Why should we do good?
Today’s Gospel brings up the issue as to why we choose to do good?
The disciples certainly seem to be following Jesus, not only because of the value of what such following meant to them, but also with a desire for rewards. And it is obvious why this incident about James and John asking Jesus for the highest positions in his ‘kingdom’ is not narrated in John’s Gospel as it clearly puts John and James in a very negative light. This desire of the Zebedee brothers (James and John) to get rewarded for following Jesus is not limited to them however, for it seems to find a reflection in the rest of the New Testament, as there are many other passages which do promise ‘rewards’ for those who follow Jesus. Thus in Mathew we have Peter asking what reward the disciples will receive, and Jesus promises them that they will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel as a reward for following him. (Mathew (19:27-30). And again in Luke’s Gospel we have Jesus promising that ALL those who have “left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God” will receive “as much in this age, and in the age to come, eternal life.” (Luke 18:28-30). Then we have Paul, Peter, John and James, all saying that those who follow Jesus will receive the Crown of Victory (Paul in 1 Cor. 9:25-27), the Crown of Rejoicing (Paul in 1 Thes. 2:19), the Crown of Righteousness (Paul in 2 Tim.4:8), the Crown of Life ((James 1:12 and John in Rev. 2:10) and Crown of Glory (1 Peter 5:4). And when these several passages are taken up without context, we get mesmerised by the word “rewards” which in our normal human terminology is always something that we can look forward to with pleasure, with the result that for many of us, the idea of doing good, and not doing bad, to gain Heaven (or avoid Hell) seems quite appropriate.
But doesn’t good need to be done because it is good, and not because of any rewards?
Recently, I saw a young couple trying to bribe with ‘rewards’ their young son who did not want to go to the barber to get his hair cut. They kept increasing the level of their ‘rewards’, but till I left the place, they had not yet reached the level of rewards that had convinced the child. And though this was in the context of a value-neutral issue like cutting one’s hair, the methodology used on that occasion, seems to be common among many parents in bringing up children. So children are incentivised through rewards or punishments to help with the house work, or to become more disciplined in their day-to-day living, or even asked to share with others in exchange for a 'reward'. Isn’t it quite likely that this approach, instead of making the child a genuinely helping, disciplined or caring person, actually develops the child into one who works towards gaining rewards and avoiding punishments as the primary motive in all aspects of their lives? Does such an approach help the child ever internalise the value of becoming more helping, more disciplined and more caring, and realise that becoming that kind of person is its own reward? And does this kind of a reward/punishment-based upbringing result in most of us living our lives where we end up choosing to do good based on what gives us rewards or helps us avoid punishments - whether those rewards or punishments come from a this-worldly or other-worldly force?
This is a difficult lesson for all parents to learn, because so much of our daily living is based on this reward/punishment paradigm. And I guess Jesus too, when trying to get his apostles to internalise what he was teaching, tries to help them understand that the ‘reward’ he is promising them is something quite different. So he responds to James and John: “You don’t know what you are asking,” ….“Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant.”. So is Jesus telling them, yes you will be rewarded, but the reward is not exactly the kind you are looking for - in fact it will be a ‘reward’ of much suffering . Jesus himself did not accept the ‘reward’ of being proclaimed a king that the crowds offered him. Similarly Gandhi and Nelson Mandela, too seemed to have lived out this essential insight and therefore were able to give up the ‘rewards’ that came after their many years of suffering and trying to do good. Gandhi never accepted any political office in a newly independent India, even though he was clearly the leader of the independence movement, while Mandela, the obvious leader of the fight against apartheid in South Africa, voluntarily gave up his President’s position after just one term, despite suffering 27 long years of incarceration in his fight against apartheid. It is clear, of course, that it is not easy to do good purely for the sake of itself, but I believe that that is what choosing to be good really demands. In fact, I would suggest that there is a transformative power in doing good to others for no reason at all, and with no hope of any reward or even acknowledgement perhaps, for such acts change us significantly. I am not talking about anonymous donations to a charitable body, but doing good to some specific person who needs help for no benefit at all to oneself. And if that person continues to ‘pass it on’, by doing other unrequited acts of care or concern, then such a chain could create a hugely transformative positive ripple effect in our lives and communities.
Maybe because most of us are so brought up from infancy to be ‘bribed’ into doing good by the promise of rewards, or avoiding punishment, many of us can almost not see any other reason for choosing to do good. And maybe this is why followers of many religions (and even a-religious people) do exhibit this kind of reward seeking behaviour when called upon to do what is right and good - doing good for the reward of everlasting life, for freedom from rebirth, for the promise of heaven or for the great name we will have or leave behind us. I call all these kinds of ‘goodness’ as a transactional type of goodness, for one is bartering one’s good act in order to get something we consider better. It seems to me that what Jesus was trying to teach us when he proclaimed the Kingdom of Heaven and told us that it was within us, was that entering heaven is essentially tied to become a different kind of person, where the kingdom of heaven blooms within ourselves.
Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
Gospel: Mark 10: 35-45
Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want you to do for us whatever we ask.”
“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. They replied, “Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.” “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said. “Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” “We can,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared.”
When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
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