Perspective from the 19^th Hole is the title I chose for my personal blog, which is meant to give me an outlet for one of my favorite crafts – writing – plus to use an image from my favorite sport, golf.  Out of college, my first job was as a reporter for the Daily Astorian in Astoria, Oregon, and I went on from there to practice writing in all my professional positions, including as press secretary in Washington, D.C. for a Democrat Congressman from Oregon (Les AuCoin), as an Oregon state government manager in Salem and Portland, as press secretary for Oregon’s last Republican governor (Vic Atiyeh), and as a private sector lobbyist.  This blog also allows me to link another favorite pastime – politics and the art of developing public policy – to what I write.  I could have called this blog “Middle Ground,” for that is what I long for in both politics and golf.  The middle ground is often where the best public policy decisions lie.  And it is where you want to be on a golf course.

The subject in the headline has been on my mind for several days now as I have focused on Bible verses calling Christians to do “good works.”

As Christians, however, we know that doing “good workss” is not the way to earn our way to heaven.  Earning is not involved.

If you accept Christ as your savior, you will be in heaven one day and it is not due to your performance.  It is due to grace, which is defined as “free and unmerited favor.”

Still, there is a place for “good work” in the Christian life.

Consider these words from one of the most important Scriptures on the subject:

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this:  You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  There is no other commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30-31

Loving God is based on faith – you cannot see God today, but you believe that he is your savior.  That’s called faith.

Loving your “neighbor” can be tough, especially if your neighbor is different than you based on ethnicity, color of skin, background, homeland, and numerous factors.

But, to God, based on Scripture, none of those differences matter and, in any event, they don’t remove the command “to love your neighbor as yourself.”

As I write that, I cannot remove from my mind Donald Trump, who, as president, has made it one of his priorities to hate others.  Hate?  Yes. 

Here is what he said at the funeral service for Charlie Kirk:  “Diverting from his script, Trump couldn’t resist saying:  ‘I hate my opponent.  And I don’t want the best for them.’”

Sounds like Trump, right?

As for being involved in good works as Christians, one question getting credit for that work.

Another scripture comes into play – Matthew 23:4.  It advises against doing good works to get credit.

“Everything they do is done for people to see:  They love their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long.  They love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogue.  They love to be greeted with respect in the marketplace…”  [By the way, the word phylacteries refers to “a small leather box containing Hebrew texts on vellum, worn by Jewish men at morning prayer as a reminder to keep the law.”]

The point is that credit for doing good works goes to God, not to those who do the work.  So, we should make sure credit goes that way.