“Christians only do good things in order to buy their way into heaven.”
Have you heard this before? I have on numerous occasions. My initial reaction every time I hear this comment is one of anger. How dare they! But, I’m learning in my journey through life to take a moment and stop and truly contemplate things. And, more importantly, take it to God in prayer.
The first draft of this blog was pretty sarcastic and flippant. As I was writing it, more than halfway through, my internet went out and nothing saved. At first, I was frustrated, because I’d just spent a whole lot of time writing down my thoughts. But, then I stepped back and realized that this was my cue from God that what I had written was not what He would have me say. It’s what Amy would say, but if my goal is to be a vessel for God to work through, then I have to pay attention to these urgings to follow His voice. So, I walked away from the computer and I prayed about it.
I ask God frequently to break my heart for what breaks His. Through my talk with Him, I began to feel deep sadness for the people of this world that truly believe Christianity is about buying our way into heaven. How misguided this thought. To be fair, there are, believers out there that do good works in order to score brownie points with God. But, if we truly want to have a beef with something then we need to take it to the source. What does the religion of Christianity say about buying your way into heaven? Does it encourage and preach score sheets and tally marks? Does it encourage believers to only do good works in this world because it’s a way to earn you a pass through the pearly gates? If you truly look at the Bible and what Christianity teaches, you will find this is not the case.
Humans have a fantastic way of skewing things in order to benefit themselves. Certainly, there are some believers that have been taught or believe that if you do “x” amount of good works, then God will swing open the gates for you. It can be a comforting thought to some that if “I just do good, then I’m safe”. But, this is not how it works. There is no set amount; there is no rack ’em, stack ’em score sheet. And if the only reason you do good works is to try and earn your way into heaven, your motivations are a selfish one and lack true love in the process.
So, why does our world shout out, “Christians only do good things in order to buy their way into heaven”? First, it’s a straw man argument. It’s meant to distract and deflect any kind of real conversation. It’s meant to anger. And, honestly, it works. It makes me angry when I hear this comment. The reason it angers me so is because someone is assuming that I have selfish motivations without wanting to understand the real reasons. Instead of assuming that all Christians are on a ticket-buying journey through life, why not ask why they do good works?
Try asking, “What compels you to do good works in this life?”
My answer? Love. I do it out of love.
My relationship with Jesus is one of love. I love Him, therefore, I desire to do good things in His name. Do not be mistaken, I don’t do it in an attempt to earn His love. No, there is nothing I could do to earn His love, because I have it always. Just like the parent and child relationship; there is nothing my children could do to earn my love, they have it unconditional forever and always. So, is the same with Jesus. The love that He fills me with energizes me do good things in His name.
This is not a foreign concept to us. I like to do things for my husband. Sometimes, it’s mundane, boring things, like ironing his uniform. Sometimes, it’s leaving him a note in his car telling him to listen to a song that I think relates to our relationship. Either way, I do it because I love him. I know these things make him happy and that makes me happy. I enjoy doing things for my kids. Why do moms do all that we do for our kids even if its mindless, dirty, unappreciated jobs? Because we love our kids, plain and simple. Love gives you the willingness, eagerness, and desire to do things you might not normally do. But, with God it’s a little different. I can’t clean up the house for God or drive Him to a sleepover. I can’t pack Him a lunch with a little note inside or play a board game with Him. I have to find a different way to show my love for Him.
Thankfully, Jesus gave us the answer. It’s simple really: Love God with all your heart, mind, and soul and love your neighbor as yourself. My love for God ignites in me a desire to spread His love. I want others to experience Him and know Him and if I can show people through doing good works, than that is what I want to do. When I do good works out of the love I have for God, there is a joy, a happiness that truly transcends anything I would/could do on my own. Through this, I grow in compassion. My heart gets broken for what breaks His. When I open myself up to be more Christ-like it’s amazing the results that follow.
I do understand that people can do good works without having a relationship with Jesus. There is nothing wrong with doing good things, simply for the sake of doing good things. I do know atheists that are good people and do work to fight injustices and wrongs of this world. And whether they believe it or not, this pleases God. To help a fellow human, whether done in the spirit of faith or not is never to be disregarded or looked down upon. But, just as it is unfair to say that atheists never do anything good, it is unfair to say that Christians only do good things because they are trying to buy their way into heaven. We simply can’t make these assumptions. Why? Because we don’t know each other’s hearts. It’s a poor reflection on all of us when we look to put others down while they are trying to reach down and help another fellow human being up, just because they believe in higher power or not. Is the fight for our ideological ideas more important than the good works to be done? We would all do well to beware the pride that makes us think we are better than others because we do good works in Jesus’ name or just because we want to.
I’m not trying to buy my way into heaven. I’m not trying to make God like me more than the next person. I’m not looking to score tally marks for jobs well done or make God love me more. It’s none of that. Maybe we as Christians aren’t doing a good job communicating this. Maybe it does seem to an outsider that we are all vying for first place in line at the entrance to heaven. Or maybe this is a tactic to make us angry and have to fight to defend ourselves. It bothers me when people take something beautiful-such as the desire to do good works out of a love for God-and water it down till it’s bland and tasteless like skim milk. Maybe instead we should be rejoicing, encouraging each other to keep it up, and asking if we can help.
There’s a song that I absolutely love by Phil Wickham called, “Sun and Moon.” Every time I hear it, I try to sing along, but I get choked up. He sings, “If You are the sun, than I wanna be the moon. I wanna reflect the light that shines from You.” This is my desire: To be a light that reflects God’s love. My motivation for the good I do is because of my love for Him and the joy that His love gives to me. How could you not want to share that with others through good works?
“Whatever it takes
I give it all away
I wanna show my love in a thousand ways”
