[CS-FSLUG] This is good!

[Fred Miller]

A WORD WITH YOU
By Ron Hutchcraft
#4614 - "Obsessed With Grades"
Galatians 5:1 

Listen to the audio broadcast!
http://www.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/ramhurl?p=pnm&f=/rhm/sounds/awwy/awwy4614.rm

        I was a little psycho about grades in school. Maybe it's a firstborn 
thing. But from early grade school, I always wanted to get really good 
grades. I worked hard, I made sure I was on good terms with the teacher, and 
I usually made the honor roll. When my wife and I were going together in 
college, I used to drive her nuts with my concern over getting a "B." I know, 
you probably hated guys like me, but just consider it a condition and cut me 
some slack. I'm not the only person in the world who has this "gotta get a 
good grade" thing! 

        I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about 
"Obsessed With Grades." 

        It can be a good thing to be really focused on grades when it comes to 
school. It's definitely not a good thing when it comes to being a follower of 
Jesus Christ. But a lot of us like what I call measurable righteousness - a 
rigid standard by which I can grade myself as a Jesus-follower. And maybe 
more importantly, I can grade others as a Jesus-follower. 

        Don't get me wrong. God has clear boundaries for our lives and they 
are non-negotiable. The issue is whether or not we have a right to grade 
ourselves on how we're doing with Him - or whether or not we have a right to 
grade other people. When we do, we usually give ourselves a better grade 
based on some criteria by which we can come out looking good. Jesus knew some 
folks like that. They were called Pharisees. Jesus didn't have very nice 
things to say about them. 

        Our word for today from the Word of God, Galatians 5, beginning with 
verse 1, is actually a Declaration of Independence, not from the desire to 
please God, but from the obsession with grading our righteousness or the 
righteousness of others - which almost always ends in spiritual pride for us 
and judgment of other people. God says, "It is for freedom that Christ has 
set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by 
a yoke of slavery." That slavery had been a legalistic bondage to a list of 
spiritual rules. John 1:17 says, "The law was given through Moses; grace and 
truth came through Jesus Christ." That grace removes the word "deserve" from 
all our dealings with God. Hell is all we can deserve. Our relationship is 
based on God's grace, not our goodness. It is "not by works so no one can 
boast" (Ephesians 2:9). Which is exactly what legalistic righteousness, 
spiritual grades, causes - boasting. 

        In Galatians, Paul says, "You were running a good race. Who cut in on 
you and kept you from obeying the truth? ... You ... were called to be 
free" (Galatians 5:7, 13). Earlier he asked, "Did you receive the Spirit by 
observing the law or by believing...? After beginning with the Spirit, are 
you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" (Galatians 3:2-3). 

        God doesn't want us grading our righteousness or the righteousness of 
others, as ego-satisfying as that might be. We should never have a sense of 
having arrived spiritually. That's why, after thirty years of an awesome 
Christian life, the Apostle Paul was still "pressing on to win the prize." 
The spirit of Jesus is not one of proudly measuring our righteousness. It's a 
spirit of humility, of always feeling in desperate need of His grace, of 
always being amazed that He loved me. I'm always wanting to please my Jesus, 
but I'm not ever thinking I'm there. I'm never in a position to judge how 
someone else is doing, except to help a struggling brother or sister by 
restoring them, or confronting them, or exhorting them under the Spirit's 
prodding, but always with a sense of mercy and humility - never with a sense 
of condescension or pride. 

        One of my favorite verses is Isaiah 66:2 because it defines the kind 
of person that impresses God, and that He wants to use. "To this man will I 
look: to him who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word." 
No grades - just grace.

-- 
"Running Windows on a Pentium is like getting a Porsche but only being
able to drive it in reverse with the handbrake on."