Well, the BIG game is on tomorrow. Super Bowl LI... and I remember the first one! Who do you think will win? What's the spread? Can you predict the score? I can't and won't even try... but I do hope it's an exciting game. I hope that there are more than a handful of great plays on both sides of the ball, and I pray that no one will get hurt. I also hope that the winners will be gracious in their winning and that the losers will know that they gave their all... but when we get right down to it, it's all about the score, isn't it? It's the score that counts. Winning is everything. Isn't this the truth of it? Surely, it must be, for what is the point of playing at all... if there is no score?
Who would watch a game, of any sort, if there was no score? How long would you be interested in watching... if there was no way of telling who was winning? How much fun would bowling be... if it didn't matter what your score was? A kid- a little kid- would like it, but everyone else would lose interest in the game. Would you play golf if there was no score? And how many people would play with you if you didn’t keep score? Games demand a score. Contests demand a winner, and a runner-up. But keeping score is not just about games, is it? We also need to keep score of how we're doing in life. How would you know how smart you are if your IQ wasn’t measured, or how good of a student you were without a GPA, or how successful you were without a salary. How can I tell if I'm winning unless I know how big my neighbor's house is... compared to mine? Or whether my office is larger than his? The Score is king! It is an important thing. In fact, except to poets and philosophers, it may be the only thing. Indeed, someone should write an "Ode to the Score" because it means so much to us. Of course, different people employ different scorecards, but there's always a score. Getting “ahead” is always measured by a score of some kind, whether it’s money, power, titles, or the number of friends one has. We even give ourselves and others a score as parents. Are the kids well-behaved? Do they get good report cards? Are they active in extra-curricular activities? Are they popular? Do they have successful careers? There is little doubt that we give ourselves (and others) a better score as parents... if the "kids" attend the right colleges, earn the right amount of money, and live in the right neighborhoods.
Different people give different points… to different things… but there is always a way of arriving at a score! Yes, we are a score-keeping people and the church is no exception. Indeed, the church is filled with scorekeeping Christians, who use the Bible as a tool which allows them to "score" and judge others. Since we never really know what is in someone else’s heart, we give others a score as Christians based on the things we can see and count. Do they attend church regularly? Do they also attend Bible studies? Do they show up at church events? Do they tithe? Or at least give generously? Are they part of the leadership crowd? Do they drink, or smoke, or swear, or run around, or sin in other obvious ways? Are they people who have "earned the right" to be an integral part of your church? What is their score as a Christian? On a scale of 1-10, what score would you give your neighbor? How good of a Christian is he or she? And what score would you give yourself as a Christian? Undoubtedly, you have an idea because we all have an idea of what are score is! In our defense, keeping score is unavoidable, or nearly so, and even Paul suggested that, if we must compete in the church, we should keep score around the love and charity we show. Paul also noted that we are running a great race before a cloud of witnesses, who are cheering us on- not to “win,” but to finish the race by keeping the faith.
There is a very real sense, then, in which we are called to be aware of how well WE ARE DOING on our own Christian journey. But we are not called to keep a score on others! In fact, to do so, is hypocritical and destructive to the community. Indeed, it is wise to avoid the practice of comparing ourselves to others altogether because it invariably leads to either resentment or pride (both of which are spiritual cancers). In short, while an honest assessment of our own work may be helpful from time to time, there is no room for scorekeeping and finger-pointing in the church! Keeping score is antithetical to group ministry and to team-building in general... and we should all get out of the score-keeping business. However, what bothers me more (and what is even more serious) is this: WE ARE PRONE TO BELIEVE THAT GOD KEEPS SCORE TOO!
Sadly, we can't shake the notion that Heaven's gate will not open for us... unless our SCORE IS HIGH ENOUGH. Even though we’re told that God has forgiven us entirely in Christ, we resist it. Even though we’re told that we are “new creations” in Christ, we refuse to embrace it… and even though we are told that we are saved by GRACE ALONE, we cannot bring ourselves to trust in it. We hear the preacher's words about grace... but they go in one ear and out the other... because they are too-good-to-be-true. We live is a grace-less world, in which there are no free lunches, and we simply can't conceive of a place that is filled with nothing more than grace and love. We hear about "grace," but instead of accepting the notion of "unmerited grace," we choose to believe that God helps those who help themselves and that, if it exists at all, "grace is simply a helping hand that God may extend... AFTER we have already given our best effort.
A world without a score seems unfathomable to us... and it also seems hopelessly unfair! It's not fair that a person who isn't even trying... would be given a seat on the dais, and it is unfair when a convicted murderer claims to have made a death-bed confession. It shouldn't be allowed- not when others have spent their whole lives trying to be good. It’s not fair that St. Francis, Mother Teresa, me, and the thief hanging next to Jesus on the cross… should each receive the same saving grace! Unmerited and undeserved grace can't be fair. It’s not fair, we’re sure of it… and we’re right!
Who would watch a game, of any sort, if there was no score? How long would you be interested in watching... if there was no way of telling who was winning? How much fun would bowling be... if it didn't matter what your score was? A kid- a little kid- would like it, but everyone else would lose interest in the game. Would you play golf if there was no score? And how many people would play with you if you didn’t keep score? Games demand a score. Contests demand a winner, and a runner-up. But keeping score is not just about games, is it? We also need to keep score of how we're doing in life. How would you know how smart you are if your IQ wasn’t measured, or how good of a student you were without a GPA, or how successful you were without a salary. How can I tell if I'm winning unless I know how big my neighbor's house is... compared to mine? Or whether my office is larger than his? The Score is king! It is an important thing. In fact, except to poets and philosophers, it may be the only thing. Indeed, someone should write an "Ode to the Score" because it means so much to us. Of course, different people employ different scorecards, but there's always a score. Getting “ahead” is always measured by a score of some kind, whether it’s money, power, titles, or the number of friends one has. We even give ourselves and others a score as parents. Are the kids well-behaved? Do they get good report cards? Are they active in extra-curricular activities? Are they popular? Do they have successful careers? There is little doubt that we give ourselves (and others) a better score as parents... if the "kids" attend the right colleges, earn the right amount of money, and live in the right neighborhoods.
Different people give different points… to different things… but there is always a way of arriving at a score! Yes, we are a score-keeping people and the church is no exception. Indeed, the church is filled with scorekeeping Christians, who use the Bible as a tool which allows them to "score" and judge others. Since we never really know what is in someone else’s heart, we give others a score as Christians based on the things we can see and count. Do they attend church regularly? Do they also attend Bible studies? Do they show up at church events? Do they tithe? Or at least give generously? Are they part of the leadership crowd? Do they drink, or smoke, or swear, or run around, or sin in other obvious ways? Are they people who have "earned the right" to be an integral part of your church? What is their score as a Christian? On a scale of 1-10, what score would you give your neighbor? How good of a Christian is he or she? And what score would you give yourself as a Christian? Undoubtedly, you have an idea because we all have an idea of what are score is! In our defense, keeping score is unavoidable, or nearly so, and even Paul suggested that, if we must compete in the church, we should keep score around the love and charity we show. Paul also noted that we are running a great race before a cloud of witnesses, who are cheering us on- not to “win,” but to finish the race by keeping the faith.
There is a very real sense, then, in which we are called to be aware of how well WE ARE DOING on our own Christian journey. But we are not called to keep a score on others! In fact, to do so, is hypocritical and destructive to the community. Indeed, it is wise to avoid the practice of comparing ourselves to others altogether because it invariably leads to either resentment or pride (both of which are spiritual cancers). In short, while an honest assessment of our own work may be helpful from time to time, there is no room for scorekeeping and finger-pointing in the church! Keeping score is antithetical to group ministry and to team-building in general... and we should all get out of the score-keeping business. However, what bothers me more (and what is even more serious) is this: WE ARE PRONE TO BELIEVE THAT GOD KEEPS SCORE TOO!
Sadly, we can't shake the notion that Heaven's gate will not open for us... unless our SCORE IS HIGH ENOUGH. Even though we’re told that God has forgiven us entirely in Christ, we resist it. Even though we’re told that we are “new creations” in Christ, we refuse to embrace it… and even though we are told that we are saved by GRACE ALONE, we cannot bring ourselves to trust in it. We hear the preacher's words about grace... but they go in one ear and out the other... because they are too-good-to-be-true. We live is a grace-less world, in which there are no free lunches, and we simply can't conceive of a place that is filled with nothing more than grace and love. We hear about "grace," but instead of accepting the notion of "unmerited grace," we choose to believe that God helps those who help themselves and that, if it exists at all, "grace is simply a helping hand that God may extend... AFTER we have already given our best effort.
A world without a score seems unfathomable to us... and it also seems hopelessly unfair! It's not fair that a person who isn't even trying... would be given a seat on the dais, and it is unfair when a convicted murderer claims to have made a death-bed confession. It shouldn't be allowed- not when others have spent their whole lives trying to be good. It’s not fair that St. Francis, Mother Teresa, me, and the thief hanging next to Jesus on the cross… should each receive the same saving grace! Unmerited and undeserved grace can't be fair. It’s not fair, we’re sure of it… and we’re right!
IT IS NOT FAIR. IT’S GRACE. PRAISE GOD
FOR IT BECAUSE- AS THE PSALMIST NOTED- IF GOD KEPT SCORE, NONE OF US COULD STAND!
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