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“Why Do You Call Me Good?”
Categories: Author: David Carrozza, Elder Articles
Matthew, Mark and Luke all tell the story.
He was rich, he was young, and he wanted to inherit eternal life. All good things, right? All things we’d like to be and do.
From each of the three synoptic accounts the conversation couldn’t have taken more than 15 minutes. Yet the implications and significance of these interlocutors is vast and the subject of this consideration.
When Jesus asked, “Why do you call me good?” It is a good example of a phrase that can take on several different emphases depending on which of four key words are emphasized.
Here’s what I mean: each emphasis added.
“WHY…do you call me good”
“Why do…YOU call me good?”
“Why do you call…ME good?”
“Why do you call me…GOOD?”
Each emphasis probes a reason and focus of the young man’s question.
Let’s focus the last emphasis GOOD. God and God only is GOOD.
Objectively good
Consistently good
Uniquely good
A GOOD teacher can only teach what is GOOD and show what is GOOD
That is, if we reflect on how Jesus answers, exactly what he did. Jesus told the wealthy young man what “pure religion” the kind of “GOOD” God accepts and the kind of good the young man was trying to practice looks like.
We are all familiar with the phrase, “God is Good.” One of the many “God is…” declarations: Holy, Light, Love, Just…etc.
God told His people under the old law, “44 For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy” Be HOLY…because I am HOLY.” Israel reflects God’s holy nature into their world among the nations.
Peter repeats the admonition, “15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16
Being “image” bearing people means we reflect, we manifest, we demonstrate God’s character, attributes, holiness into the world, as fallen as it is.
Only God is good, Keeping the commandments is good, being good and complete includes more than personal purity, piety and what we DON’T DO. Holiness, like God is holy, perfection and completeness like God also involves helping others in need. It involves what we SHOULD do as much as what we SHOULDN’T do.
This is a perfect example of what James [the Lord’s brother] describes as “pure religion that God accepts” in James 1:27.
- Keep yourself unspotted from the world. What we DON’T do.
- Visit the fatherless and the widow” What we SHOULD do.
These are the two “wings of faith” that is alive not dead. Faith that thrives instead of faith that is useless.
God calls us to be holy and good. If we want to think of this call as being religious, then we must practice the religion that God accepts…not any other form or practice of man-made religion.
Coming back to Peter in closing, he gives his first century audience and us as well two important reminders,
12 having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.” 1 Peter 2:12 and
15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.” 1 Peter 2:15
When Christ returns it is the “goodness” of God’s people reflected and manifested into the world that will judge men, not some particular religious tradition, practice, denomination, or secret knowledge. The world will be convicted, judged and sentenced because they rejected, they walked away from goodness, holiness, justice and compassion.
We need to examine ourselves CAREFULLY that we don’t “justify” ourselves simply by what we DON’T do.
This is why and when there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” They did not do “GOOD” to the least of these. But they thought they were unspotted.
