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What good is there in being good?
A businesswoman handles the finances of her company. She's smart, honest and works hard. She also drives an old car, wears bargain basement clothes and buys generic makeup. She knows of an acquaintance in the same line of work who secretly embezzled several thousand dollars from his company. He bought a new car, took a Hawaiian vacation and got away with it. What good is being good? A new couple comes to a church service for the first time. Unfortunately, they gets in the cross hairs of an older, established member. Maybe he got in the old member's seat or some other silly thing. The old church member gets extremely rude with the newcomers, who were trying to do a good thing by coming to worship. Needless to say, the couple does not come back. What good is being good? I know these people. Actually, I know several from each category. They started out in the right direction but made a wrong turn. At the heart of each bad decision was the wrong answer to the same question. What good is being good? They rationalized that bad people were getting away with wrong and enjoying it. They reasoned that God was unconcerned about moral behavior. They reflected upon God's seeming lack of judgment now, and somehow deduced there would be no judgment in the end. So, what good is being good? Read Malachi 2:17. This is an age old question. Job has asked it (read his book). A Psalmist, Asaph, asked it (read Psalm 73). The faithful prophet Jeremiah asked it (Jeremiah 12:1ff). And, this faithful messenger, Malachi, included it his dialogue as well. We've already learned from Malachi that God's people weren't being very good. The priests were watering down the word of God. The people were giving their last and least instead of their first and best to the Lord. Many so-called believers were actually engaging in sexual immorality and frivolous divorce. They saw no reason to be good and they did not think God cared if anyone was good. Does he? What good is being good? Being good is good for you. Johnny Cash's mother tried to tell him. "When I was just a baby, my mama told me son, always be a good boy, don't ever play with guns." The mother in this song is fictional, of course. But there is truth in the message that being good is good for you. Like mamas love their babies, God loves his children (Malachi 1:2). Because God loves his children, he is decidedly concerned about the difference between good and evil. And God has declared that being good is good for us in every way. Being good is good for you physically. God's word encourages us to eat and drink well but without excess (Proverbs 23:20; Ephesians 5:18). God's word encourages us to work hard and get proper rest (Proverbs 14:23; Deuteronomy 5:14). All we know about physical and physiological health tells us that being good is good for you. Being good is good for you emotionally. The reason God hates the immorality of divorce (Malachi 2:16) is in part because of the emotional scars it leaves upon people, especially children. All sin injures our own conscience (Romans 2:15). Therefore, being good promotes good mental health. Being good is good for you economically. I don't need to remind you that the health and wealth preachers on television are heretics. But I must admit here that there is an ethical strand running through scripture that encourages diligent work and debt free living, all of which is good for you and your family economically. But most importantly - and it is very important that we understand this point correctly and chronologically - being good is good for you spiritually. Being good cannot save you (Romans 3:10, 3:23; Ephesians 2:8-10; Titus 3:5). But, saved people are born again to be good (Romans 8; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Titus' 10 references to "good"). And while being good does not contribute to our salvation, it is the essence of the assurance of our salvation (Matthew 7:16-20; 1 John 2:3-4). Belief in the gospel and behavior that reflects a genuine commitment to the lordship of Christ are not just good things, they are the best things for you. But there is more to being good than what's good for you. Being good is good for others. Remember those people I mentioned in the introduction? When teenagers make the good decision to let true love wait, it is a good decision for others. Most people marry, and most married people think it is good when their mate has waited for them. When financial and business leaders deal honestly, their fellow employees and customers are not robbed but blessed. How would you like to retire and find out some shady officer in your company hand "Enron-ed" your retirement savings? When we are good and kind to those who visit our church, there is a good chance they will come again and often. Perhaps their attentiveness in our services will lead to their conversion and a better understanding of the Christian faith. Can it get good-er for other people than that? I think this is what is meant by the church being the body of Christ. When we make the good faith commitment to the gospel and to the church (the two are inseparable parts of the Christian life), we become the conduit for God's good word and spirit to touch the lives of others. When people see us doing good and right things, it gravitates them toward the glory of God (Matthew 5:16). When we share the good news (yes, the gospel is literally good news), people are birthed into the kingdom of God (James 1:18ff; 1 Peter 1:23). When we realize that the Christian life is not sedentary and selfish, but rather a life of service and good works (Ephesians 2:10), other people will definitely benefit. Just apply all the personal benefits we've discussed (physical, emotional, economic, and especially spiritual) to your neighbor. Being good is good for them, too! Being good is good for God. But finally, let's get back to the text and the tantamount reason for being good. Being good is good for you. It is good for others. But most of all, it is good for the only truly good and righteous person in all of of creation, our creator, God, and lord Jesus Christ (Mark 10:18; John 10:30). God was not feeling very good in this passage. He was "weary." Now, God cannot get tired in the physical or energetic sense, since we know him to be omnipotent. But there are obviously certain things that rob God of the good pleasure he deserves and desires. Complaining doesn't do God much good. In verse 17, Israel was complaining to God about all the sinners around them who seemed to be getting away with their sin. Their complaint was a thinly veiled threat. Since God wasn't going to judge these sinners, they thought, they might as well jump in and sin, too. This leads to another thing that doesn't do God much good, either: hypocrisy. In actuality, hypocritical Israelites were guilty of the same sins they were complaining about. Ted Haggard comes to mind (the painfully revealing documentaries "Jesus Camp" and "Friends of God"). So does the deacon who ran off a godly pastor since the church was not growing or meeting budget - the deacon, of course, neither witnessed nor tithed. Hypocrites don't do God a lot of good. Then, the verse also reveals an accusation against God. God is not just. God doesn't care. God will not keep his word. Essentially, that's what they were saying. To misrepresent or mischaracterize anyone, especial the Lord himself, is not very good. You know that God is just and God does care and God will most certainly keep his work. I hope we can all agree that when professing Christians complain and whine, when they play the hypocrite, when they make false statements about God, well, these are not good things. They don't do much for us, they don't look attractive to others, and they sure don't do anything for the lord. So, what can we do that is good for God? You can believe and obey. Make sure you have an obedient Christian faith (John 3:36; 2 Thessalonians 1:8; 2 Peter 4:7; etc.), for there truly is no other kind. Why? Because it is absolutely delightful to God (1 Samuel 15:22). You can show and tell. Sharing with others the good news of Jesus Christ can free them of bad habits and a worse fate. Remember that God's challenge to his people through Malachi was for them to make his name great in front of unbelievers. Why? So they would believe, of course, for few things delight God more (Luke 15:7). You can prepare for the end. When you truly believe and help others come to true faith in Jesus Christ, you do something really good for God. You see, he is coming again for judgment, in spite of what they said to Malachi in 2:17. The saved will be, well, saved. The lost will be consigned to everlasting punishment (Isaiah 66:24; Mark 9:44ff). God takes absolutely no delight in sending people to hell (Ezekiel 33:11).
So, don't give up on being good. Don't merely be good for goodness sake. Make the good confession of faith in Jesus Christ. Live a good and obedient Christian life. Do it for yourself. Do it for others. Most of all, do it for the glory of God. You'll find much good in being good.
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