Jesus’ mission statement: Do good

I’ve said this for years. If Jesus had had a mission statement, it would have been: Do good. Jesus didn’t teach a religion. His ministry embraced all Earth’s peoples, regardless of race, societal status, religion, gender, age. People were people. His message to them: “Be kind. Do what’s right.” That’s it.

We all know what doing the right thing, doing good, is, right? You know you’re in the wrong when you take a handful of pencils and some legal pads from work. Sure, to you it’s pennies your company won’t ever miss, and you skipped lunch to finish up a report, so it evens out. That you try to justify it is a red flag. 

Humans are flawed. All of us. Some more than others, though that’s not the point. What counts is you resisting those impulses that push at you from that darker part of you. Maybe you were coerced by another person to do something you knew wasn’t above board. That’s not an excuse. At least where your soul is concerned.

These sorts of impulses start with little things. And then grow into bigger and more daring “takes.” No thief starts his or her career with the big jewelry heist. It starts when they’re little, usually. A candy bar, a soda, maybe.  A teenager might be tempted by Nike sneakers or a Coach purse, maybe a twenty or hundred dollar bill from Dad’s wallet or Mom’s purse. You get the idea.

As with anything, the more you engage in a behavior, the more the concrete around your feet hardens, anchoring you in that behavior. It becomes a part of you. Eventually those impulses don’t face much resistance. An action gets the green light the moment it’s conceived. Breaking out of that mold takes a lot of work and conscious effort. Fighting bad habits that have enjoyed compliance from childhood takes a change in the psyche. A scare from getting caught may shake one’s confidence and wake one up to the wrongness that’s been on a runaway. Maybe that’s the police, a parent, a teacher or a friend the prospective thief reveres. They discover a drive to be seen in a good light, to earn back trust and respect. Or, maybe they double down on their wrongness and work to be better at concealing their dark activities.

Like the muscle memory of doing things that are wrong, the more you resist, the more you pull your hand away empty from the supply closet at work, the less you’ll think about taking those actions. And future attempts to betray your better instincts will fade away.

A friend of mine told me about the time her two sons, preschool and early elementary, had stolen small American flags from the grocery store. They were proud when they showed her in the parking lot their spoils. She marched them back into the store, found the store manager and told him what her boys had done. The manager started to dismiss it, but she insisted her boys needed to learn a lesson. I think I remember her saying the manager threatened to arrest her and the boys’ father, but settled on the boys working for an hour or so wiping down shelves or something.  Anyway, both kids were pretty shaken up. Then when they got home, dad piled on with more punishment. The boys turned away from a life of crime from that day on. Especially when their mom told them if they would have asked, she would have bought those flags for them. They were 35 cents at the time.

Prison is full of people who never thought they’d get caught. Outside of crime, there’s cruelty, meanness and neglect tugging at us. All looking to be embraced by your dark side.

The world needs your light right now. In all things. Do your soul a favor. Do good.