We love things the way we love them. If something isn't exactly how we want it, we'll change it to make it more "how we want it." We put on our preferred glasses and look at the world through our own lens because then we can see what we really want to see. We make minor, or major, adjustments to fit the system into what we think it should be. This is a generally good yearning when it's rooted in truth. The problem is that we often confuse the real truth with what we wish the truth to be.
The state of Christianity is a good example of the consequences that come with lowering the bar and attempting to tweak reality. Since the time of Jesus, there have been many, many arguments amongst those who claim to be His followers. Even Peter and Paul argued about matters of faith just a few short years after Jesus’ death. Many of the arguments amongst believers are fruitful, good spirited and a very helpful way for all of us to work out many of the challenging teachings of Christ.
Sadly, though, many other arguments have divided Christians. There are countless denominations of Christianity today and I think a huge part of the reason why is this tendency in all of us to tweak the world around us to fit into what is most convenient and comfortable.
When Jesus was in His public ministry, many times he gave challenging instructions and brought very difficult teachings to both believers and non-believers. Multiple times in Scripture (see John 6 as one example) this resulted in people walking away and turning their back on Him. As if to say, I agreed with everything you said up until this point, but that teaching is too hard for me to believe and or isn’t congruent with what I think is right for me.
As the centuries have gone on, many more people have encountered this same dilemma. Many well meaning, very devoted followers of Christ have turned their back on one, some, or many of Jesus’ teachings and keep only the ones that fit the version of Jesus they want to have. Many of these people have started their own churches and gained massive followings, unfortunately, all based on doctrine that isn’t consistent with what Jesus Himself taught.
Jesus sets a standard for His followers and to be one of His followers, it’s up to each one of us to abide by all of it. We don’t get to choose what’s best for us. Jesus chooses the standard and we either abide by it, or walk away. There shouldn’t be this middle ground that a large portion of Christianity falls into today. We don’t get to decide the version of Jesus that we like, we either accept all of Him or we reject Him. We follow the standard He sets, or we don’t. But what we can never do as Christians, is change or lower the standards.
Lowering the Bar Is Never the Answer
Lowering the bar is NEVER the answer, and it kills any chance we have at true accountability. Difficulty is not a good reason to lower our standards, no matter how much we fail. We are not talking about achieving goals here; we're talking about living by a set of standards. If our standards are set high and are rooted in truth, we are going to encounter difficulty. There are going to be times when we feel like we can't live up to them, and the human temptation is to lower the standard. This is when accountability goes by the wayside — we are no longer held to a set of standards rooted in truth, because we've changed them to what will make us feel better about our failures and shortcomings.
I know what it's like to be discouraged, and I know what it's like to not live up to a set of standards that I know to be good, true, and beautiful. I was raised in the Catholic Church and spent many years being lectured by my parents, teachers, and priests about how my life wasn't conforming to the ways and teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I remember wishing the Church would just change her teachings on the doctrines I struggled to follow. I remember making excuses as to why a certain doctrine or teaching didn't apply to me in my current situation. I would paint myself in a better light than I was living, deceiving myself into thinking I was a good Catholic boy. My excuses were that Peter abandoned the Lord entirely in His time of need, and Paul was a Christian killer. Francis was a partier and Augustine a womanizer. The list of impure Christians is long and littered with incredibly flawed, but eventually holy, men and women. So in comparison, I didn't look so bad.
My problem was that I, too, was falling victim to the temptation of changing and lowering my own standards. I knew the Catholic Church contained the teachings of Christ, and that the standards the Church demands are good, true, and beautiful. However, I was deceiving myself by trying to bend the standards into what I wanted them to be. I still fight this temptation today, and I believe you do too.
Good, true, and beautiful standards never change, no matter how difficult they are for us to live up to or how often we fail. Radical honesty means never lowering the standards.
