Is Jesus Good for Society as a Whole?
This is a very interesting question. Another way to ask might be, “Should non-Christians be thankful for Jesus?” The answer lies in determining if Jesus has had and continues to have a positive impact on world-wide society.
The First Problem
Here’s the first problem. A lot of terrible things have been done in the name of Jesus. And a lot of people who claim to be Christians have acted in sinful, destructive ways towards others. You probably know of many examples.
“I’d be a Christian if it were not for the Christians.”
- Mahatma Gandhi
Gandhi was reported to have made this statement after experiencing racism at the hands of people who claimed to be Christians. If Jesus taught people to act in ways that were clearly hurtful to others, then He would certainly not be good for society. But the problem with Christians behaving in these ways is that they aren’t truly following Jesus. However, from the outside, from someone who only sees the behaviors and attitudes of these false Christians, all of Christianity is at fault.
The problem with the first problem is that it makes Jesus seem less desirable for people and not good for society as a whole. From my perspective, hypocritical people claiming to follow Jesus have caused more damage to the mission of Christ than any other force in Heaven or on Earth.
The Second Problem
The second problem is this. The historical positive impact of true Jesus followers has been downplayed, forgotten, misunderstood, or even flatly denied by those opposed to Christ. But the truth is, sincere Jesus followers were the origin of Western civilization. And before you go deriding all the evils of our current society, know that none of those evils came through true Jesus followers.
“Followers of Jesus created the university and college systems, created literacy through public education, founded modern science, began the fight for women’s rights, ended open slavery and continue to drive racial reconciliation, fighting for justice and progress in a multitude of arenas.”
-John Dickerson, author of Jesus Skeptic
Every good human institution in the world was created by or has its origins in the teachings of Jesus.
But you may ask, what about secular institutions that do good?
If you spend the time to do the research, you’ll find that many, if not most, have their origin in Christian ideals. Even the International Red Cross was started by Henry Durant, a committed Christian who also started the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association). Mr. Durant wasn’t a perfect person, none of us are, but nevertheless, he started great movements in the name of Jesus.
The influence of Jesus is in every institution that does good. But of course, that must be true. You may wonder why that must be true. And that leads us to a deeper question.
What is the Origin of Good?
I’m about to make a VERY sweeping statement, and then let God’s word prove that it’s true. Here is the statement.
There is no good thing in the universe that did not come from God.
There ya go. All good in the entire universe has its origin in God. But you don’t have to believe me. Let’s look at a couple of scripture passages.
“Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of lights [the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens], in whom there is no variation [no rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [for He is perfect and never changes].”
-James 1:17 AMP
I purposely used the Amplified Bible version so we can see the breakdown and get a deeper understanding of the passage. But it’s clear that EVERY good thing given to us comes from our Heavenly Father. Jesus Himself also spoke about God’s goodness in answering a question from a wealthy young man. In the question the young man addresses Jesus as “good teacher”. The first part of the answer Jesus gives is what is of interest to us here.
“‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus answered. ‘No one is good—except God alone.’”
-Mark 10:18 NIV
Now, before anyone gets all concerned thinking Jesus is saying He is not God here, that’s not the case. I won’t take the time to explain it here, but feel free to check out our post, Is Jesus God?
But for the purposes of THIS post, we look at Jesus saying that no one is good, except God alone. Beloved, without God I am not good and there is no good in me. And the same is true of you. One of the most well-known verses among Christians tells us this is so.
“All of us have sinned and fallen short of God's glory.”
-Romans 3:23 CEV
Sisters and brothers, the word of God makes it very clear, only God is good, and therefore there is no good thing in the universe that did not come from God.
So, Is Jesus Good for Society as a Whole?
Or, “Should non-Christians be thankful for Jesus?” Yes, Jesus is good for society as a whole and yes, non-Christians should be thankful for Jesus.
Non-Christians should be thankful for Jesus because nearly every institution that does what they consider good in the world has its origin in Christian ideals and was started by someone, or some group, that was following Jesus.
But the real answer is even simpler. Jesus is good for society as a whole because without the goodness of God there would be no good at all.
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Love you Jesus follower!