Godly - good or bad?
So many times in my life as a believer I have heard the term ‘Godly’. Most of times that I have heard (or read) the term is is in the context of relationships. For example - …Godly men, Godly women, Godly families, etc. Further, I must admit that most of the situations that I have heard (or read) have inspired me to want to be ‘better’. But, in order for me or my relationships or my characteristics to be ‘better’ then that means that there is something inherently wrong with me and/or family and that the antidote to my situation is to try and become ‘Godly’ or ‘like God’.
So the question is: is trying to be Godly a good thing or a bad thing? Is trying to be a Godly man or have a Godly family really the answer or the goal in this thing called life? The short answer is no. Let me explain …
I believe that most of man’s problems (and I mean man in the creation form - not gender specific) have their root in the ‘Tree of knowledge of good and evil’. Most of you know, from your early Sunday School classes, that the tree of knowledge of good and evil was the one forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden. Let’s think about the name of the tree - Knowledge of good and evil. Or put another way, knowing the difference between right and wrong. See, once a ‘right’ and a ‘wrong’ has been established then there lays the foundation for legalism. The enemy knew that this was the only way that he could disrupt our fellowship with God. Just read Genesis 3:5:
“For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
‘Be like God’ is the phrase that the enemy used. I believe that you could put that another way - Godly. See - our perception of God, most of the time, is based on projection. We come up with what we think the most perfect being on earth could be like and then multiply it’s perfection times 1,000 and then project it onto God. Following that assumption we then spend the rest of our lives miserably trying to measure up to a perfect standard because, after all, we KNOW the difference between good and evil. Right?
Sadly, most believers live out their entire life trying to measure up. Most even gauge how well the leadership at their church is doing by a combination of their level of perfection combined with their ability to inspire you to try and attain their level. This is legalism. This is eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This is trying to live the christian life in our own effort. This is trying to be good, trying to do the right things, trying to spend a specific amount of time each day praying, reading our Bible, serving, etc … Better yet, this is trying to give our way into God’s favor. This, my friend, is not God’s plan.
If you remember from your Sunday School class - there is another tree. This tree is called ‘The Tree of Life’. This tree is Christ. Remember, we have been grafted into this new tree (Romans 11:17, John 15). We are now partakers of His Life (John 14:6) and His yoke is easy and His burden light (Matt 11:30). Once we have accepted Christ then the curse from Eve’s deceptions and Adam’s choice has been lifted! Amen! We have been transferred from the headship of Adam to the headship of Christ. We no longer have to try to be good or Godly but simply to rest in the finished work of The Cross!
The reason that I have written this post is to reveal a piece of the mystery of God’s grace to you. All believers have experienced the first half of The Good News - Christ’s death for us. But only a few have experienced the second half - our death with Christ. In order to make our death with Christ an experiential reality in our lives we must first KNOW that it is Truth. After knowing, we must make it true in our lives by FAITH. When we simply rest in the completeness of The Gospel there is no more trying to be Godly because He who has come to fulfill the law now takes up a living residence inside of the new believer. He has become for us wisdom from God, both rightousness and sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor 1:30).
With Christ as our wisdom we see the difference between the tree of knowledge of good and evil and the blessed Tree of Life. When we surrender and identify with who we REALLY are in Christ then we cease trying to live ‘like God’ and begin to live KNOWING that it is God who is living for us.