PREPARED TO DO GOOD WORKS (part 1)

What are Good Works?

Recently, our small group Bible study discussed Ephesians 2.10's reminder of our purpose: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." If we were created to do good works, and God has prepared those works for us to accomplish in advance of our creation, then maybe we should figure out what exactly those things are. After all, if I was hired for a job, I'd want to know exactly what was required of me, right?

The Greek word for "good," agathos, is used over 90 times and means exactly what you think "good" means. The Greek word for "work," ergon, appears 158 times as either "works" or "deeds" and is defined exactly as you know it. Yet, when we put those words together, "good works" transforms in our minds to some altruistic activity that catapults those who perform them to sainthood! Is that really what God means by "good works?"

Titus 3.14 tells us: "Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful." Simply put, good deeds meet man's needs. Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, (the pyramid show above) describes an understanding of needs from a temporal perspective, but how does God see man's needs?

Good Deeds Meet Man's Needs

God sent His Son to live as a man with needs who "grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2.52). Jesus increased in the four facets of life that God considers our needs: mental (wisdom), physical (stature), in favor with man (social), and in favor with God (spiritual). When you think about it, all our "work" in life meets one of these needs as we hunt for food, establish shelter, learn how to survive, make friends, love families, and build and attend churches. Our needs aren't hierarchical any more than we might say that knowing who you are is more significant than not starving to death! In this model (the pie chart shown below) you will see that though all our needs are contiguous, our spiritual need is central because it unites all the others.

When most Christians consider good deeds they think of sustaining the hungry and thirsty, caring for strangers, clothing the naked, and showing compassion to the imprisoned. Why? Well, Jesus did say that if we do not do any of these things "for the least of these" then we will go into eternal punishment, right (Mt 25..41-46). But do these acts categorize good deeds?

Consider this question: can nonchristians, whether they are religious or not, or call themselves Christians or not, do good deeds? Can unbelievers care for physcial needs? Can they educate us so that we might prosper mentally? Are they friendly, caring, kind, patient, loving, generous, and faithful? We know the answer to these questions already, right? How about this one: what one area of need shown in the Luke 2.52 pie chart can nonchristians not purposefully meet in another soul's life? Think this has anything to do with how God defines good works?