What's Your Standard?
Stories
Lectionary Tales For The Pulpit
Series IV, Cycle B
Object:
What's Your Standard?
No longer, then, do we judge anyone by human standards. Even if at one time we judged Christ according to human standards, we no longer do so. When anyone is joined to Christ, he is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come. (vv. 16-17 TEV)
After graduating from seminary in 1995, Hadley and I moved from Fort Worth, Texas, to a small town in rural Oklahoma. With a population of 1,600, the restaurants in our new town were limited. There was the South End, which was conveniently located on the south end of town. The South End was not the real name, but it was what everybody called it. Over the four-year period we lived there, it was also called The Cyclone Cafe, Rhonda's Cafe, and Dale's Diner. No matter who owned and ran the place, it was always a smoke-filled greasy spoon.
There was also The Missile, which of course hadn't been the real name for years. It suffered from the same identity crisis as The South End. At various times, it was known as J.T.'s and also Charlie's. The menu there consisted of fast food.
It was common knowledge around town that the best place to eat was The 62 Cafe. The 62 had the same owner-operator for more than four years. They even had the same waitresses. The consistency alone made it a good place to eat. Besides the normal southern cafe fare, their specialty was Mexican food. In fact, one local citizen claimed it "served the best Mexican food in southwest Oklahoma."
Maybe, but by whose standards? Personally, I felt their Mexican food was average. After all, I had just moved from Fort Worth where the population is about 25 percent Hispanic. The greater Fort Worth area has at least fifty Mom-and-Pop Mexican restaurants and a few small local chains. After living in Fort Worth, I refused to eat at national chains. I was now a connoisseur of good Mexican food.
For the most part, The 62 was okay. But the food was more on par with Taco Bell than El Chico. I had their fajitas once -- only once. As far as Mexican food went, their fajitas were pretty good Chinese food. These were the only fajitas I have ever had served with a sweet-and-sour sauce.
I'm not trying to be overly critical of The 62 Cafe (really, other than the fajitas, it was all good), but after having Tex-Mex food made by Mexican descended Texans, Tex-Mex by gringo Okies just didn't cut it. After living in Fort Worth and experiencing really good Mexican food, my standards were different.
What are your standards? Not on Mexican food, but on life? On faith? In 2 Corinthians 5:16-17, Paul says "No longer then, do we judge anyone by human standards ... When anyone is joined to Christ, he is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come" (TEV).
Did you get that? The standard that we are to shoot for as Christians is not a human standard, but a Christ-standard. We compare ourselves not to other people -- not even to other Christians. But to Christ. That's a high standard.
Most of the time though, we compare ourselves to each other. As long as we're better than the next guy or gal, we're all right. The problem with that is that we can always find someone who has more faults than us. We say:
Well sure I lie now and then, but nothing like John Kerry and George W. Bush on the campaign trail.
Okay, so I cheat on my taxes, but I'm no Willie Nelson or anything.
Yeah, I'm hot-tempered, but Bobby Knight is worse.
Nancy Adler is a minister friend of mine. She once asked me, "Why do my members keep coming to me and telling me about how much money they won in Las Vegas? Do they think I don't have any standards?"
I answered, "Because they don't see it as wrong. Our culture has accepted gambling and even softened it by calling it gaming."
See, by human standards, if you're not addicted you're all right. If you haven't lost your house in the trip to the desert, you're okay. We ask, "What's the harm? It's just entertainment."
But Christ's standard is a little different. Because of the Christ standard, United Methodists traditionally have opposed gambling for two reasons: First, gambling has a long-term association with organized crime, and second, for social justice reasons -- many gamblers are people who can least afford it and many families have had their lives destroyed because of an addiction to gambling.
Now I'm not trying to tell you you're going to fry on judgment day if you've ever bet on a horse, bought a lottery ticket, been to a casino, or played penny-ante poker.
But be honest. Is gambling really a part of the Christ standard? Or any of the other things we try to pass off as okay? Would Jesus risk tripping up a brother or sister in the faith to dance with Lady Luck? Would he risk fueling the fire of organized crime? These are the questions we have to ask as we compare ourselves to Christ instead of each other. That's the perception we have to take as we join ourselves to Christ.
The saying came out a few years ago: WWJD -- What Would Jesus Do? Well, what did Jesus do? He came offering love, forgiveness, and his life. That's the standard -- the standard we are called to seek as Christians with everything that comes our way in life.
A human standard says to go halfway in our faith. It's all right to cheat a little here and cut a corner there. We say:
Tithing is optional -- like for rich people. I give what I can.
It's okay if I just glance at my Sunday school lesson instead of reading it -- just this once.
I'm too busy to serve God through the church anymore. Besides, I've already done my time.
Let's remember that Jesus didn't go halfway with anything. If he did, there would be a death on a cross without the resurrection. There would be despair and no hope for us, as all our failures would bring us death.
But praise God; Christ did defeat our death through his resurrection. Our standard is to be as Christ-like as possible. To be a new creation with a new standard. As we become joined to Christ, we are called to emulate love, forgiveness, and sacrifice. These are the Christ-like standards -- the purpose of our faith.
God became human in Christ to bear our sin so that we could become righteous and worthy of God's friendship. Being upheld to the standard of Christ is not intended to keep us from fun in life. But instead, it is intended to keep us in friendship with God.
Eating average Tex-Mex food is a reminder to me how great really good Tex-Mex is. In the same way, average human standards remind me how great God's friendship is. How awesome it is to be considered worthy enough to be held to the standard of Christ -- to be counted as a friend of God! It is incredible to know that in spite of our failures, God wants us as friends.
Just like I don't want average Tex-Mex after having the good stuff, we no longer crave a human standard after we tasted the friendship that comes with a Christ standard. Don't settle for average. Be on a quest for quality. Seek the Christ standard and enjoy the fabulous friendship of God.
No longer, then, do we judge anyone by human standards. Even if at one time we judged Christ according to human standards, we no longer do so. When anyone is joined to Christ, he is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come. (vv. 16-17 TEV)
After graduating from seminary in 1995, Hadley and I moved from Fort Worth, Texas, to a small town in rural Oklahoma. With a population of 1,600, the restaurants in our new town were limited. There was the South End, which was conveniently located on the south end of town. The South End was not the real name, but it was what everybody called it. Over the four-year period we lived there, it was also called The Cyclone Cafe, Rhonda's Cafe, and Dale's Diner. No matter who owned and ran the place, it was always a smoke-filled greasy spoon.
There was also The Missile, which of course hadn't been the real name for years. It suffered from the same identity crisis as The South End. At various times, it was known as J.T.'s and also Charlie's. The menu there consisted of fast food.
It was common knowledge around town that the best place to eat was The 62 Cafe. The 62 had the same owner-operator for more than four years. They even had the same waitresses. The consistency alone made it a good place to eat. Besides the normal southern cafe fare, their specialty was Mexican food. In fact, one local citizen claimed it "served the best Mexican food in southwest Oklahoma."
Maybe, but by whose standards? Personally, I felt their Mexican food was average. After all, I had just moved from Fort Worth where the population is about 25 percent Hispanic. The greater Fort Worth area has at least fifty Mom-and-Pop Mexican restaurants and a few small local chains. After living in Fort Worth, I refused to eat at national chains. I was now a connoisseur of good Mexican food.
For the most part, The 62 was okay. But the food was more on par with Taco Bell than El Chico. I had their fajitas once -- only once. As far as Mexican food went, their fajitas were pretty good Chinese food. These were the only fajitas I have ever had served with a sweet-and-sour sauce.
I'm not trying to be overly critical of The 62 Cafe (really, other than the fajitas, it was all good), but after having Tex-Mex food made by Mexican descended Texans, Tex-Mex by gringo Okies just didn't cut it. After living in Fort Worth and experiencing really good Mexican food, my standards were different.
What are your standards? Not on Mexican food, but on life? On faith? In 2 Corinthians 5:16-17, Paul says "No longer then, do we judge anyone by human standards ... When anyone is joined to Christ, he is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come" (TEV).
Did you get that? The standard that we are to shoot for as Christians is not a human standard, but a Christ-standard. We compare ourselves not to other people -- not even to other Christians. But to Christ. That's a high standard.
Most of the time though, we compare ourselves to each other. As long as we're better than the next guy or gal, we're all right. The problem with that is that we can always find someone who has more faults than us. We say:
Well sure I lie now and then, but nothing like John Kerry and George W. Bush on the campaign trail.
Okay, so I cheat on my taxes, but I'm no Willie Nelson or anything.
Yeah, I'm hot-tempered, but Bobby Knight is worse.
Nancy Adler is a minister friend of mine. She once asked me, "Why do my members keep coming to me and telling me about how much money they won in Las Vegas? Do they think I don't have any standards?"
I answered, "Because they don't see it as wrong. Our culture has accepted gambling and even softened it by calling it gaming."
See, by human standards, if you're not addicted you're all right. If you haven't lost your house in the trip to the desert, you're okay. We ask, "What's the harm? It's just entertainment."
But Christ's standard is a little different. Because of the Christ standard, United Methodists traditionally have opposed gambling for two reasons: First, gambling has a long-term association with organized crime, and second, for social justice reasons -- many gamblers are people who can least afford it and many families have had their lives destroyed because of an addiction to gambling.
Now I'm not trying to tell you you're going to fry on judgment day if you've ever bet on a horse, bought a lottery ticket, been to a casino, or played penny-ante poker.
But be honest. Is gambling really a part of the Christ standard? Or any of the other things we try to pass off as okay? Would Jesus risk tripping up a brother or sister in the faith to dance with Lady Luck? Would he risk fueling the fire of organized crime? These are the questions we have to ask as we compare ourselves to Christ instead of each other. That's the perception we have to take as we join ourselves to Christ.
The saying came out a few years ago: WWJD -- What Would Jesus Do? Well, what did Jesus do? He came offering love, forgiveness, and his life. That's the standard -- the standard we are called to seek as Christians with everything that comes our way in life.
A human standard says to go halfway in our faith. It's all right to cheat a little here and cut a corner there. We say:
Tithing is optional -- like for rich people. I give what I can.
It's okay if I just glance at my Sunday school lesson instead of reading it -- just this once.
I'm too busy to serve God through the church anymore. Besides, I've already done my time.
Let's remember that Jesus didn't go halfway with anything. If he did, there would be a death on a cross without the resurrection. There would be despair and no hope for us, as all our failures would bring us death.
But praise God; Christ did defeat our death through his resurrection. Our standard is to be as Christ-like as possible. To be a new creation with a new standard. As we become joined to Christ, we are called to emulate love, forgiveness, and sacrifice. These are the Christ-like standards -- the purpose of our faith.
God became human in Christ to bear our sin so that we could become righteous and worthy of God's friendship. Being upheld to the standard of Christ is not intended to keep us from fun in life. But instead, it is intended to keep us in friendship with God.
Eating average Tex-Mex food is a reminder to me how great really good Tex-Mex is. In the same way, average human standards remind me how great God's friendship is. How awesome it is to be considered worthy enough to be held to the standard of Christ -- to be counted as a friend of God! It is incredible to know that in spite of our failures, God wants us as friends.
Just like I don't want average Tex-Mex after having the good stuff, we no longer crave a human standard after we tasted the friendship that comes with a Christ standard. Don't settle for average. Be on a quest for quality. Seek the Christ standard and enjoy the fabulous friendship of God.
