The Winter Olympics have been on TV most evenings in the Stollings household over the past several days—particularly when figure skating in its various forms is happening. Susan is a fan, and I’ve watched enough with her to have some idea of who is who—and I recognize the TV commentators, Terry Gannon (who I remember playing college basketball at NC State), and former Olympic skaters Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir. Weir and Lipinski have particular fluency with language, and are very descriptive of the skaters’ performance. They continue to find a number of lively ways to say “That was good.”
However, a good performance in an individual Olympic event is not what the simple rule “Do good” is about. “Do good” is not an individualistic, performative behavior. It is generally not what our parents meant when they said “be good’ to us when we were going out in public, or visiting other people in their homes, or starting school. This particular simple rule is getting at the way we engage others in the world around us. In fact, John Wesley says of this rule: “By dong good, by being in every kind merciful after their power, as they have opportunity doing good of every possible sort and as far as is possible to all men [people].” Wesley in particular speaks of doing good for others’ bodies—food for the hungry, clothing for the naked, visiting those sick or in prison—and for others’ souls—encouraging them to grow in faith and challenging them not to fall prey to evil intentions. It should be clear from this that to “do good” is the exact opposite of a self-help program for one’s own personal benefit.
Wesley also encouraged this doing good to be both a day-today focus and a lifelong priority, as he also said: “Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can.”
That’s a challenge, and a commitment. It challenges us to order our lives in such a way that we not only readily see the needs of others that can be met by doing good, but we respond to those needs on a regular basis. And it turns out that we ourselves benefit from helping others also. As Galatians 6:7-9 reminds us, “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up. So then, whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.”
If we’re looking for a role model in this emphasis on doing good, we need look no farther than Jimmy Carter. He served as Georgia State Senator, Governor of Georgia and President of the United States. Since his time as President ended 42 years ago, he has been involved internationally with 80 countries assuring that human rights are valued, global health is prioritized, and legal and ethical elections are held. Additionally, he has been very engaged with Habitat for Humanity—there are photos from just a couple of years ago of him helping to build a house, wearing work clothes and wielding a hammer at age 95 (he’s now 97). He said this a few years ago: “My faith demands that I do whatever I can, wherever I am, whenever I can, for as long as I can with whatever I have to try to make a difference.” Sounds like a modern-day John Wesley.
NEW TESTAMENT 3 John 11
11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
GOSPEL Matthew 5:43-45
43 ‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” 44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.
NEW TESTAMENT Romans 12:9-10, 13
9 Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; 10 love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.