Goodness and Righteousness, Part 2

Goodness is something we work at. Goodness, in being a goal, means that we can get closer to that goal if we work at it. Goodness is something we gain greater strides toward if we have discipline in goodness. At the same time, the goal of goodness is vague, nefarious. We can be good in one circumstance if we are very strict (for instance faithfully keeping every promise we make) but in other contexts strictness is decidedly not good (like consistently punishing our children for disobeying us, even when we tell them to do something wrong). Thus, goodness is more like an art. Art, if we are to be good at it, requires the discipline of certain skills, yet the application of these skills differ greatly in different contexts. And given the particular art we are to accomplish, that will determine the skills we must perfect. But even if our skills are honed to perfection, we may still miss the goal of our art.

What kind of skills is one required to hone in order to accomplish goodness? One must have empathy and with it, compassion. One must understand the nature of law, but also the nature of grace. One must constantly be following the law and then granting grace to others. One must be accomplishing what is good for all, not only within oneself, but for the sake of others.

Righteousness is also an art. Yes, one can see righteousness as simply a switch, either you have it or you don’t, but righteousness is fundamentally a relationship. It is the ability to have a relationship with God, who alone is righteous. And either you have that ability or you do not. But the obtaining of this relationship isn’t a switch you either turn on or off. A lot of people talk about getting a relationship with God as an either/or proposition. “Either you have prayed to receive Jesus or you have not.” “Either you are born again or you are not.” “Either you have been baptized or you have not.” Yet, biblically, righteousness isn’t obtained so easily. Jesus proclaimed righteousness to people by two principles: believing in the message of the kingdom and repenting. Believing in the kingdom the apostles defined simply—having Jesus as one’s Lord. Surrendering ourselves to Jesus’ reign isn’t an easy proposition, nor is it a simple act that can be accomplished in moments. To have Jesus as our Lord is a decision we make on a regular basis, even daily or hourly. We decide who is in charge of us, who is the one to make the final decision over who we are, what we have and how we relate to others.

Repentance isn’t exactly cut and dried, either. It is the realization that one isn’t good, at least not all the time. And it is the art of responding to the evil that creeps up from our soul, in order to accomplish the most good from the midst of the wrong we accomplished.
Also, if righteousness has to do with a relationship with God, like any relationship it takes time and effort and, like any relationship, there is a certain amount of creativity involved. Each relationship is different because each person is different. And if a single person has a relationship with many other people, each relationship will be completely unique, because the unit is always different from an individual. Thus, righteousness is an art.