The Good Place

I’ve recently gotten into the TV show, The Good Place. At first I wasn’t so sure about it, because I don’t love some of the humor, but the plot twist at the end of season 1 got me hooked. Season 3 just came out on Netflix and I finished it a few days ago. This brought to mind several thoughts and feelings I’d like to get out about the show. So here’s my review of The Good Place, from a Christian perspective.

If you’ve never seen the show, it is a comedy created by Michael Schur (The Office, Parks & Rec, Brooklyn 99), so it’s definitely creative and funny. The premise is that 4 humans from 4 different backgrounds and ethnicities die and go to “The Good Place.” So this show has this whole universe set up with a very intricate afterlife system. This is why I was iffy about the show at first: because I definitely don’t believe in their afterlife and they make some comments about the Christian afterlife. But, it’s fiction and it’s Hollywood, so I roll with it. 

Basically the way this universe is set up is that each person on earth is being tracked by a point system by afterlife accountants. Each action they do is assigned positive or negative points, based on how good it was. For instance, if they feed the homeless, they get points, and if they call their mom a name, they lose points. Then, by the time they die, if their point total is above a certain amount, they get into The Good Place. If not, they go to The Bad Place where they are tortured for eternity in very intricate and detailed scenarios that are really not that tortuous, but whatever. So this is kind of fun for a TV show, but some people actually believe this. They believe that if you are a good person, you’ll be good in the afterlife, but if you are a murderer or something, you’ll go to hell. 

Here’s where it gets tricky. In season 3, they realize there must be something wrong with the points system. They figure out that not one single person has made it into The Good Place in over 500 years. Not Joan of Arc or Harriet Tubman or anything. And they realize that earth is a complicated place and it is hard to be good all the time. In fact, if you just buy a tomato, you are contributing to overworking farmers and plastic production and global warming and therefore you lose points. So they come to this insane conclusion that the demons hacked the system or something, and the season ends with them conducting an experiment to see how they can fix the system.

Here’s where I’m at… Yes, it is literally impossible for us flawed humans to be good. We suck. We get mad at our moms and we cheat on our homework and we go to war and we buy tomatoes. This is not because the system is screwed. This is because we are sinners. They spend a good chunk of this show studying morality and philosophy, conducting ethical experiments and trying to figure out the whole good vs. evil thing. But let me tell you…it is much simpler than that. We. Need. Jesus. We are all sinners in need of a Savior and we cannot save ourselves. Without Him, it is impossible for anyone to get into “The Good Place,” or Heaven, as I like to call it. There are no points, or else we would all fail. And all sin is the same in God’s eyes.

It just makes me laugh that Hollywood came up with this afterlife theory that I’m sure they believe on some level, but then they realized that there are flaws in the system. No duh. Jesus is THE way, THE truth, and THE life. No one gets to the Father except through Him. So whether you have a million points or negative 5,000, Jesus loves you, He forgives you, and He wants to be with you in Heaven.

Here’s where some non-Christians struggle with this: the one little difference between getting into Heaven or not, no matter how bad of a person you were on earth, is the fact that you love and accept this guy who may or may not be Christ? Um, yes. Because He existed, we know that. And during His time on earth, He was either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord. And most people think He was at least a good person, which eliminates the first two options. So He was telling the truth about everything. And if I’m right about that, it is the most important thing in the world. It gives purpose to my entire existence, to every decision I make and step I take, and it seals me for eternity. And if I’m wrong, then what’s the harm of following His message of love while I’m here?

Here’s where some Christians struggle with this: some actually believe the point system. Yes, they still believe that you need Jesus to get into Heaven, but they forgot the love and forgiveness part. They rank sin. They chastise alcoholics and gays and women who have had abortions. Yet they love and welcome and forgive people who just told a little white lie. It is all the same. We are all children of God in need of a Savior. So open up your heart, show God’s love to any and everyone, and share the Gospel while you can. Because, truly, we never know when our last day on earth will be.