Who Is A “Good Person?”

Who Is A “Good Person?” January 15, 2025

Who Is A “Good Person?”

New Years Day I was window shopping in a large suburban mall. I saw a new store. I’ve never seen it before. “The Be A Good Person Store.” Think about it for a moment.

The store (and its web site) sells tee shirts, sweatshirts and other clothes that all display the imperative “Be A Good Person.”

Streaming past the store were hundreds of people of many kinds. I wondered what the owners of the store mean by “good person” and what many of the shoppers think “good person” means.

My first thought was and is that “good person” is a pretty vague concept. Sure, if we were to poll many of the people passing by the store or standing by it, we would find some agreement. A good person is surely someone who is kind to others. But what does that even mean?

As a Christian theologian I had another thought: “Good person” means something else to a Christian. Or it ought to. Jesus said that only God is good. And he called his followers to die to themselves in order to gain themselves. I wonder how many of the mall walkers and shoppers think “good person” means dying to self? Or that only God is perfectly good?

There are two major ideas of “good person” in America. (Setting aside minor ideas that exist on the fringes of society.) One is the general, secular idea that identifies a good person by his or her kindness and lawfulness. The other is the Christian idea that identifies a good person by that PLUS by his or her acknowledgement that he or she is NOT really good and that Jesus was the only really, perfectly good (human) person—the model of personal goodness.

The two ideas do not necessarily conflict, but the Christian idea goes beyond the secular idea.

As Christians we believe that it is not possible to be a truly good person simply by being kind, nice, and law-abiding. In fact, we believe being good begins by acknowledging that we are NOT good, at least not in comparison with Jesus, but that we can approach goodness by acknowledging that and by allowing the Holy Spirit to change us into the image of Jesus Christ.

As I contemplated the difference I thought of the late President Jimmy Carter who may or may not have been a good president. But he was a good person in both senses—secular and Christian. He was a kind, caring, compassionate person AND a person who knew he was not good except by God’s grace and with God’s empowering presence in his life.

A key difference between the common, secular idea of personal goodness and the Christian idea lies in the awareness, in the Christian idea, that no one but Jesus is good in and of himself or herself. Whatever goodness we have, the Christian knows and acknowledges, comes from God by grace. We may have a secular, culturally-defined goodness in and of ourselves, by nature or effort (or both), but the “best” goodness, true goodness requires acknowledging that we are not good except by God’s grace and power at work in us.

*Note: If you choose to comment, make sure your comment is relatively brief, on topic, addressed to me, civil and respectful (not hostile or argumentative), and devoid of pictures or links.*

"The Christian should run from naturalism and liberal theology is infected with that. One kind ..."

The Liberal View of the Bible
"Again, Bob. I think you know my answer. Can you take a shot at what ..."

The Liberal View of the Bible
"Absolutely it’s possible. However, since the rise of “compassionate conservatism” a la Marvin Olasky and ..."

The Sin of Shutting Down USAID
"I don’t count any atheist as a theologian. For the purposes of my book, anyway, ..."

The Liberal View of the Bible

Browse Our Archives