Sharpening the Vision
Good Person vs. Good Christian
Without a doubt, there are many good people in this world. Certainly most people will agree that a good person is anyone who is kind, helpful, caring, gentle, understanding, patient, and loving. However, what most people fail to recognize is that there is a difference between being a good person and being a good Christian, and that this difference has nothing to do with the quality of goodness but rather with whether or not the basic life priorities a good person follows are like those that Jesus followed.
For example, while Gandhi is considered to be a good person, he is not a good Christian because a good Christian makes serving the true and living God a priority in his or her life. For sure, this is a basic life priority that a good Christian would be following, because it is one of the basic life priorities that Jesus followed. Jesus says: “My food…is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34, NIV). Jesus not only served the true and living God but also fulfilled God’s PERFECT WILL by completing the work God sent Christ to this Earth to do.
Another example of a good Christian is that this person puts God’s agenda ahead of his or her own agenda; for sure, this is a basic life priority that a good Christian would be following because it is one of the basic life priorities that Jesus followed. Christ says: “By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me” (John 5:30, NIV).
A good Christian also is concerned about lost people; for sure, this is a basic life priority that a good Christian would be following because it is one of the basic life priorities that Jesus followed. He says: “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:9-10, NIV).
Then again, a good Christian loves God and others with all of his or her heart; for sure, this is a basic life priority that a good Christian would be following because it is one of the basic life priorities that Jesus followed. Jesus says that the greatest Commandment is to: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31, NIV).
Lastly, a good Christian is someone who is “others” oriented; for sure, this is a basic life priority that a good Christian would be following because it is one of the basic life priorities that Jesus followed. In the oral tradition of his day, the Apostle Paul says: “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:35, NIV).
Even though a Christian may be a good person who is kind, helpful, caring, gentle, understanding, patient, and loving, the truth is that none of these qualities make a believer a good Christian. Being a good Christian involves living a life that follows the basic life priorities Jesus the Christ followed. Unlike Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Christ maintains that believers’ basic life priorities should concern: (1) doing the Perfect Will of God; (2) finishing the work God has said spiritually alive people must do on Earth; (3) pleasing God by putting His agenda first on EVERY to-do list; (4) obeying the greatest commandments; and (5) putting other people and their needs first. Christ says that when believers make the Kingdom of God their priority concern (i.e., following the same basic life priorities that Jesus followed), God will be faithful to fulfill all of their basic daily needs for food, water, shelter, clothing, and so forth (cf. Matthew 6:25-33)!
If you are born again and saved, are you living the life of a good person or a good Christian?
For example, while Gandhi is considered to be a good person, he is not a good Christian because a good Christian makes serving the true and living God a priority in his or her life. For sure, this is a basic life priority that a good Christian would be following, because it is one of the basic life priorities that Jesus followed. Jesus says: “My food…is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34, NIV). Jesus not only served the true and living God but also fulfilled God’s PERFECT WILL by completing the work God sent Christ to this Earth to do.
Another example of a good Christian is that this person puts God’s agenda ahead of his or her own agenda; for sure, this is a basic life priority that a good Christian would be following because it is one of the basic life priorities that Jesus followed. Christ says: “By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me” (John 5:30, NIV).
A good Christian also is concerned about lost people; for sure, this is a basic life priority that a good Christian would be following because it is one of the basic life priorities that Jesus followed. He says: “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Luke 19:9-10, NIV).
Then again, a good Christian loves God and others with all of his or her heart; for sure, this is a basic life priority that a good Christian would be following because it is one of the basic life priorities that Jesus followed. Jesus says that the greatest Commandment is to: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31, NIV).
Lastly, a good Christian is someone who is “others” oriented; for sure, this is a basic life priority that a good Christian would be following because it is one of the basic life priorities that Jesus followed. In the oral tradition of his day, the Apostle Paul says: “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:35, NIV).
Even though a Christian may be a good person who is kind, helpful, caring, gentle, understanding, patient, and loving, the truth is that none of these qualities make a believer a good Christian. Being a good Christian involves living a life that follows the basic life priorities Jesus the Christ followed. Unlike Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Christ maintains that believers’ basic life priorities should concern: (1) doing the Perfect Will of God; (2) finishing the work God has said spiritually alive people must do on Earth; (3) pleasing God by putting His agenda first on EVERY to-do list; (4) obeying the greatest commandments; and (5) putting other people and their needs first. Christ says that when believers make the Kingdom of God their priority concern (i.e., following the same basic life priorities that Jesus followed), God will be faithful to fulfill all of their basic daily needs for food, water, shelter, clothing, and so forth (cf. Matthew 6:25-33)!
If you are born again and saved, are you living the life of a good person or a good Christian?
Add a Comment
2 Comments
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Comment by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen on June 4, 2009 at 7:57am
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Steven,
Thank you for your kind words. If I can be of any help, please do not hesitate to ask me.
Take care. Stay blessed.
In Him,
Nadine
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Comment by Steven Martin on June 3, 2009 at 7:25am -
Hi Nadine,
After reading reading the post 'good person or a good Christian' I know that I am on the right path. My wife and I are following a 'dual' fulfillment of purpose '. She has completed her 'purpose' and hopefully I can complete mine.
If you have an opportunity and the time I believe that you are 'the one' I need to talk to about completing my purpose.
Thank you
God bless you.
Steven Martin
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