Jay Leno is a former late night comedy show host who comes across as a really decent guy. He is known for his philanthropic work as he supports such causes as children’s health, education, and veterans and women’s rights. He and his wife have even created the Jay & Mavis Leno Foundation through which they have donated to the Boys & Girls Clubs, St. Jude Children’s Hospital, USO, Feminist Majority Foundation, McPherson College, as well as various local community charities.
Recently, attention has been focused on him by some in Hollywood who have encouraged him to “get a girlfriend.” (You can read about this at https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jay-leno-rejects-hollywood-pressure-get-girlfriend-he-stays-devoted-wife-dementia) You see, his wife of 45 years has advanced dementia and is not able to function in the way that would normally be expected in a marriage relationship. According to his own testimony, numerous people in Hollywood have either encouraged or expected him to get a “girlfriend” on the side to provide for him wifely “benefits,” since his wife is so limited.
His response? He has described standing by her side not as a sacrifice but as a responsibility he accepted decades ago. In a recent interview he said, “You’re just doing the right thing because you’re supposed to. Right? That’s kind of — that used to be the norm, and then when you strayed, that was the out-of-whack part. Now the out-of-whack part is fairly common, and staying and doing what you’re supposed to do is stunning to people. Well, we kind of made a deal, you know.”
To that, I give Leno nothing but respect. It is an attitude you just don’t see so much anymore in the popular culture – especially among those in Hollywood.
Now in most cases like this, you would expect there to be some kind of religious connection. Actually, not so much with Leno. As it turns out, he doesn’t publicly adhere to any specific organized religion. While he does speak of “leaning on faith and family for strength,” and sometimes makes reference to a general belief in a higher power, he has not publicly declared a specific religious faith, and generally keeps his personal beliefs private. He doesn’t appear to be tied to any specific church or denomination, but rather focuses more on the personal application of spiritual principles.
It seems Leno grew up in an Italian-Scottish home in Massachusetts, in a household where his mother’s primary religious rule was “not to take the Lord’s name in vain.” His upbringing was culturally Catholic, which would have been typical for an Italian-American family of his generation. At the same time, his upbringing was not especially devout or doctrinal. He is what might be termed a “cultural Christian.”
The truth is, that is not a totally uncommon category in America. There are a lot of people who self-identify as Christian and are basically “good, moral people,” but do not actively participate in activities associated with Christianity.
So what should we make of this? What place do “good morals” play in a person’s life?
Well, on a surface level, having good morals is a good thing. It promotes good order in society in a number of different ways. It provides family cohesion, neighborly relations with other people, adherence to the rule of law, and the like.
At the same time, it doesn’t necessarily have a connection to a person’s stated religion. An individual can absolutely have what most people consider good moral beliefs, yet its source be from any of a number of places.
For many people, good morals are based on a legalistic adherence to some “philosophy” or non-Christian religious doctrine. That is the source of such religions as Islam, Judaism, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses and others. It also seems to be the source of Jay Leno’s morality, though his is seemingly just a personal sense of right and wrong that he has decided to follow.
The Christian faith is different. While good morality is described in the Bible, the Bible is not its source. Genuine Christians don’t “live morally” simply because a particular moral principle is written in the Bible. Our ultimate authority sources is not the Bible, but the one who revealed the content of the Bible. We can know what is moral by reading the Bible, but the motivation for following it comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. Christians follow the teachings of the Bible not out of a legalistic sense of “doing what is right,” but out of a personal love for Christ, and a desire to please Him by the way we live our lives.
While outwardly it is possible for Christian and non-Christian morality to look very similar, there is a MASSIVE difference in doing things out of love and doing them legalistically out of a sense of obligation. This is actually also true in human relationships, but is particularly important in our relationship with God.