Goodness Draws Us

This is Part 1 of 2 from a sermon on Goodness, the second in "The Transcendentals" series preached at Summit Church (Naples) in January 2026. It has been lightly edited for publishing. Click here to listen to the audio.  

In the Lord's providence, I am delivering this message about goodness on Sanctity of Life Sunday.

We encounter goodness when we gaze upon a baby. The innocence, meekness, gentleness of a baby is real and self-evident. This is why so many young men and women choose life when they see their prenatal child in a sonogram. Our moral intuitions recognize goodness and are drawn to it.

That experience and reality is enlightening, and so we should ask the question, "Why?"

I believe the Scripture answers that question in this way: goodness draws us because where there is good, there is God.

The text we're going to consider is Matthew 19:16-30 about a man who seeks the "good" but does not fully understand what "good" entails.

The Draw of Goodness

The passage begins like this: 16 And behold, a man came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" (Matthew 19:16)

Notice that the young man was drawn to Jesus. We can assume the man heard about Jesus' life and teaching, and thus, he was looking for an answer to a question gnawing at his soul.

This man approaches Jesus differently than many others who sought to discredit or trap him. Mark and Luke report that this man approaches Jesus with reverence, kneeling before him and calling him, "Good Teacher." He sincerely wants to know how he can have "eternal life."

It's important to remember that Matthew's gospel was written to a Jewish audience, who would have understood this man's posture and question through a particular lens. He was approaching Jesus as a Rabbi and asking about eternal life, which included "life after death" and life here and now.

Basically, the man is asking Jesus this question: what is the good life?

In one way or another, every person asks that question. It's our nature to make sense of things. We are oriented to seek truth so that we can have a good life—a life in harmony with reality.

Similarly, we are hardwired to seek after good—it draws us.

Why, for example, do we desire to buy a new iPhone as soon as the new model comes out? Because we envision some good it will do for us. We believe it will make our lives more productive, faster, and more efficient—we envision the "good" it brings.

But what happens? As soon as the next version comes out, we desire a better model. When it comes to things, we have insatiable appetites. Every good thing we encounter satisfies us for a moment before we start imagining some other additional good.

This infinite "wanting" is a feature of every human soul.

We're wired to keep reaching for "more good" because we're ultimately made for an infinite Good.

God is the only "upgrade" that doesn't leave us desiring the next model. This is why Augustine said our hearts are restless until we rest in Him.[1]

The young man was drawn to Jesus because his soul was on a quest to know the highest good—the good that will give him satisfaction in this life and forevermore.

Defining Goodness

I often will have students in my ethics class ask, "What do you mean by Good? What is the definition?"

Well, goodness signifies a "perfection" which is desirable. The good is that which is useful, beneficial, of the highest standard, complete and lacking nothing. A thing is said to be good or perfect if it fulfills its purpose or telos.

In other words, something is good if it fits the form, function, and purpose for which it exists.

For instance, consider something as simple as a chair. It's good when it does what its designer intended. Therefore, a good chair holds a person.

Here is why this is important: this young man's question is one every human soul is asking, namely, "How can I have a good life?" But he has a narrow view of "good." He has reduced goodness down to an instrumental function. He is focused on doing good; he has ignored being good.

Goodness is not simply the absence of badness. It is possible to not do a wrong act and not be good. We call that sins of omission.

The young man came to Jesus, thinking that his life was right and tight, yet something was off internally. Something in his formation and purpose were lacking, and he just couldn't pinpoint it.

Goodness draws every human soul. We are constantly propelled toward that which we think is "good."

But our problem is that apart from Christ, we don't know the fullness of perfection. We don't know the multifaceted nature of goodness.

True goodness must be revealed to us.

Works Cited:

[1] Augustine, The Confessions of St. Augustine, trans. Albert C. Outler. (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999), 1.