Standards

I wish that being a doctor was more like being a pilot. A pilot is "good" as long as the plane doesn't go down. As a physician, I am held to a higher standard-- kind of like the 6 Million dollar man-- stronger, faster, smarter. I must be the best I can be at what I do. "Meeting expectations" at my job is simply not good enough. I must exceed expectations. Regularly.

I do hold different entities to different standards. I expect my Christian friends to behave better than my unsaved relatives. I hold mainstream music artists to a higher moral standard than pagan metal bands. I just assume that profanity, drug references, and sexual immorality come standard when I turn the XM on 'Octane,' but somehow, I am offended when I hear it from 'The Pulse'.

Perhaps this is some worldly judgmental attitude that has crept into my life. Shouldn't stardards be just that? Standard? Equal? Maybe there shouldn't be standards at all. Or expectations.

I wonder what God's expectations are of me. Does He expect me to live up to the model of perfection that His Son lived? Or at least expect me to strive to live up to that? Or does he expect me to fall far short of the glory of God, over and over? Maybe His expectations meet me right where I am now. Maybe he has no expectations. I mean, why would one have expectations when One is omniscient? I don't think Jesus had expectations of others. He knew exactly what others were up to, and what their motives were. "Go and stop sinning." "I tell you the truth: this very night, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times." "Friend, do what you came for." There were no divine expectations being conveyed. Jesus confronts people at face value. Mankind certainly has expectations of Jesus, however. "Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor." "Who do you say I am?" Ultimately, Jesus fell short (in the worldly sense) of the Jews' expectation of a Messiah. Ultimately, he was crucified for it. What expectations do we have of Jesus and his workings in our lives today? Does He "fall short"? Perhaps we crucify Him all over again when we hold Him up to our sick, sad, little worldly standards.