Is Becoming a Better Person the Goal of Christianity?

You may hear that the goal of Christianity is to become better people and in turn make the world a better place. Is this GOD’S goal for Christianity?

Christianity is more than a checklist of rules that help to make us and others better. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not primarily about morality. The gospel is not a self-help program. It is not a formula. It is not a careful regimen of popping religious pills to make us better, nor does it consist of religious programs that will give us more purpose, or following religious prescriptions that will help us avoid sin. Christianity is not one and the same as being moral.

Some who seem like the most moral people alive today are not Christians. Moral people may or may not be Christians. Christians become more moral, no doubt about that, but morality is not the goal and it is not the answer. The answer and the goal is living the Life of Jesus Christ within us. That’s it. Jesus. Jesus produces morality in Christians, but morality alone does not produce Jesus. Building character may change what we do, but it does not change who we are. Jesus alone in us makes us who we are. Jesus alone in us makes us children in God’s Family which, dear readers, IS THE GOAL OF CHRISTIANITY.

Jesus alone can change us from the inside out. He alone makes us into new men and women, because He lives His resurrected Life in us.

If morality alone is the goal of Christianity, then Jesus is completely unnecessary for moral growth. If we are expected to and can fix our own problems, then who needs Jesus? If we believe that God expects us and that we are able to produce enough goodness to turn our world around, then knowing Jesus, accepting Him, believing and trusting in Him, are irrelevant. The problem with proposing morality as the primary religious answer and goal is that Jesus is reduced to an afterthought, a religious ornament, a nice piece of religious furniture that we look at and admire but that has not practical value.

The gospel is not a program or club that we join so that we can help change the world. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a matter of us looking at how wrong other people are and devising programs so that those people can qualify to become like us. Religious, special, better-than-everybody-else societies are not the answer. Religious formulas, programs, and initiative are not the answer. Jesus alone is the answer.

I make a critical distinction in the definition of the word religion. I define religion as any belief system or methodology that promises God’s love and blessings in return for human effort and performance. This definition is a sub-definition of the commonly used definitions for religion, which are: 1) serving and worshipping God; 2) commitment to or devotion to faith, as in attending church; 3) institutionalized attitudes, beliefs, and regulations.

Under these generally accepted definitions in our society and culture, Christianity is a religion. However, when it comes to biblical Christianity, and the precise examples and teachings we are given in the New Testament, religion cannot apply to Christ-centered and grace-based faith. In fact, religion then becomes the very opposite of authentic Christianity.

I said earlier that God having children in His Family is the goal of Christianity. And becoming that child in His Family is a one-time choice that we must make. And we make that choice, not on the basis of the good things we have done or the bad things we have not done, but rather on the choice that God has made to accept our choice no matter what state of morality we find ourselves in. This is called grace – unmerited favor and acceptance.

In so many things in life, we “put the cart before the horse”. We try to accomplish things before we have the power to do them. And Christianity is no exception. Many Christians attempt morality before they understand the power that it takes. And when they inevitably fail, they get discouraged and frustrated.

The “cart” of morality MUST be powered by the “horse” of Jesus Christ. And God enables this power by the greatest miracle in the world – He places Christ to dwell right within us in a living union of His Spirit to our human spirit. This miracle occurs at the moment we choose to accept Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of our life.

The Bible says that building a Family of beings “in Christ” is the goal of Christianity. God’s children in Christ are the goal of Christianity.

Becoming a better person is the RESULT of Christianity. Some progress into this better person rapidly, others very slowly. But it is the process that counts, it is the gradual growth as His child that God cares about. And with Jesus Christ living in us, we are guaranteed to become a better person.

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