Have you ever heard people say, “It doesn’t matter what you believe, as long as you’re a good person”? It sounds like the perfect way to avoid conflict—which can be especially appealing to Jewish people, since we know what happens when people are intolerant of others’ beliefs. And for those who believe in God in a vague sort of way, it’s comforting to think that he will surely accept us as long as we’re good people.

The thing is, saying,  “It doesn’t matter what we believe as long as we are good people” is a belief in itself. And if it’s not true, it can be dangerous. After all, people have radically different beliefs about what it means to be good, and some are pretty scary.

Our beliefs (whether secular or religious) shape our understanding of how to be good people—and for those of us who are Jewish, of how to be good Jews. Jesus (arguably the most famous Jewish person ever) said some surprising things about being good. So how might following him affect our own attempts to be good people?

For a case in point, check out this curious exchange between Jesus and a Jewish official—probably a magistrate—who sought his advice:

A ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor your father and mother.’”

And [the man] said, “All these I have kept from my youth.”

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich. (Luke 18:18–23)

The first two sentences of Jesus’ response may seem oddly off topic: “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.” But he’s establishing a frame of reference for what follows. He wants the man to think more deeply about what he means by “good.”

Who Sets the Standards for What’s Good?

Jewish humor often offers a bit of wisdom regarding how we see ourselves.

In the old joke about a wealthy man who shows off his new yacht to his parents, he gives them the grand tour, tells them what it cost, and finally says, “And look at this uniform I’m wearing. Custom made, from Abercrombie and Fitch. Your son is a regular captain, huh?” To which his father replies, “Listen. By Mama you’re a captain, by me you’re a captain, and by you you’re a captain. But by a captain—you’re no captain.”

Moral of the story: We might fool ourselves and others about who we are, but we can’t fool those who truly are whatever it is that we’d like to believe about ourselves. When Jesus points to God as the frame of reference for goodness, he is inviting us to take an honest look at ourselves. And that is what the man in this narrative needed to do. He tells Jesus that he has kept all of the commandments. He hasn’t killed anybody. He hasn’t stolen anything. He hasn’t lied about anyone. All good, right?

Jesus points to God as the frame of reference for goodness.

Even the non-observant among us might consider ourselves “good” based on what we know of the 10 Commandments. Many of us can relate to this guy as he assures Jesus that he has already checked those boxes—and we might even be just as taken aback when Jesus says, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor.

The Barrier to Being Good People

Nowhere does the Torah require us to donate all we have. So why does Jesus tell this man to do that? Because the first commandment is, “You shall have no other gods before me.” Jesus sensed that wealth had become this man’s god. Whatever we value the most —whatever we cling to as our greatest source of pleasure, security, or identity—that is our god. Jesus is challenging this man to recognize and renounce his god substitute.

At that challenge, this otherwise morally upright man walked away. I can sympathize with the guy because I’ve cycled through my own god substitutes—including material comfort, my most treasured relationships, and the recognition of others. Looking back, I didn’t even realize these had become god substitutes—but on some level, I’d failed to believe that God was as good or necessary as the people or things I’d put in his place.

No amount of good deeds can make us good people …

What we truly believe about God matters, if we want to be good people—and good Jews. That’s why Genesis 15:6 says about our forefather Abraham: “He believed the Lord, and [the Lord] counted it to him as righteousness.”

Likewise, no amount of good deeds—mitzvot, commandments, or doing tikkun olam—can make us good people when, instead of believing God, we give our ultimate love and loyalty to god substitutes. We might as well believe that flossing our teeth and working out can cure us of leukemia.

Jesus tells us that if we give up our god substitutes and give our ultimate love to God (and in turn to other people), we will have “treasure in heaven” —which includes the joy of being completely known and forever loved by the Creator and King of the universe.

One of Jesus’ most famous lines is: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son [Jesus], that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). He wants us to believe him so that we can have something far greater than any “good” our god substitutes can offer.

For reflection:

Would you find it difficult to accept that God loves you just because he loves you? If he loves us because he is loving, and not because we have earned it, will we receive it?