Nice vs. Good

I had the house to myself for a night last month and I was super excited about two things – getting to eat my bow tie noodles with alfredo sauce (Kevin prefers red sauce) and watching Into the Woods (this is about as close to a “chick flick” as I like to get).

I hunkered on the couch with my bowl of noodles and pressed play, quite honestly, not knowing what to expect. I had read the play in high school, remembered liking it enough to keep my copy on my bookshelf, but couldn’t remember the plot or the themes.

This is not a movie review, but I will say this much, the first 30 minutes in particular are movie-musical magic. The lyrics were beautifully executed and edited to fit film.

There were oh so many themes I could blog about today, but I’ll stick with just two quotes from the movie that make similar points.

The first: Little Red Riding Hood is skipping along the path through the woods, all the time singing about how her mother told her to stay on the path and not to stray. But then she encounters the wolf (played by Johnny Depp). The wolf shows her an entire world of wonders, including berries, that exist if she strays from the path. He is ever so kind and convinces her to wander. Later, as Red reflects on her decisions, she describes the wolf by saying, “Nice isn’t the same as good.”

The second: (slight spoiler here) Prince Charming and the Baker’s wife cross paths in the Woods. He flatters her with compliments and the two kiss. When the Baker’s wife confronts him with the fact that by kissing her, he is cheating on his princess (and she her husband), he replies, “I was raised to be charming, not sincere.”

And a great truth about our walk with God lept out at me. Our words have loopholes. Normally, I would love to be described as nice, but Red is right, nice and good are not the same. The wolf was nice in order to manipulate and later eat her. The wolf embodies our sin. It shows us a world off the straight and narrow path of following God. It looks appealing at first, but it costs us more than we could ever have anticipated.

Many of us would like to be charming. I’m not always great with small talk so I’m certain this is not the first adjective my friends would use to describe me. But I do hope that I am sincere. Our words shouldn’t just impress the listeners. They should instead be used intentionally to point others to the love of God.

On first glance, the words “nice” and “good” and even the words “charming” and “sincere” could seem like synonyms. But their impacts show how far apart they really are.

We can be moral people without being a follower of God. We can be kind people but not show the love of God. We can even be self-deprecating without being humble.

What about you – are you simply living a good life or are you living a life that glorifies God?