Rightness Needs No Rewards in This Life or the Next

“People are people so why should it be that you and I get along so awfully?”

Depeche Mode, People Are People

People are people. Rules are rules. Love is love. Right is right. So why can’t we human beings get along in this world? I think it has a lot to do with rules getting in the way of love, and the fact that we often don’t do what’s truly loving, what’s truly right concerning some people, because we want the reward of approval from certain other people.

If you look at Christian Scriptures you will see that Jesus Christ often did the “wrong” things for the right reasons. He picked grain on the Sabbath. He healed the sick on the Sabbath. And he socialized with the “dregs” of society. His behavior was seen as wrong in the eyes of pious people, and he was severely criticized. But he didn’t care. He wasn’t concerned about winning the approval of the self-righteous, or about achieving some great reward if he followed all of the “right” rules of his faith. He was concerned about doing the right thing for the right reasons. He placed love and people ahead of rules and pious righteousness.

How often do we follow the example set by Jesus? I’m afraid that fear of being chastised often causes us to flee from Jesus’ example, much like his apostles fled from his side when he was arrested. Sometimes we’d rather do things that we know are wrong and hurtful, like marginalizing certain people, because we want the approval of self-righteous friends and neighbors. We’re too afraid of being criticized by those who think they’ve cornered the market on holiness, and so we do the easy thing: We cop-out on Christ.

Then there are those of us who do the right things simply because we want some great reward. We ‘fear the loss of heaven and the pains of hell” and so we are motivated to do good, not for the sake of rightness or for the sake of others, but because we want an eternal reward. When you think about it, this type of motivation to do good is selfish and shameful. There are plenty of atheists, agnostics and humanists who do good because it’s the right thing to do. They have no ulterior motive in terms of gaining eternal life. They don’t fear the fires of hell or the loss of heaven. Of course, they also don’t live by religious laws that judge, condemn and discriminate against certain people.

It’s time we stopped thinking about rewards for ourselves and started thinking about right for the sake of rightness. If we are going to do the right things, we need to do them for pure reasons like Jesus Christ did. We need to accept that people are people, just like we are; that everyone is different to some degree, but that different isn’t bad; and we need to stop judging other people’s behavior when we have no ability to read their hearts. It’s too easy to judge people’s behavior when we haven’t walked in their shoes; when we really know nothing about their struggles or brokenness; and when, genetically and personally, we are all so different. Jesus didn’t judge those who had been condemned as “dregs” of society. He loved them, embraced them and healed them.

 

We are called to do the same. We are called to love, accept, embrace and heal those around us. And we start by not judging them, and by not using them as a means of gaining approval from the self-righteous. As Jesus said, the self-righteous already have their reward in this life. They need a reward, we don’t. Let’s live by the law of love and do the right thing simply because it is right and just. Rewards aren’t necessary. Doing right for the sake of rightness is all we need to allow our souls to shine!