Nice or Good?

When I first went as a missionary to Malawi, we had in our clinic a very good nurse. She was efficient in her work. She was kind and helpful to the patients. We tried to provide a ministry of healing in the spirit of Jesus. And she was a tremendous help. Her work was a great Christian witness. Except–she was not a Christian. She was a Hindu. Like her husband, she was a "missionary," but of the Indian diplomatic mission.

If Christianity is true, should Christians be nicer than non-Christians? Should all Christians be nicer than all non-Christians?

If a man is snobbish, or spiteful, or envious, and he becomes a Christian, should we expect him to be different now? Yes, we should. Fine feelings, new insights, or a greater interest in "religion" mean nothing, unless they improve our behavior. The patient says, Yes, Doctor, I’m feeling better." But it doesn’t mean much if the temperature is still rising.

The world is right to judge Christianity by its results. Jesus said, "A tree is known by its fruits." (Matthew 12:33) When we Christians behave badly, or fail to behave well, we make Christianity hard to believe.

But when someone asks, "Should Christians be nicer people than non-Christians?" he may be thinking illogically. He may be trying to see the whole world neatly divided into two groups: Christian and non-Christian–and that the people in the Christian group should at any given moment be visibly nicer than all the people in the other group. This would be an unreasonable expectation.

The situation in the actual world is more complicated than that. The world does not consist only of persons who are 100% Christian, and others who are 100% non-Christian. There are many people who are slowly ceasing to be Christians, but who still go by that name. Others are at the moment slowly becoming Christians, although they do not yet call themselves Christians.

There are people who do not accept the full Christian teachings about Christ, but they are being drawn to Him–so much so that He can recognize them as His own, even though they have not taken a public stand for Him.

God is leading people who belong to non-Christian religions. Through His influence, they may emphasize those parts of their religion which are most like Christianity. And they may belong to Christ without their knowing it. A Buddhist or Hindu may within his own religion find motivation to be more merciful, and be as surely a child of Christ as was the Good Samaritan.

And of course, many people are just confused. They believe many things, inconsistent things, all jumbled up together.

So it’s not useful to judge Christians and non-Christians in the mass. You might compare cats and dogs in the mass, because you can easily tell which is which. And a cat does not turn either slowly, or suddenly, into a dog.

But real people cannot be so easily be sorted out.

So let’s compare just two individuals:

Mary Brown is a Christian. She has a sharp tongue, and speaks unkindly of others.

John Jones is not a Christian. He is patient and generous in his speech.

What does this prove about Christianity? Nothing! What would Mary’s tongue be like if she were not a Christian, and what would John’s be like if he became one?

You see, Mary and John have different temperaments, as the result of certain natural causes, and due to the varying influences of their parents and teachers. Christianity claims that if they will allow Him to do so, Jesus will put both temperaments under new management

Before Christ has finished with Mary, she is going to become very "nice" indeed. But is it Christ’s aim to bring Mary only up to the degree of "niceness" that was John’s all along? In fact is John all right as he is? Is Christianity something only nasty people need?

No. John needs to be "saved" every bit as much as does Mary. In fact, the question of who is the "nicer" may really be of no importance at all.

John has a placid temper, and a friendly disposition. But God knows that these are the natural result of conditions which John himself did not create. John is only acting as feels "natural" for him. When John gets indigestion, it will be just as "natural" for him to become critical and unfriendly. In fact, John’s "niceness" is entirely God’s gift to John, not John’s gift to God.

In a world spoiled by thousands of years of sin, natural causes have produced in Mary, the narrow mind and jangled nerves which account for most of her nastiness. When Mary lashes out with her tongue, she is acting just as "naturally" as is John. God intends, in His own ways and in His own time, to set that part of her right too. But the critical question for God, is not how quickly either of them becomes nicer, but whether they will freely choose to let Him heal them at all. And it may be harder for John.

If you have sound nerves, and intelligence, and health, if you are popular with others, you are likely to be rather satisfied with your character as it is. A certain level of good conduct comes fairly easy to you. Everyone says you are a really nice person; and (just between ourselves) you agree. You are likely to believe that this niceness is your own doing, and you may not feel the need for any better kind of goodness. Often people with these natural kinds of goodness, fail to recognize their need for Christ, until one day, that natural goodness lets them down, and they fall humiliated and embarrassed. For those who are "rich" in this kind of goodness, it is hard to enter the kingdom.

If you are a nice person–if goodness comes easily to you–beware! If you give yourself the credit for characteristics which are really God’s gift to you, and if you are content with being merely "nice," you are still a rebel. When you fall, these gifts will make your fall only the more terrible, and your bad example, the more disastrous. Remember that the devil himself was once an archangel, a covering cherub at the throne of God. And by natural gifts he was as superior to us as are we to a baboon!

"Niceness," a wholesome, integrated personality, is an excellent thing. We should by medicine, by example, by education, try to produce a world where as many people as possible grow up "nice"–just as we try to produce a world where all have plenty to eat. But we should not suppose when we have made everyone nice, that they will then be ready for heaven. A world of nice people, content in their niceness, looking no further, separated from God, would still desperately need salvation–and might even be more difficult to save.

Mere improvement is not God’s salvation. God does not teach us only how to become better and larger caterpillars. He wants to transform us into butterflies.

We would do well to spend less time comparing which of us is nicer, and instead concentrate on the only One who is "altogether lovely." If from the evidence of scripture, we admire God, and earnestly wish to become more like him, we will. It is a natural law of the mind. By beholding we become changed.

Jesus said, "I have other sheep, that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd." (John 10:16) When we arrive in the heavenly fold, we may be very surprised to discover who else turned out to be Jesus’ sheep.

Meanwhile, whether we are looking at those who call themselves Christians, or those that do not, "When they measure themselves by themselves, and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise." (2 Corinthians 10:12)

May we allow God to make us truly wise. Let us spend more time seeking Him, the only source of true wisdom, of "niceness," and of salvation.