Is belief in a higher power (such as God) required to motivate a person to do virtuous acts?

When I consider this question, my first response is that ethics do not require a person to believe in God or Gods or some transcendent source such as the Dao to motivate him or her to do virtuous acts. I say this because I know a few people who do not have any sort of belief in a God (that I know of) but they still seem to want to do ‘good things’ like help others out or donate money to charity. However, I do know that for two of these friends in particular, I have had conversations with them about what I believe and what they believe, and it seems like they both have what could be described as agnostic beliefs. They both feel like there is some sort of higher power, but there is no definite ‘being’ that they believe in. I am not sure if this belief motivates them to do these good deeds, or if it is simply because society looks positively upon such acts. I have also met someone who claims to be entirely atheist, having no belief in any God or Gods, but who still attends church mission trips because he likes the atmosphere (or something like that). In my brief conversations with him, he talked about how he feels like love is a good thing and likes to be in places and with people where love is common, but he doesn’t want anything to do with religion or belief in any sort of higher power. Again, I am not sure if he simply has some doubts about the non-existence of God or if he is absolutely sure about it and simply wants to help others, or extend some sort of love to other people. Personally, I feel like there is no reason to want to help others if you do not have any belief in God, Gods, or any higher power (and therefore any sort of judgment/accountability for your actions or an afterlife of some kind). To live as if there is no higher power or reason to act in a moral manner is to live as evolution teaches us to live: survival of the fittest. If the only benefit for being nice is to possibly make a friend and have that advantage in life, it does not help a person be more reproductively successful, which is the end goal of life (according to the idea of natural selection, as I understand it). If we are simply ‘meat computers’ (as I have heard it said) and nothing more, then our actions cease to matter after we have died. You can make the argument that doing something ‘big’ will change the course of human history, but every scientist (again, that I know of) agrees that the earth will not last forever, and after the sun expands and destroys this planet, what will be left of our lives? I feel that in a view that does not include God (or any higher power or afterlife), our lives are entirely meaningless. So, to follow that stream of thought would lead to the conclusion that you do need to believe in some sort of God, Gods, or higher power/moral order to be motivated to do virtuous acts. However, as I stated above, I have friends who do not express any belief in God or a higher power, yet still feel motivated to do good works. So either my logic is flawed at some point, or my friends have beliefs that I do not see. Either case seems equally likely in my opinion.

Where is the church?

"They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
Acts 2:42-47
Have you ever seen something like that? Let me tell you, right now, I am longing for that. I dearly desire to have fellowship and have everything in common and work and sell things to help those who don't have as much as I do. I want all of that, with the love of God at the center of it all. Where is the church?

"All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need."
Acts 4:32-35
Have you ever seen anything like this? No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had... God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. Have you seen anything like this, ever? Have you seen a group of people so motivated by God's love that they lived in complete communism (yes, that is what it is, but if I am wrong, please correct me) so that everyone had what they needed?? Right now, I am longing for that.

Does anyone else feel that intense desire for a real church? Am I the only one who wants to live in a community, a real community with communism and the like, with God and His great love and mercy at the center of it all? I want that so much...but I know that my desire alone is not enough to do it.

What if instead of going to church, we became the church??

Spoudazo app finished!

And here is the devotional I wrote for it, if you are interested:


“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 NIV

I think it is easy for us to read this verse and say, ok, here is the check list: 1) tell someone that Jesus is Lord, 2) believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead. Boom, done, hello heavenly dwelling. Right?
But there is so much more to this than Paul lets on. Simply saying “Jesus is Lord,” is easy, anyone can do that, and anyone can choose not to mean that when they say it, or they may not fully understand what it means to follow up those words with action (See James 2). Likewise, what does it mean to “believe in your heart that God raised [Jesus] from the dead”?
I think it is more than simply accepting that Jesus died for you and washed your sins away, so that now you are holy in God’s sight. Jesus’ resurrection was (one of?) the last miracle(s) He did while He was physically on this earth. If you truly believe in the resurrection of Christ, then what does that say about all the miracles He did before that one? Do you believe in those too? And if you believe in all of the previous miracles He did (after all, if He could come back from the grave, what is turning water into wine or feeding thousands of people with a couple loaves of bread?), then do you believe the things He said as well? And if you believe the things He said, do you follow His advice? CS Lewis once said, “There would be no sense in saying you trusted Jesus if you did not take His advice.”
So I ask you, what is Jesus advising you to do? Has He advised you to do something recently that you have not done? Good news, He is patient and merciful, and He allows second tries. If you faltered previously, spend some time with God and ask for another chance. Ask that He would change your heart so that you would desire to follow His advice, and listen for His voice.