The Bar Is Low

10/6/2021

Written By: Kenny Scott

Tell the priests who carry the ark of the covenant: ‘When you reach the edge of the Jordan’s waters, go and stand in the river.’”…Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, the water from upstream stopped flowing. (Joshua 3:8,15-16a NIV)

Have you ever been faced with a task that seemed impossible? A project at work without enough time or manpower to complete before the deadline? Debt payments without enough cash? An undefeated opponent with seemingly no hope for a victory in sight?

For me, one such time was my human biochemistry final in medical school. The exam was a year long cumulative final for which we would be given six hours to complete. Now back in my time in medical school, we paid for professional note takers to take and type out notes from recordings of our classes due to the non-stop info packed nature of the lectures.

So in preparation for studying for my final, I decided to eliminate any lecture notes that I deemed would be unlikely to be on the final and only study the key parts of the notes that I highlighted for the class during the year. What I was left with was just over 2500 pages of class notes (for comparison a standard NIV study Bible has about the same number of pages) to near memorize in one weekend before the Monday final-which wasn’t the only final I had for the week.

And, just to keep things interesting in medical school, any score less than 70% was automatically a failing grade plus everything was graded on a curve-which usually is a benefit-unless the other 200+ members of your class are “one percenters” which means if the test was “easy” and everyone did well, a score of 85%-90% could result in a failing grade if you were on the back end of the curve. Adequately studying for success seemed like an impossible task. The only bright side I could think of at the time was that Tuesday was eventually going to arrive and it would all be over, one way or the other.

Now I’m usually not a “glass half empty” type of guy but rather one who, if you give me the slimmest of chances for success, is all in believing I might triumph-“So you’re saying there’s a chance?!” But even more daunting than my medical biochem final, when it comes to practically living out the Christian life, pursuing Christ-like perfection for God’s glory and my eternal benefit, I often feel like it’s an impossible task:

Don’t lie, don’t hate, don’t lust, don’t love anything/anyone more than God, turn the other cheek, don’t worry, don’t complain, pray without ceasing, pray for your enemy, forgive those who sin against you, don’t be greedy, humble yourself, lend without expecting repayment, don’t covet, take care of the poor-widow-orphan-alien, submit to your spouse in love, baptize in the name of the Father-Son-Holy Spirit, teach others all that Jesus commanded, be hospitable, do not fear, be quick to listen and slow to speak, work as if you’re working for the Lord, take up your cross, confess and repent, don’t neglect gathering together, use your gifts for the benefit of the church and others, fast, rejoice in your suffering, rebuke-correct-encourage with patience/careful instruction, raise your children in the ways of the Lord, do not exasperate your children, dispense the gospel with gentleness and respect… and on and on and on.

Now I don’t want to mislead anyone. First, that achieving anything or everything on that list is required for a right relationship with God and the gift of eternal life-it is not, for we are saved by grace through faith which is a gift from God, and second that you can achieve a holy, Christ-like, God glorifying life on your own-you cannot. It IS an impossible task.

And this is a great paradox of the Christian faith- you cannot truly glorify God in your life without God. The good news (the gospel-quite literally) is that God has made a way for you to join Him in glorifying Himself by growing in holiness through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, the power of His resurrection, and the indwelling gift of the His Holy Spirit.

So how do you achieve the seemingly impossible task of a holy life in 2021 and beyond? Well, we’re fortunate because God has specifically designed each one of us for the here and now, and in 2021 in the United States, the bar has been set low-the first step of faith is as small as it can be: Be nice-don’t be a jerk, encourage someone, don’t complain, work hard at your job/school. All of this will look obviously different in today’s society, glorify God, and give you the courage to take the next small step of faith. You don’t have to learn presuppositional apologetics and have an answer for where the dinosaurs came from.

And if you fail today, one of the most amazing things about the gospel is that it’s not a one time event that occurred 2000 years ago, but an ongoing process by which His mercy, grace, and forgiveness are made new each and every day for those who believe. You take the small step over the low bar and He will achieve the impossible task for His glory and your good.