sake of praise from men. But do take note that he was primarily referring to seeking the praise of the RELIGIOUS COMMUNITY. He talks about doing our fasting, praying, and giving in secret. Who do we try to impress with those sorts of activities? Not the world so much as fellow believers! In regard to the world, he actually said that we should let them see our good deeds, that they might praise our Father in Heaven! (See Matthew 5 & 6).
In the passage where Jesus says to let people see our "good deeds" (Matthew 5:16), the Greek word for "deeds" is etymogically related to the English word "work," and just like the word "work" in English, when used as a noun, it tends to emphasize a sense of labor or of something requiring signicant, repeated effort. By using this word, Jesus is not so much emphasizing individual acts as he is talking about being in the habit of doing good and having the character of one who consistently labors for good. Meanwhile, when Jesus warns us about doing our "acts of righteousness" to be seen by men (Matthew 6:1), the Greek behind that phrase emphasizes single acts or concrete expressions of goodness, something visible, tangible. For example, Paul uses the same word when referring to the one "righteous act" of Jesus, his Death, which reversed the curse brought on by the one transgression of Adam. So we see that what Jesus cautions against is doing good things for the sake of being seen by men, but he affirms having the kind of character that cause one to constantly labor for good. In other words, being a good person.
And so I write this essay in defense of being a good person. I defend goodness against two forces: one that denounces goodness simply because it's not what saves us (and I whole-heartedly agree that it is grace, and not works, that saves us), and another which treats goodness as though it were simply a lack of explicit badness. Being a good person requires extraordinary effort, taking a pro-active stance towards the evil that exists in our world, and the church should NOT regard it as a waste of time or a division of our allegiances. Bonhoeffer and Jesus both affirm that it is not simply grace that speaks to our world. The goodness of God's people is a significant element of our witness. Of course we are sinners, saved by grace; of course, as the bumper stickers have it, we are "not perfect, just forgiven." But if it' s only our status as being either condemned or forgiven that matters, then where is the transforming power of the Gospel? What does Jesus mean when he says to "let your light shine"? And to all who are skeptical about the value of social justice, environmentalism, and the like, I would ask, what are your good deeds? If your religious activities, like praying, fasting, and giving, are supposed to be done in secret, as Jesus says, what good deeds are your neighbors seeing in you that would cause them to glorify God?
