How Good is Good Enough?      Book by Andy Stanely / Discussion by P. Jordan

For Velocity – CSM Care Group

 

The internationally held assumption: “Good people go to heaven.”

 

Q.  WHY do so many people in so many different religions believe this?

 

Discuss>          The logic is that “there is a good God who lives in a good place reserved                                   for good people.”

 

Q.  WHAT are some of the dangers of this philosophy? – this thought process?

 

Discuss>          a. Men then conclude that they earn their way to heaven. 

                                    - at the end of your life, just hope that the amount of good things                                                  you did outweighs the amount of bad things – and you’re in.

 

                        b. Because this “good God” is behind all major religions, all beliefs lead to                         the same God and a “legitimate path to heaven.” Pg. 10

 

                        c. The feeling of constant inadequacy leaves us helpless to achieve such a                                       high goal.

 

FACT: “Most Americans believe in Heaven, a fewer percentage believe in Hell.  And in

              Other parts of the world (and some Amercians) believe that the souls comes

              Around for another lap – starting over as someone else or something else.

             “In spite of the different beliefs, most religions share this one common                             denominator: (this belief that) How you live your life on this side of the grave                     determines what happens next.”

              To a certain extent, this is true.  Whether you live your life for Christ or not                    determines your destination – in Heaven or Hell and how you’ll spend it. 

 

But in the general context, the belief that we earn our way to heaven is terribly wrong and most people believe it, even some immature Christians!

 

PROOF: “If God appeared to you and asked, ‘Why should I let you into heaven?’        how

Would you answer?  If you’re like most people, your answer might sound something like this: ‘I’ve always tried to …’  ‘I never…’ or ‘I do my best to…”

(Pg. 12)

The majority of people simply believe that their eternity in heaven is contingent on whether or not they did good things and were an overall nice person.

 

Another Danger of this assumption is that we all have a different measurement on what is good.  Christians believe that loving your neighbors is good and will help get you into heaven, but the terrorist believe that blowing up your neighbors is good and will get you into heaven!  We need to face the facts that people alone can not come up with the correct standard of what is good.

 

WHY?   Discuss>        Because that standard only comes from God – our Creator – our                        inventor.

“It’s hard to find two people, much less two cultures, that re on the same page regarding what good is, much less how good we must be to make it to heaven.”

ILL> Jack Johnson’s song: “Good People” 

            Chorus: “Where’d all the good people go?  I’ve been changing channels I don’t                                         see them on the tv shows.  Where’d all the good people go?  We’ve got                              heaps and heaps of what we sow.” 

 

            Ending:  “Station to station, desensitizing the nation  Going Going Gone.”

 

Q. Can we blame TV for our actions?

A. NO!

 

Q. Can we blame TV and the media for desensitizing our view of what is good and ok

      and our sense of morals?

A. YES!

 

Satan, through the media really is “desensitizing” our nation’s view – our view – of what is ok to watch – what it good, what is decent, and what it wrong.

 

Q. So WHO ultimately is our measure of Good – what is the standard?

 

Discuss>

 

Another Danger of Trusting our sense of what is good and right and wrong is that we are fickle and constantly changing our minds!

Read pg. 34-37 .  “Times Change”

 

Who has sinned this week?  Yeah, me too!

Q. Knowing we fall short of God’s standard repeatedly, what is the answer?

 

Discuss>

Doesn’t our relentless sin and Christ’s painful death remove the overall thought that we can be good enough on our own for heaven?

When we see Christ had to go through for us because of our depraved state of failure, it opens our eyes to see the Holiness of God.

If the cost of making us “good” was that high, the “good” that God requires is like really good.

 

Q. So how do we attain eternal life if it’s not by all our good deeds?

 

A. By accepting Jesus as the One who came to erase our past, H forgives us of our  

    mistakes, and then He gives us the ability to attain “goodness” and enter Heaven when

    our life on earth is over.