So, you believe in God, huh?

I recently, yesterday in fact, posted a quote from Pope Francis the first line of which read: “You do not have to believe in God to be a good person”, and it’s this line, only, that I want to write about because, I find, I am assumed to be slightly ambivalent with regard to my faith in this statement.

Having listened to half of a friend’s sermon recently (the recording switched to a different sermon halfway through), I am impressed by how easy it is to listen to half a message, think we’ve got it, and not bother to explore the rest of the message because of this. It is easy to read the bible and believe the part of it that agrees with your argument. Not so to read the full message and believe it in the spirit in which it is given. The bible, it has to be said, contains arguments that are not easy to believe or live out and it is not surprising that people, and particularly some parts of society, are “put off” God altogether by our adherence to the stricter parts of biblical law.

I have thought about not having to believe in God to be a good person and have decided it is not necessary to believe in God to be a good person. The scriptures say that the demons believe there is a God and also state, plainly, that many charismatic “Christians” are not recognisable from themselves in the final estimation of character. The scriptures say that the first and greatest commandment is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your strength” and that the second is exactly like it: “To love your neighbour as yourself.” So, you see, if you say you love God and ignore your neighbour, you add little to the case that you “have to believe there is a God to be a good person”. If you love your neighbour you agree with God’s good purpose, whether you believe in him or not.

Do you have to have the Holy Spirit in order to love people though, I hear you ask? Do we really have the spirit of God living within us, I reply? “If we live in God, we live in love and God lives in us”, is an example from scripture that could be used to assert that you need the Holy Spirit in order to love other people. But it might equally be said that if you say that you have the spirit of God living within you but hate another person who is loved by God then you cannot possibly have God’s spirit within you. The scriptures state plainly that “if you cannot love your brother, who you can see, you cannot love God, who you cannot see.” Everyone we meet is a believer in disguise. You say you believe in God but do you love him, and does your insistence that you do matter at all if you do not?

Are we surprised that people don’t believe there is a God when we look at the state of the world? I can see the point of people who are offended by people who say that they need to be saved when they’ve done precious little wrong in their lives. They might have served in the armed services, for example, saving lives by putting their life on the line, only to be told that they need a miracle to be saved! I’d be upset if I were a good person, if someone told me I needed salvation. No, I have to lean on the scriptures that I know and quote “healthy people don’t need a doctor, sick people do.” I needed salvation because my behaviour had proven that I was not able to live according to eternal principles on my own, for one reason or another. Someone who by giving their life for their brother or sister has already proven, in my opinion, that they know the general principle that governs the rule of grace: living in love is the way, the truth and the life; there is no greater love than to give your life for another person. Hence, suffice it to say: healthy people do not need a doctor.

Have I made myself clear, here? Can we really justify, as a family of believers, being so critical when one person’s opinion does not agree entirely with our own? I am baffled by the spirit who insists that we should judge so critically when the scriptures clearly state that it is in our “eye” that the problem exists.

“Ah”, you might say, but without Faith it is impossible to please God. But this isn’t the point, as such. “The Lord approves of those who are good, but he condemns those who plan wickedness.” However faith, the assurance that what we hope for will become real, is not something that is gained by mere assertion. Faith is acting out the good path that is before you, and leaning into the challenge that is before you with assurance that it is meaningful; in faith you push forward into the assurance that you hope to receive. Religion, the expression of faith it is said, is looking after widows and orphans in their distress and refusing to be corrupted by the world. It is looking out for the interests of your fellow man, not waving your hands skywards and saying “I love you” to God. Not singing about your salvation but acting it out by recognising that the lowest among you is your greatest concern, since it is they whom God intends to save. And you do not have to believe there is a God to be kind to your fellow man. You have to be a good person to be kind to someone who doesn’t deserve kindness. It is ironic then that by doing so you prove your love for God and conversely, by refusing to do it you prove otherwise.

Without wanting to cause a fight, I think I’ve made my point pretty clearly.

God’s purpose is that everyone lives and that not one should be lost. His eternal plan may well achieve this, although in this life we can be assured that some are lost. However not all, by any means. I state plainly again what has been said before: it is not the healthy who need a doctor and it is by living by the precepts that the healthy deem as obvious that one lives their life in accordance with God’s generalised will for his fellow man: “to act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Furthermore, if you are not living like this you will not inherit life. Therefore to live this way affords you (eternal) life.

God is with us always, whether we believe in him or not. Let us not insist that our doctrine, which might exclude God himself, is predominant in a world that needs good people to be good for goodness’ sake.

“Let the one who is doing harm continue to do harm; let the one who is vile continue to be vile; let the one who is righteous continue to live righteously; let the one who is holy continue to be holy. Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to replay all people according to their deeds.”

After all, who are we to judge?