What Is it Good For?
The sheer number of choices we are faced with each day is overwhelming. What type of toothpaste should we buy? What show should we watch and on what streaming platform? What shall we eat? What shall we wear?
Options abound in limitless varieties such that survival often requires simply choosing based on impulse rather than informed consumer choice. The result of our freedom is, ironically, a sort of constraint. We are unable to choose carefully because the number of choices is too high.
This sort of overwhelming of choice flows into our moral lives, as well. Not that we have the same range of options to choose from—though we do have many—but that the habits formed as a response to the flood of consumer options shape the way we make decisions of moral weight. It really doesn’t matter which toothpaste we use, but it makes a huge difference what sort of activities we fill our time with.
Christians would benefit from slowing down and considering their ethical choices more carefully to evaluate whether what we are doing is actually a good work.
Good Works
The Heidelberg Catechism asks, “What are good works?”
The answer is that good works are “only those which are done out of true faith, conform to God’s law, and are done for God’s glory and not those based on our own opinion or human tradition.”
There are three components to a good work, by this definition: (1) true faith, (2) consistency with the law, (3) for God’s glory. Another way of labeling these three parts of a good work is (1) right character, (2) right action, (3) right goal.
I could write on the first two parts of this model extensively, but let’s assume that a given action is being performed by a Christian who is not overtly violating God’s law. In most situations, we would consider that sufficient basis for something being a good work. However, the “right goal” aspect is one that we are less likely to clear in a world where we are not making careful decisions.
There are scriptural references for each of the three aspects of a good work in the catechism, but having the right goal is clearly explained in passages like Colossians 3:17: “And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
We are to do everything for God’s glory, “in the name of the Lord Jesus.” That includes even the minor decisions that we make.
This requires us to ask an important question about every action and decision in our lives. “What is this good for?” or “What is the purpose of this?”
Purpose of Sex
One of the hallmarks of a materialistic worldview is that it strips meaning out of the world. Any meaning that people experience is constructed by a force of will, rather than discovered and experienced. This is completely reasonable when one assumes that existence is derived from time, material, and chance without a guiding mind behind it.
As such, societies will create myths about our existence to help provide a sense of collective meaning. In our culture, according to Daniel Heimbach, there are four main myths about sex that are counterfeits to biblical sexuality. Each of these counterfeits substitutes an alternative purpose for sex.
Romantic sexual morality defines the purpose of sex as a way to express affection. Thus, sexual intercourse is really just a physical way to communicate “I am experiencing feelings of love for you right now.” Playboy sexual morality substitutes personal pleasure as the purpose for sex. Therapeutic sexual morality defines the purpose sexual intercourse as the pursuit psychological wellbeing. In some cases, celibacy is viewed as a form of psychological disorder and a failure to be fully human. Pagan sexual morality sees connection with the divine as the purpose of sex.
Christian sexual morality is complex. Its ultimate purpose is to glorify God, but it does through in the way it fosters procreation, exclusive relationships, and reflects mutual sacrifice within a complementary relationship. But the main point is that it has a purpose beyond the fulfillment of some physical or psychological desire.
Our world spends little time creating charts to explain varying theories of sexual morality. These ideas are caught rather than taught. And yet, when we go on autopilot and cease to ask “What is sex good for?,” our actions fall short of being a good work. In other words, thoughtlessness can make something sinful.
Rediscovering Purpose
There is much more that could be said about the purpose of sex, but in this case, sex is simply an illustration of a broader phenomenon. It is an example—one that dominates so much of our cultural energy—of the way the range of options push us into a sort of morality where we do whatever seems most convenient at the time.
Few Christians would admit that this is the primary purpose behind their actions. Yet, it’s my default mode of operation and I’m sure it’s the default of others. When we ask whether we should serve in an area at church, the first question we often ask is whether it fits within our preexisting schedule and is convenient for us. That’s not right, but it’s not surprising. We are catechized constantly toward personal convenience. Even our inconveniences (e.g., going to the gym) are usually focused on a convenience (e.g., being healthy or looking good).
The main point is that whether it’s sex, toothpaste, or service, the main purpose of our actions is usually self-serving. As sinful humans, our default mode is almost never godward. Instead, it’s generally pointed toward our own selfish desires.
As we navigate thousands of decisions about consumer goods, entertainment, and even volunteer opportunities, we would all benefit from spending a bit more time to ask whether what we are considering fulfills the main purpose of life: to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
Read more about thinking christianly in this collection of essays, The Christian Mind of C. S. Lewis:
“Online church” is a temporary patch on a leaky roof. It can get someone through a rainy season, but it was never meant to last for decades. We should never try to argue that watching a livestream is a worthy substitute for church attendance. To do so is to reduce the church to something we subscribe to rather than a community we belong to.