In the United States we’ve had some good Christians who were not good Presidents, and we’ve had some bad men who were very good Presidents. Righteousness seemingly is unrelated to competence. Having just finished some books on the Byzantine Empire, I think one could demonstrate the same point there. One could argue the same point form the marketplace, the arts, athletics and just about any other field.

Some of you reading this post may be thinking, “Yeah, so what? What does one have to do with the other?” Others of you understand why this perplexes me as a Christian.

If righteousness is the act of being and acting rightly, i.e in accordance with Truth, then it seems that righteousness should translate into skill, success or excellence for Christians in their earthly endeavors. The reality is that a different common denominator is found in those who tend to succeed in earthly endeavors–competence. It seems that competence trumps righteousness, suggesting goodness competence are often separate qualities.

In fact, I think one can confidently say that all other things being equal, competence is probably the best indicator of whether one will be successful in life.  And yet competence is not righteousness.  Or is it?

We think of righteousness as being limited to morality, i.e. acting right morally. But why should it be so limited? Why shouldn’t righteousness extend to areas of our lives other than ethics? To put it another way, maybe everything is moral. And if everything is moral, then competence is righteousness. Perhaps goodness competence are more intertwined than we think.

I don’t mean to suggest being excellent at what you do is your pass to heaven. I do mean to suggest that competence is part of righteousness in the same way temperance, discretion, kindness, and selflessness are constituent elements of righteousness.

In the Parable of Talents, Jesus commended the competence of those servants who took their master’s money and turned it into more money. He did more than commend, He called the incompetent servant who failed with his masters money”wicked.” (Matthew 25:14-30).

If I am correct, it shouldn’t surprise us then that Jesus’ followers said of Him, “Behold, He does all things well.” (Mark 7:37). This parable showcases the link between goodness and competence.

I don’t know, it’s just a thought, but it makes sense to me. GS