"Good to Great" by Jim Collins is a book that was given to me years ago when I worked at ALSAC after one of our annual meetings, and the book has received much praise in the workplace. It's one of those books I've been meaning to read as I have been reading more books, particularly books on personal development and Christian growth, over the past few years than I ever have before in my life. In short, the book studies what makes successful companies not just good, but great. In our society, we naturally aspire to be great, not just good.
This book was referenced yesterday by Sandy Willson in our study of Acts. In chapter 11, a passage on Barnabas, he is referred to as a "good man" (11:24). In the Bible, a number of people are referred to as being great -- from Samson, to Goliath, to King Herod, the nation of Babylon, and you could go on naming others attributed with greatness. Even the disciples argued before Jesus over who among them was the greatest. However, as Sandy pointed out, only 2 people in the Bible are singled out as being good: Barnabas (whose name means "son of encouragement"), and Joseph of Arimathea, who is mentioned in Luke 23:50 as "a good and righteous man" who asked for the body of Jesus and wrapped him in linen and laid him in the tomb.
Throughout the Bible, goodness is consistently associated with God's character, creation and providence. When the rich young man approached Jesus in Mark 10:17 and asked, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus responded, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone."
In contrasting good to great as Jim Collins does in his book, I'll have to remember the Bible's emphasis on aspiring to just be good.
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