President’s Message: Designed for Good

In Plato’s “The Republic,” written more than 2,000 years ago, an extraordinarily important question sparked a debate between Socrates and several interlocuters. Specically, why should we be good?

It is an important question. And it is timeless—that is, the character of this question is always relevant.

There is much that can be said about the value of the just and moral life and why we strive for moral excellence. But in the faith tradition, we believe we should aim for a just, virtuous, and holy life because that is the life for which we were made. In Ephesians 21: 0, Paul writes: “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life” (NRSV).

We are designed for good.

But for the follower of Christ, there is another rationale for why we should aim for the virtuous life, and it relates to how we bear witness.

Consider some of the pressing questions that have emerged over the last decade. People are not asking Christians for their beliefs on “right and wrong.” They want to know: “Does it work?” People are not asking if Christianity is true. They are asking whether it is good. People are not walking away from the church because they don’t believe what the church is saying. They are walking way because they don’t believe the church believes what it is saying.

In the first chapter of Daniel, several Israelites were brought into the king’s service which meant, among other things, a change in their diets. Daniel appealed to the king’s steward to let the Israelites use an alternative diet. He ends with this appeal: “Make your decision on the basis of what you see.”

Notice Daniel does not rely upon an intellectual argument. He does not appeal to position or prestige. He does not resort to fear or threat. Rather, he says: “Observe, and respond appropriately.” This is reminiscent of Christ’s remark that wisdom is proved right by her children (Luke 7:35).

I believe these words from Daniel and Jesus have an important relevance for us today. People are less inclined to our arguments — our propositions. They are already bombarded with opinions. They are less compelled by mere logic. They want to see our life. Because in 2023, for better or for worse, seeing is believing.

Truth, ideas, beliefs, and values are often discovered in a person — not just a proposition. As an example from my own life, I could understand the biblical idea of a loving father because I was raised by a loving father. The possibility of living an “upright, Godly life, in this present age,” as Paul described in Titus 2, was possible and plausible to me because I knew holy men and women. The contentedness, happiness, gratification, and satisfaction that I heard associated with living a virtuous and holy life was believable because I knew individuals who exhibited an enviable, unassailable peace and happiness. They had Shalom. And the statement “Jesus is Lord” made sense because I could point to others whose lives were governed by a different Kingdom and a different citizenship — a citizenship in Heaven (Philippians 3).

In sum, the teachings of Scripture were made plausible because I saw them lived out in others.

Why be good? Because we are designed for good. But living into this design is how we demonstrate the goodness of God and the love of Christ to those around us. Our life is the argument. When others see us, may they see the love, holiness, compassion, virtue, power, and humility of Christ.

Kevin J. Brown, Ph.D.
President