This episode tackles the false dichotomy between "worship" and "service" made by many unbelievers, where "good works" are mostly about service to others and don't flow from worship. Christ Himself exploded this distinction in Mat 4:10, connecting service to worship, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve." Service then is an expression of worship. Unbelievers don't typically connect service to worship of anyone, preferring to emphasize outward service divorced from worship as the basis of good works. The episode highlights that genuine worship of God sometimes conflicts with "service" to man, where affirmation and toleration of behavior, divorced from God's standards, is evidence of virtue or goodness. Good works in the form of "service" to man, even when it looks "intolerant," flows from worship of God. Not embracing God's standards, unbelievers usually omit "worship" from a discussion on "good works," instead imposing an anthropocentric psuedo-morality that emphasizes tolerance and outward acts of service as the ground of good works.
Do Good, But NOT For God’s Sake
Building off of the last program, this episode enumerates several Biblical examples where unbelievers, based on natural endowments, divine influence and/or self-interest, do in fact produce externally good works. God has given all men a natural desire to take care of their children, so "evil" men give "good gifts." (Luke 11:13) God can lay His agenda on the heart of kings, even to the point where they're "anointed" to do His will (Cyrus, Isaiah 45:1) Lastly, the unjust judge in Luke 18:4-5 ended up rendering justice to a destitute widow, just to get put an end to her persistent nagging. Yet none of the above "good" works meets the standard of good works according to God, where outwardly good works flow from pure love of God and neighbor. This episode answers a common query over the possibility of good works, especially among nonbelieving philanthropists.