Truth, Beauty, and Gooseness

“Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” 1 Corinthians 10:31

Truth, beauty, and goodness are classically known as the transcendentals, or ideals of human endeavor and creation. For something to be what we would commonly call good, it must embody all three of these realities: logical truth, artistic beauty, and the goodness of God. We should screen everything we watch, read, listen to, and generally consume, through this template.

This week I had a cool opportunity to teach my kids about truth, beauty, and goodness using an interesting method: a video game about a goose. The description says it all: It's a lovely morning in the village, and you are a horrible goose. The object of the game is to wreak general havoc on people, places, and things. We took the principles in order.

First, does the game contain truth? Yes, this is what geese are like. We played with the speed and capabilities of the goose, which made the game more difficult. This forced us to use strategy and logic, which is also truth. Second, does it contain beauty? Most certainly. The game is charming; it’s more like playable art. Third, is the game good? This posed problems for us because, well, the goose is horrible. How could the game be good? As they puzzled over this my daughter realized that the game is played as a goose, from its perspective and according to its nature. So we worshipped God for his clever and strange creations and had lots of fun doing it. And that’s good.

Beloved, we can grow as redeemed image bearers through everything we consume. If we surround ourselves with truth, beauty, and goodness, we will find ourselves in rich communion with the living God and being conformed to his image in all things. This is how we do everything to his glory.