What do you mean by "good person"?

To make sense of the next blog post that's stewing in the back of my head, I need to give a little background.

Can we stop calling people "good people" the way we do right now?

What's that phrase even supposed to mean? I don't think there are many people on earth who are actually straight-up evil. As a result, a "good person" in our nomenclature has become most commonly someone who looks like us, perhaps as an extension of that, someone who makes similar mistakes as us. Then when it turns out a "good person" behaved in a way that we disagree with, but not too strongly, we say, "Oh, but they're a good person," as in, "This isn't that big of a deal." Or, if someone tells us that individual has done something we really don't agree with, it becomes, "I just cannot believe they did that. They're a good person," almost as though your opinion of them as a good person makes them above any such mistakes. Or alternatively, perhaps we turn on that person and say, "I guess you never can tell these days with people. They looked like a good person. They sure had us fooled." Presumably, we're saying that they might have looked like a good person, but they must not have been because they could have done something so terrible. Don't get me wrong. I don't mind thinking people are good people. I just dislike our use of it in those ways I listed above.

Personally, I think most people are good people. Maybe some of us have mental health challenges that make certain things more difficult. Maybe some of us grew up in dysfunctional situations that shaped how we viewed the world (and maybe even right versus wrong). Maybe some of us struggle with obvious challenges/ temptations. Maybe some of us struggle just as much, but with less obvious temptations. Maybe there's any number of balancing acts each of us must perform all the time, and sometimes we just fail. We make mistakes. Can't we still be "good people"?

There is a two-fold danger in labeling people with such a broad brush (like that of someone being a "good person"). First of all, we should not eliminate personal responsibility and accountability by excusing or condoning inappropriate behavior. If someone did something wrong, they should be responsible for it and correct it. That generally includes dealing with the consequences of their actions, and hopefully it also means improving. That's not an easy road, but it's necessary for all of us to become better people. On the other hand, neither should we condemn a person and their entire character outright, completely, and forever because of one of his or her actions. That mentality denies people the possibility of improvement just as much as the eliminating personal responsibility.

People are complicated and multifaceted. They all--we all--have strengths in some areas and weaknesses in others. Let us be that way. Accept yourself that way. Refuse to tear yourself down because of a flaw in your character. Accept others that way. Don't place anyone (including yourself) on an impossibly high pedestal. In doing so, you risk shattering either your personal beliefs or your faith in them (or yourself), and neither should be so fragile. After all, that's what repentance is all about.