From ancient promises in the Bible to contemporary prognostications about success in business, the claim is often made that we will do well by doing good. But is it true? Does doing what we think of as the right or good thing really create material success, and should that even matter? I am not so sure that it’s true. And yeah, I think it matters.
Some will quickly say that “right is right” and “good is good”, and whatever the physical or material consequences, we should always do what is right and what is good. I get that, and certainly don’t plan my moral and ethical decisions, I hope, around the material pay-off that I hope results from my decisions. On the other hand, can any of us sustain our lives without attending to both the need to do good and the need to do well, however we define those terms?
The drive to do well – to build material success – is not only nothing of which to be ashamed, but when used well, whatever material success we have, offers us the opportunity to not only enjoy our own lives more, but to help others do the same. Not to mention that, certainly, it can be pretty tough to worry about doing good when you’re busy just trying to get by.
On the other hand, I am suspicious of the breathless claims which too easily assert that if we just do the right things, then the rewards, including material rewards, are sure to follow. It just doesn’t seem to be how the world works, at least not as often or as seamlessly as those who make such promises make it sound.
Certainly, it can be pretty tough to worry about doing good when you’re busy just trying to get by.
So if we want to do good, need to do well, and know that the two don’t always fit together so seamlessly, what are we to do? For starters, look for opportunities where doing good actually does help us to do well – be it at work, as parents, as consumers, etc. and make choices that reflect that connection. It’s remarkably empowering, and it feels great.
It’s not that doing good necessarily leads to doing well, but if you are on the lookout for ways in which they do or can, it’s amazing how many such opportunities present themselves. It’s really just another example of the fact that it’s hard to find what you aren’t looking for, and a whole lot easier to locate it when you are.
I know, this is a less grand scheme than making big promises based either on the word of God or the newest business guru. But it’s a practical and reliable way of living our lives toward both doing good and doing well – both of which are things pretty much everybody I know wants, whether one always leads to the other or not.
Listed for many years in Newsweek as one of America’s “50 Most Influential Rabbis” and recognized as one of our nation’s leading “Preachers and Teachers,” by Beliefnet.com, Rabbi Brad Hirschfield serves as the President of Clal–The National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, a training institute, think tank, and resource center nurturing religious and intellectual pluralism within the Jewish community, and the wider world, preparing people to meet the biggest challenges we face in our increasingly polarized world.
An ordained Orthodox rabbi who studied for his PhD and taught at The Jewish Theological Seminary, he has also taught the University of Pennsylvania, where he directs an ongoing seminar, and American Jewish University. Rabbi Brad regularly teaches and consults for the US Army and United States Department of Defense, religious organizations — Jewish and Christian — including United Seminary (Methodist), Yeshivat Chovevei Torah (Modern Orthodox) Luther Seminary (Lutheran), and The Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative) — civic organizations including No Labels, Odyssey Impact, and The Aspen Institute, numerous Jewish Federations, and a variety of communal and family foundations.
Hirschfield is the author and editor of numerous books, including You Don’t Have To Be Wrong For Me To Be Right: Finding Faith Without Fanaticism, writes a column for Religion News Service, and appears regularly on TV and radio in outlets ranging from The Washington Post to Fox News Channel. He is also the founder of the Stand and See Fellowship, which brings hundreds of Christian religious leaders to Israel, preparing them to address the increasing polarization around Middle East issues — and really all currently polarizing issues at home and abroad — with six words, “It’s more complicated than we know.”