As a teacher, I grade papers. Students are graded on effort, on completion, on knowledge, on neatness, and on participation. Some students master material quite easily; others need weeks, days, even years to begin to understand the smallest portion of mathematical material. And, some miss the boat completely. But, I grade, hoping to assess learning, hoping to motivate, hoping to grasp their complete knowledge of the material.
Similarly, I think we, as Christians, often try to grade one another. Is she trying hard enough? Did she complete that devotional book? Does he know where Ephesians is? Better yet, can she recite John 3:16 by heart? Did he come to church dressed well? Are they participating? Are they AWANA volunteers? helpers at the church picnic? greeters on Sunday morning? We grade people based upon their appearance - do they appear to be the Christian we think they should be? Are they presenting Christ in the appropriate manner? Are they baptized? Attending church every Sunday? Are they representing our Sunday school class well? Did they sign up for that Retreat next week? Yes, No, Yes, No - 5 points here, 10 points there... minus 30 for skipping church on vacation, another negative 5 for wearing jeans to church... before we know it - we've graded our fellow Christ followers off the chart and into the "heathen" zone.
And, what for? 1 Samuel 16:7 states, "But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'" Thankfully, God doesn't sit up there on his throne with a checklist marking off how many times we attend church, how many times we choose to teach AWANA, memorize verses, play the piano, give a special offering, provide meals to the sick, etc. God doesn't take off points when we fail to perform correctly, forget to tithe on the first of the month, or skip church while on vacation. God doesn't want us to simply go through the motions of Christianity - God wants us to love Him, to want Him, to follow Him, and to seek Him. God looks at our heart... and if our heart is right, oddly enough, our actions will follow.
No, we don't have to be the super Christian according to the world's standards. We just need to be God's child according to the Lord's standards. We simply need to follow OUR convictions, attend to OUR personal relationship with Christ and pray He develops a change in US. Once we stop worrying about the grade, and seek the Savior, everything will fall into place.
"Come all you who are thirsty, come to the waters..." Isaiah 55:1
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