Is, "I'm a good person" good enough?

[wmz13]

I am looking for some advice on how to evangelize friends and family that believe they do not need to go to church, read the Bible, pray, etc. to go to Heaven after they die.

They often say they don’t commit crimes, are good spouses and parents, are friendly and nice to others, and are gainfully employed and don’t need to be active in a church to go to Heaven.

Any advice?

Thanks,
wmz13

 

[canne]

Personally I do not read the Bible, Go to Church or Pray because I think it will get me into heaven. I do those things because I am very grateful for all that I have, I have been blessed with a wonderful spouse, a home , a job and children. I want to express my gratitude through worship. I am thankful for a loving God.
God wants a relationship with us. Just knowing what God has done for us and what he is offering(salvation/eternal life) is not enough. To have a relationship with God, we need to welcome him into our life Inviting him to guide and direct …

I could choose to ignore him or take for granted all he has done or I could choose to live my life in gratitude and thankfulness.
Thats the approach I would take with your friends and family.

 

[wmz13]

Great advice! Thank you very much.
wmz13

 

[eyeod26]

You have to help them see their sinful nature which we are all born with. The average person sins 7 times a day. Remember that it is not the act of sin itself but it is the intent in one’s heart that can also be considered a sin. In Matthew 5:28, Jesus says that anyone who looks at another woman lustfully has already committed adultery in his heart. Also, when we have angry thoughts about others, gossip about others, hate others, we are sinning in our hearts. Sin is sin and God does not differentiate that murder is worse than hateful thoughts.

Now since the average person sins 7 times a day, they would be sinning about ~50 times a week, ~2500 times a year. If they live to be 60, that would be ~150, 000 sins in their lifetime. Now when they stand before God at the judgment seat, how will they justify these 150,000 sins before him. Will they say, " At least I did not murder or commit adultery." No, sin is sin to God. The only way they can be justified before God is through Jesus Christ!

Now that they are convicted of their sinful nature, you can tell them about Jesus’ sacrifice for us so that we could have eternal life with him. Wouldn’t this lead you to a life of gratitude towards Jesus by attending church, reading scripture, etc. When you love someone so much, dont you want to get to know that person as much as possible? Jesus’ sacrifice for us should move us to love him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength.

 

[Fidelis]

In addition to the above you could mention:

• Jesus explicitly commands us to be perfect, as our heavenly Father is perfect. Even though we will never become perfect this side of heaven, we are commanded to strive toward that ideal. This is completely different than “just good enough.”
• The Bible nowhere commands us to be “nice.” In fact the word does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Again, we ARE commanded (in addition to being perfect) to be HOLY as God is holy.

Ask them – in a sincere, non-bellicose way – from where they received their mandate or even their permission to be “just good enough.” Ask them how they arrived at their world view (making it up as you go along does not count).Tell them you’ll leave them alone if they can find it consistently taught in the Bible or by the Church.

 

[whatevergirl]

I am looking for some advice on how to evangelize friends and family that believe they do not need to go to church, read the Bible, pray, etc. to go to Heaven after they die.

They often say they don’t commit crimes, are good spouses and parents, are friendly and nice to others, and are gainfully employed and don’t need to be active in a church to go to Heaven.

Any advice?

Thanks,
wmz13

Probably a good way to witness to people who state this, is to say that it’s holiness that God is seeking from us. We can’t earn our way to heaven, certainly, but as we seek to do things outside of ourselves, we become holier…and that should be what we are striving for–pleasing God, and striving to be holier. We can’t become holy if we remain complacent with ourselves. Just my two cents.

 

[wmz13]

This is my first week as a member and this has been incredibly helpful. Sincere thanks … and more advice is welcome!

wmz13

 

[LilyM]

I am looking for some advice on how to evangelize friends and family that believe they do not need to go to church, read the Bible, pray, etc. to go to Heaven after they die.

They often say they don’t commit crimes, are good spouses and parents, are friendly and nice to others, and are gainfully employed and don’t need to be active in a church to go to Heaven.

Any advice?

Thanks,
wmz13

Jesus was all those things and more - yet HE still attended synagogue on the Sabbath (remember His reading from Isaiah?) and definitely went to the Temple in Jerusalem for the prescribed feasts such as Passover.

Luke records how Joseph and Mary went to the Temple for her purification as prescribed by Moses. He also states that they went every year for Passover, taking Jesus when He was old enough at 12. And liked it so much He stayed behind . You think He didn’t go every year afterwards as they did?

We can do no less than Our Lord Himself.

 

[Namesake]

I am looking for some advice on how to evangelize friends and family that believe they do not need to go to church, read the Bible, pray, etc. to go to Heaven after they die.

They often say they don’t commit crimes, are good spouses and parents, are friendly and nice to others, and are gainfully employed and don’t need to be active in a church to go to Heaven.

Any advice?

Thanks,
wmz13

Why wouldn’t they go to heaven? I mean, why would a loving merciful God send them to hell? What did they do that earned them eternal damnation besides not doing what you and the RCC think they should do?

I’m with them.

 

[LilyM]

Why wouldn’t they go to heaven? I mean, why would a loving merciful God send them to hell? What did they do that earned them eternal damnation besides not doing what you and the RCC think they should do?

I’m with them.

Not only the RCC dear. There was nary a Christian prior to the 1900s who didn’t understand the necessity of Church attendance on the Sabbath. And it’s been taught from the earliest times of Christ’s apostles and their followers too. But of course we know better than 1900 years of Christian teaching, don’t we

 

[Namesake]

Not only the RCC dear. There was nary a Christian prior to the 1900s who didn’t understand the necessity of Church attendance on the Sabbath. And it’s been taught from the earliest times of Christ’s apostles and their followers too. But of course we know better than 1900 years of Christian teaching, don’t we

I trust in Jesus and He never said that we have to go to church. Your Catholic church says that you have to go to Mass, but it ain’t necessarily so.

And can you explain to me why a loving and merciful God would send those good people to hell? What’s up with that? Do you really believe that?

 

[jimcav]

Many people say they are “good people”, because they themselves set the bar for what good enough is. They will never set the bar higher than they can attain, so of course they are “good people”.

Many people feel that Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church set the bar to high, so they don’t even try to reach for it. They stay in the comfort zone they set for themselves to be “good people”. Well our Lord, and our Church want us to reach higher and strive for perfection.

We won’t attain it, but we must reach for it…

 

[Namesake]

Many people say they are “good people”, because they themselves set the bar for what good enough is. They will never set the bar higher than they can attain, so of course they are “good people”.

Many people feel that Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church set the bar to high, so they don’t even try to reach for it. They stay in the comfort zone they set for themselves to be “good people”. Well our Lord, and our Church want us to reach higher and strive for perfection.

We won’t attain it, but we must reach for it…

Perfect is the enemy of good.

 

[mommyof4]

I trust in Jesus and He never said that we have to go to church. Your Catholic church says that you have to go to Mass, but it ain’t necessarily so.

And can you explain to me why a loving and merciful God would send those good people to hell? What’s up with that? Do you really believe that?

How about the commandment to keep holy the sabbath?

Yep, I do believe that our choices in life can send us to hell.

 

[Author_Jerry]

First of all, their view that they’re “good enough” is wholly subjective. It’s not up to us to measure our own holiness. If it were, we can justify sinfulness based on the times we are living in.

Second, we are called to be holy as Jesus is holy. Jesus and Mary are the people we should strive to be like. Even though we can never live as holy as they did, we still must try our utmost to be pleasing to God.

Third, we must remember that disobedience against God is the reason we are imperfect, for Adam and Eve thought they could defy God’s Will. Therefore, we must be obedient to God by following his commandments. Every sin is hurtful to God because it’s a willful rejection of His Will. Even though mortal sins, like adultery and murder, are worse than venial sins, that doesn’t make committing venial sins any less severe, or make you a holier person.

We can’t give in to our inevitable imperfection. Just because we might think we’re being good, in God’s eyes, we might be no better than a criminal. We can’t just desire heaven and expect God to comply to our request. God has standards, and we’re obligated to seek out those standards and live by them.

I hope this has helped. =)

 

[LilyM]

I trust in Jesus and He never said that we have to go to church. Your Catholic church says that you have to go to Mass, but it ain’t necessarily so.

And can you explain to me why a loving and merciful God would send those good people to hell? What’s up with that? Do you really believe that?

OF course he taught us to go to Church - He did so Himself, went to synagogue and Temple! A ***good ***teacher teaches by example as well as words, you know.

You say you trust in Jesus yet you don’t trust in His example, nor in His Apostles whom He charged with His own authority (who certainly taught the necessity of church attendance) and promised to preserve in all truth?

And you don’t trust the church which He Himself founded upon the Rock that it might prevail over even the gates of Hell? And which consistently taught for 1900 years that church attendance is required? Where was Christ during those 1900 years then, if His church got it so terribly wrong on such a universally-held principle?

If you trust in Christ you have a funny way of showing it. In fact you don’t really trust in Him, nor in His promises to His Church and His Apostles, if you think His and their clear teachings in this matter can safely be ignored.

These ‘good people’ may be good, but they are also deeply misguided. It may be that God in His infinite mercy will make allowances for their misguidedness, but how much better to need as little as possible of that sort of mercy! How much better to do more than may be strictly needed out of love for Him and His church and desire to follow His clear example!

I think this attitude of ‘how little can I get away with doing’ is totally contrary to the spirit of Christ who spent Himself totally, down to His very flesh and blood, for our sake. Did He need to do any of what He did? Of course not. He chose to go above and beyond for our sake.

And I think that’s what makes the difference between someone who is truly Christlike and one who just pays lipservice to the idea of Christianity.

 

[LilyM]

Perfect is the enemy of good.

And yet perfect is what Jesus commands us to be - and it’s never the enemy of ‘good’, since He is both.

It’s only the enemy of ‘good enough’, which is really NOT good enough when it comes to following Him.

 

[Namesake]

I think this attitude of ‘how little can I get away with doing’ is totally contrary to the spirit of Christ who spent Himself totally, down to His very flesh and blood, for our sake. Did He need to do any of what He did? Of course not. He chose to go above and beyond for our sake.

.

All that He requires of us is to believe in Him. Doing more is not necessary, according to Him.

 

[LilyM]

All that He requires of us is to believe in Him. Doing more is not necessary, according to Him.

‘Why do you call me Lord Lord, and yet do not DO as I command you?’ And don’t forget, HIS commands include the ten of Moses, as He told the rich young man. Plenty of things, it would seem, that we are in fact required to DO, or to refrain from DOING, as the case may be.

There’s a whole lot more than belief required here, buddy.

 

[Namesake]

‘If you love me you will keep My commandments’. Which, don’t forget, includes the ten of Moses as He told the rich young man, and a whole lot more besides. You’ve got to do more than believe, buddy, you have to act out that belief in your behaviour.

Where did He say that more was required for salvation?