I was just writing an e-mail to my Bible study group this morning; I've got about 20 minutes because I'm running a CFT this morning, and I woke up a little early to get ready and pack up my last few things for my weekend “duty" as well. I mentioned in the email a few negative things, and followed that with the popular phrase “but it's all good" and it reminded me of this post I wrote last year that I hadn't re-posted here… Hopefully you'll enjoy it. I always think about it when either I or someone else says; “It's all good!"

Originally Posted in The Big 3 Zone by CaptainAJ on April 14, 2010

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. (Luke 18:19 New American Standard Bible)

Does anybody else get tired of surface exchanges? For instance, have you ever noticed or done this yourself: answered someone’s question “what’s up?” with the same exact thing: “sup?”. The other week, a Marine asked me “How you doin’ Sir?” and I said “awesome, how are you?” and he said “not bad, how ’bout yourself”. It was late in the day – after a long flight – and I was too delirious to answer again, but 5 seconds after he walked by I thought to myself, didn’t I already answer him? I guess he was pretty delirious too… But I’m getting away from my point, and this is it: How many of you use the saying: “it’s all good;” or when someone asks you how you’re doing, you simply respond without thinking, “oh I'm pretty good.”?

I don’t mean to condemn anyone. I’ve probably been saying those things since I learned how to talk, but on my last float (deployment on ship), which was about a year ago, the chaplain made the remark: “I’m not good, I know there’s nothing in me that is good (that is my flesh) but I’m doing well.” I think sometimes we can major on the minors, go overboard on things, or miss the mark in so many ways, but this perspective on what is good, I want to put under the microscope, just for a second, because I don’t think it’s a minor thing.

Jesus spoke the truth when He said, “only God is good.” So should we call anything good but God? Ok, it’s a trick question, and the answer is that if God is in something, then it is good because He makes it good. Jesus asked the man this question to make him think about what the source of goodness is. We know that God is One – Father, Spirit, Son, and in Christ dwelt the fullness of the Godhead Bodily, and the fruit of the Spirit is goodness. Jesus Himself said that He was the Good Shepard, because He knew that He was One with the Father, but He chose this question to prove a point. He wanted this “ruler” who was interested in what he could “do” to inherit eternal life, to see how messed up his question was. After all, you don’t do anything to get an inheritance; trust me, I know, somebody else has to do something, and usually that thing is to die.

The bottom line is this: We can’t really know what goodness is apart from God, and we certainly cannot be good unless He is living in us (we are abiding in Him), and the Holy Spirit produces the fruit, part of which is goodness. Maybe this is a new way of thinking about the word “good” maybe not. But if it is, won’t you share in this Good news? — Which is the Gospel of Christ!

Peace,
Adam

Linked verses:
Romans 7:18
Colossians 2:9
Galatians 5:22-23
Romans 1:16