If people of different faiths all work together to help feed the hungry and care for the widows in their community… does God view all of their work as good?
Not according to many of my evangelical friends.
Their basis is that only if we are following God’s will… i.e. “Christian” will… does God bless and view such acts as righteous… because humanity is incapable of any righteousness apart from Christ.
We Christians behave as if the only vessel for God’s work is the Christian themself, but God says that the heavens declare the glory of God. God says that the rocks will cry out if we are silent.
God’s will isnt only for Christians, but for all mankind. The Jew, the Muslim, the Hindu—everyone and anyone—may in fact be serving in obedience to God’s will. The atheist or non-believer may be serving because of the tug on their heart that God placed there. The lives that are changed for the better don’t ask for a statement of faith.
We trap God in our man-made container of the Christian God.
The evangelical will say it isn’t enough to be a good and moral person—you must believe rightly. But if you ask 100 evangelicals what believing “righty” means and you get 100 different answers. But when you ask what being good is, you find a much clearer consensus.
So while there is ongoing debate about theology, there is little fight about works. God wants us to be good, to do good. Start there and let God sort out your faith in the process.