In the previous post I argued that belief – whether it be in Jesus, God, or anything else – is a lousy basis for salvation, because people are prone to believe all sorts of things, often for the worst of reasons. Why should belief be to our credit, especially if we believe for flimsy or even bad reasons? But is there a better alternative? And what might the Bible say about it?
I would put forward a very simple criterion: kindness to others; how we treat one another. But as I cited in the previous post, doesn’t the Gospel of John state clearly that ‘whoever believes in Jesus’ will be saved? End of discussion! Well, there are other things said in that same Gospel, you know. Consider this:
“…for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” John 5:28, 29
So, despite John 3:16 even that Gospel suggests that what we have done in life will determine what our eternal destiny will be. If you think about it, shouldn’t what you believe influence what you do in life? If you claim a belief but live contrary to that stated belief, do you really believe? Do you think God would look at someone who ‘committed the evil deeds’ and say, “Oh, it’s okay; you believed at least.” Does that make sense to you? I don’t think that made sense to Jesus:
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; leave me, you who practice lawlessness.’” Matthew 7:21-23
Clearly Jesus is not looking for lip service; he expects people to do the will of God.
Later in the Gospel of Matthew is the parable of the Sheep and the Goats. He divides the saved and the lost, and this is what he says to the saved (the sheep):
“Then the King will say to those on His right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.’ Then the righteous will answer Him, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? And when did we see You as a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? And when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters of Mine, you did it for Me.’” Matthew 25:34-40
As the parable continues the goats, the unrighteous, did not do such things for others and so are excluded. The King does not say anything at all about their beliefs or their articles of faith. The sheep did not even think they were doing something for Jesus. Did they even know about Jesus? They were good to others, especially those in need, and that was what the King was looking for. I think this is the “doing the will of the Father” that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 7. Performing religious rites or voicing certain beliefs is no substitute for being kind to others. Sincerely reciting the Apostles’ Creed or the Nicene Creed means nothing if not accompanied by love for others.
Separation of the Sheep and Goats,
Byzantine, original dated early 6th Century, restored early 20th Century.
Frankly, this makes more sense to me than belief or faith, seeing as how people are capable of believing all sorts of things for all sorts of reasons, often for very suspect reasons (see previous post). Kindness, on the other hand, can be practiced by people all over the world, regardless of what religion pervades their area. I suggest it is a better universal standard than belief, which is easily influenced by many factors. Of course, how we treat others can be influenced by family, friends and culture, too, but it isn’t tied to a specific list of religious doctrines. All it really requires is empathy. All of the religions I am familiar with emphasize the importance of being good to others, although some adherents twist that into unrecognizable shapes. (For example, historically some people have justified torturing others to confess the right beliefs, saying that is ‘good’ for them!) Even the atheists I know accept being kind to others as the ultimate moral standard.
Let’s clarify the term ‘empathy’ which has come under attack in recent years, from the Religious Right no less! A simple definition is ‘the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.’ What could be wrong with that?! Yet there was a recently-deceased icon of the Right who dismissed the concept of empathy (“I can’t stand empathy”) while portraying himself as a proponent of Christianity. Well, here is one of Jesus’ best-known sayings:
“In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 7:12
Known as the Golden Rule, this teaching is found in some form in all religions. It is not precisely ‘empathy’ but it is closely related. Put yourself in another person’s place, and vice versa, and treating them accordingly. It is a simple concept with far-reaching implications. Jesus even said it was the basis for the Jewish Law and the writings of their prophets. If you get away from this concept then you have gotten away from the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. I might go so far as to say that if you ‘can’t stand empathy’ then you can’t stand Jesus and his teachings.
But, some will argue, you can’t be saved by works! Nobody is good enough to be saved by their works! In stating this they have created an unrealistic standard for salvation, which all will fail, therefore, they fall back on belief in Jesus as their escape clause. But as I discussed in the previous post, belief itself is a very flimsy and unreliable criterion for anything. Besides, who says God requires perfection? Go back to the creation story in Genesis 2. God created us as humans, out of dirt no less!; He didn’t create us as gods.[1] In fact, Adam and Eve were chastised for trying to elevate themselves to be gods. That is why they were driven from the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:22), not simply because they broke a rule. Why would you think He expects us non-divine humans to be perfect given this story? He expects us to be human, not god-like (whether you take the story as fable or history).
Go back to what Jesus said in Matthew 25. The king doesn’t require that his subjects do everything perfectly. He does not even address their personal sins. He simply looks at how they treated others. Those that cared about others and helped them are welcomed into the Kingdom; those who did not are excluded. It’s not that complicated. It’s not that we all perfectly execute our compassion and do everything possible to help all others in every situation. None of us are that good or that wise. But don’t you trust God to know if we care about others or not? Especially when He has a whole lifetime of ours to examine? I would think it is much easier to judge that than the inner workings of our belief systems hidden somewhere in our brains.
Of course, there is one major problem with this concept of empathy and the Golden Rule: If we take it seriously then the requirement for religion kind of falls apart. We really don’t need a Pope or an imam to tell us to ‘love one another.’ Or to tell us what doctrines to believe in order to be saved, because doctrines don’t save us. We don’t need a priest to explain ‘transubstantiation’ to us. We don’t need a theologian to explain the Trinity, or predestination, or ‘hypostatic union’ or whatever. Even if you try to make the concept of loving one another complicated (scholars and theologians have a knack for making things complicated!), Jesus made it simple for you: “Treat people the same way you want them to treat you.” It’s not rocket science or brain surgery.
Do you believe in a god who is satisfied with those who simply believe what they are told to believe by their family or church or society, or are merely adhering to a religious system in order to avoid punishment and gain a reward? Is your God counting up your ‘right’ beliefs and taking off points for ‘wrong’ beliefs? Or does your God consider the effort you put into thinking about and evaluating all the religious claims we are presented with in the world today, even if you ultimately reject them? Might He value honest skepticism over unthinking obedience? Especially if your life reflects concern for others? Is your God’s only concern that He has simpering sycophants groveling at His feet, or is He more concerned about how we live and behave toward one another? Could it be that He wants to see us care for other humans because He cares for those humans? Yes, those humans, even the ones we don’t like. And that He wants to see them treated well, not with cruelty or indifference? Can you envision a god who is more concerned with how we treat one another, how we put our religion or philosophy into practice rather than the technicalities of belief and doctrine?
Regardless of how you answer such questions, I hope we can all agree with the profound thinkers William “Bill” S. Preston, Esq. and Ted “Theodore” Logan as chronicled in Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure[2], whose philosophy is: “Be excellent to each other!” I think that pretty much sums it up.
“Be excellent to each other!”
In the next post: Is there a way around all this judgement altogether? Presenting a radical idea from early Christianity…
(Scroll below to enter comments and questions.)
Thinking exercises:
1. Do you think the teachings of Jesus reflect a god that requires correct beliefs, or one that requires good behavior, or both? Can beliefs and behavior be in conflict?
2. Every religion has its form of the Golden Rule: treat others as you would want to be treated. What do you think of Bill and Ted’s version? “Be excellent to each other!” Try working it into conversations with friends and co-workers and see how they react!
3. If you were God, how would you decide who is saved and who is lost? What would be your criteria? Why do you think religions tend to focus so much on correct doctrine?
[1] Granted, the Genesis 1 creation story suggests we were made in the image of the gods, but even in that version humans were placed on earth, not in the heavens with the true gods. See post #1.
[2] Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure, 1989, directed by Stephen Herek, distributed by Orion Pictures.