Good For Nothing, Good For Something by Kim Reisman

Scripture Focus:

A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold. Rich and poor have this in common: The Lord is the Maker of them all. The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and pay the penalty. Humility is the fear of the Lord; its wages are riches and honor and life. In the paths of the wicked are snares and pitfalls, but those who would preserve their life stay far from them. Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.

Proverbs 22:1-6 (NIV)

In rural Tennessee where I grew up, I often heard people described in this way: “He’s a good-for-nothing ***.” That last word was always colorful expletive, but even without it, this description was always hard and had a terrible put-down impact. It’s an illustration of the strange way we use words. But it’s descriptive. We can be good for something or good for nothing.

There’s a more serious problem with the word good in our current American English usage. We’ve made it an almost meaningless word in our vocabulary. In this culture we don’t think seriously about goodness because we don’t think seriously about morality. Everything is relative. Everyone decides what’s good in their own eyes. It’s another witness to how words lose their power.

Good, however, is a powerful word in scripture. Proverbs 22:1 teaches, “A good name is more desirable than great riches.” Another book of biblical poetry also proclaims, “Better a good name than costly oil” (Ecclesiastes 7:1, NJB). Commenting on this verse. Rabbi William Silverman once wrote:

Good oil flows downward, while a good name ascends. Good oil is transient, while a good name endures forever. Good oil is spent, while a good name is not spent. Good oil is bought with money, while a good name is free of cost. Good oils is applicable only to the living, while a good name is applicable to the living and the dead. Good oil can be acquired only by the rich, while a good name can be acquired by the poor and rich. The scent of good oil is diffused from the bedchamber to the dining hall, while a good name is diffused from one end of the world to the other. [1]

We need to recover the rich meaning of the word “goodness.” The Greek word for goodness is agathosune, which is a strictly biblical word. It’s not used in secular Greek. Paul uses it in Romans 15:14 – “I myself feel confident about you, my brothers and sisters, that you yourselves are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another” (my emphasis). He uses it again in Ephesians 5:9 – “For the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true” (my emphasis). He uses it in his prayer for the Thessalonians – “To this end we always pray for you, asking that our God will make you worthy of his call and will fulfill by his power every good resolve and work of faith” (2 Thessalonians 1:11, my emphasis).

We need to recover the richness of this uniquely Christian word. It’s a goodness that is “good for something” and is the fruit of the Spirit in the life of a Christian. New Testament scholars remind us that the goodness Jesus expressed was both prophetic and pastoral. Jesus expressed agathosune, goodness, in cleansing the temple and driving out the money-changers. His goodness is expressing itself prophetically, demanding a change, requiring a response, bringing the fruit of the Spirit to fruition.

Jesus expressed chrestotes, kindness, to the woman who crashed the party at Simon’s house and anointed Jesus’ feet. In this understanding, goodness is prophetic and kindness is pastoral. What a challenging way to think about it.

How often do we think of goodness as prophetic? As confrontative truth demanding a response, calling for change? Goodness, which is Christian, does that. We see a good person, one whose profession and performance are in harmony, and we take note. I’m challenged by friends who over the years have consistently taken young teenagers into their home because they were in hopeless situations. This family’s goodness shows. It’s good for something. They’re putting their commitment to “the least of these” into concrete expression.

Goodness is prophetic. We need both goodness and kindness. It’s been said that Jesus came to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. We need the kind of life that has such integrity in relation to Christ that those around us who are comfortable in their apathy, unconcern, and insensitivity will be afflicted by our very presence, and those who are afflicted by the pains and problems of life will be comforted by that same presence.

As you pray and fast this week, bring to mind someone you know whose simple goodness is a challenge to you. What is it about them that exudes goodness? Think about your own life. Would anyone who is comfortable in apathy, unconcern, and insensitivity be afflicted by your presence?

I will be praying that you will have the kind of life that has such integrity in relation to Christ, that those around you who are comfortable in their apathy, unconcern, and insensitivity will be afflicted by your very presence; and those who are afflicted by the pains and problems of life will be comforted by that same presence.

[1] William Silverman, Rabbinic Stories for Christian Ministers and Teachers (New York: Abingdon Press, 1958), p75.