Like, I use the example of someone who craves attention and applause right there.
To repeat myself:
Imagine a person who loves being the center of attention. This person thrives when they’re in the spotlight. They want other people to watch them and talk about them. They want people to know who they are.
We already know the kind of destructive behavior this trait can lead to: “I know I’m doing something dangerous and/or immoral, but at least you’re paying attention to me.”
But think about the positive ways that need to be the focus of attention can manifest:
- Working hard to become an amazing performer who moves the hearts and minds of hundreds, thousands or millions of people
- Creating a foundation or fund named after oneself that gives huge sums of money to individuals and charitable organizations
- Dedicating years of study into becoming the best scholar or practitioner in a demanding field
- Training to become a world-famous athlete who inspires others realize their true potential
In a Christian-normative society, we’re taught that it’s not enough to do good. We also have to do good for the right reasons. It has to be for purely unselfish motives. Otherwise, it has no value.
In a Jewish worldview, while the ideal is to do good for the right reasons, the obligation is to do good. So if a person does good to scratch a vainglorious itch and not because they really care, it’s still doing good. There’s a lot of work to do to fix this world, and there’s no time to wait until everybody’s heart is in the right place first.
From a Jewish perspective, this person who channels their need for attention into performing good deeds is doing exactly what they’re supposed to be doing. And making a habit of performing good deeds, even if it starts for selfish reasons, could eventually lead to a genuine transformation. Even if that transformation never happens, the good deeds and their results remain.
In Judaism, fulfilling moral obligations is more praiseworthy than doing good things because you feel moved to. This might throw some folks for a loop, so let me explain. When you do something good because you’re moved to, you’re only going to do as much as it feels good to do. The minute that it’s not easy, you stop doing it. When you do something you’re obligated to do, you do it despite the difficulty. You do it despite every selfish impulse to do the exact opposite or to do nothing. That is much harder to do.
I’ve always found it interesting the quote from the first episode about “each religion got about 5% right” when The Good Place is incredibly Christian. And it’s things like this that make it so obvious to everyone who isn’t Christian. Someone who grew up immersed in Christian culture wouldn’t even think that another religion would have such a different take on this. It would never even occur to them. Like I genuinely believe that they set out to make a non-denominational show and then just…accidentally…made it Christian
ForLoveFromFear 