Wake Up Call (1)

to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share 1 Timothy 6:18

To Do Good – There are only two places where this word is used in the whole Bible (and in between).  The only other occurrence of this word is in Acts 14:17* where Paul describes God’s good works of rain, fruitful seasons, food and gladness.  That puts Paul’s advice to those who are wealthy in some very prestigious company – God Himself.  What that means is that how we handle our assets and influence must fall in line with the way God handles His assets and influence.  Paul is issuing a wake up call.

The first alarm of the wake up call clamors for etymological attention.  Why?  Because Paul invents this word.  It is agathoergeo, a combination of agathos (benevolent) and ergon (work).   Let’s be careful here.  Our English translation, “doing good,” can lead us astray.  There are a lot of things that are good but are not benevolent.  They may be morally upright and ethically sound but they do not benefit others.  God’s version of doing good is focused on others.  If it does not benefit someone else, it doesn’t qualify.  So, the first caution is the concern about the immediate goal of our efforts.  It’s not supposed to be about you and me.

There is a caution here.  God does good because that is who He is.  His goodness may not always appear benevolent.  For example, God’s judgment is good even when it results in punishment for the disobedient.  Why is this good?  Because His judgment brings righteousness.  If we are going to do good as God does good, we will not always perform pleasant and comfortable acts of kindness.  Tough love is also doing good.  In order to qualify as “doing good,” our efforts must be in alignment with God’s purposes and plans.  Nothing else counts no matter how noble it is.

Of course, that isn’t all that’s involved in Paul’s invented word.  Notice that there is work in this deal.  We cannot fulfill the requirement for God’s plan about riches by proxy. Just writing the check won’t quite cut it.  It’s a good start, but it’s not the end of the mission.  To do good is to become actively involved in the lives of others.  It is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and, as far as I know, He never gave a dollar to a charitable cause.  He performed the charitable work by giving His life away.  From God’s point of view, good works is a relationship word.  If you want to find those who are doing good, you will have to look in places where people are in need. There are no homeless people living in your safe deposit box.  There are no hungry people waiting in your wallet.  Doing good is a relationship word that can only be exercised in personal contact.

Please don’t think that you have to go to Ethiopia.  If God asks you to, then by all means do so.  But doing good can be accomplished right in your neighborhood.  In fact, doing good with neighbors is sometimes more difficult than going to Honduras.  Building a relationship that demonstrates the heart of God with those who live next door is demanding and threatening, especially for proxy Christians.  Time to cash in and go to work.

*in the NA 27^th UBS edition.  In the Textus Receptus, the Greek is the related word agathopoion

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