Success has always been measured in inches. A few short inches can be the difference between a home run and a putout in a baseball game.
In the Olympics, the difference between winning the gold medal and finishing in the back of the pack is often measured in fractions.
If you hold your thumb and forefinger about 2-1/2 inches apart, you get an idea of what one-hundredth of a second translates to in a 100-meter race.
At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona a runner from Jamaica finished six one-hundredths of a second (or six thumb-and-fingers) behind the winner, for a fifth-place finish.
An American who crossed the line 2-1/2 inches in front of her closest opponent won the gold in that event. All this after 100 meters of electrifying speed meant only 15 inches or six one-hundredths of a second in front of the fifth-place finisher. (1)
Success is sometimes measured in inches.
After winning the Pontiac 400 in Richmond, Virginia, several years ago, stock car driver Mark Martin discovered that the spacer between the carburetor and the intake manifold was one-half-inch too long according to NASCAR rules. He was fined $40,000 and penalized 46 points in the season standings. Something that small seemed very significant for Mark. (2)
In his book The Range of Human Capacities, Dr. David Wechsler says that if Cleopatra's nose had been just a fraction of an inch longer, the face of Europe might have been changed because Caesar might have shown less interest in the lady. This is another example of how the size of the difference can be small, but the size of the consequences can be huge. (3)
A tragic illustration of the crucial importance of little things was furnished a few years ago when a jet crashed shortly after takeoff. All 95 people on board were killed. An exhaustive study of the wreckage determined that it could have been caused by the rudder-control system's losing a bolt that was less than one inch long. For want of a bolt, so many lives were lost. (4)
Success can sometimes be measured in inches. Take for example, the distance between the lips and the heart. Jesus was chastising the religious leaders of his day and he quotes the words of Isaiah: "These people worship me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me."
God on the lips, but not in the heart. A fatal distance of less than 12 inches.
These are the same people about whom Paul complained as having the "form of godliness but not the power." The religious leaders of Jesus' time were among the most pious men ever lived. But their faith was all form and no power; all ceremony and no personal experience; all on the lips and very little in the heart. Such religion always shows itself in blatant hypocrisy and blind insensitivity.
The Pharisees complained because the disciples did not even perform the rite of ceremonial cleansing before eating their meals, though this was part of their religious and cultural tradition. Tradition was important to the Jews, because it reminded them of God's saving acts in history.
Unfortunately, tradition had grown to such importance in Jesus' day that the meaning behind the ritual had been obscured, and religion had become strictly an outward show. That can happen to us as well if we aren't careful. "This people worship me with their lips but their hearts are far from me . . ."
It is a temptation to substitute religious or cultural traditions for Christ.
Czar Nicholas discovered a soldier guarding a patch of weeds on the palace grounds. He asked the guard why, and was told that the captain of the guards had ordered him to stand there.
When the captain was confronted, the czar was told that it was the law. A search of the archives, revealed that Catherine the Great planted a rose bush on that spot and a guard was posted. The rose had long since died, but the law remained and the guard stood.
Someone wisely said that the seven last words of any church are: "We never did it that way before." The rose had long since died, but the law remained and the guard stood.
God is continuously trying to say something fresh to His people. We cannot afford a faith that elevates form over function. The Pharisees loved their traditions. Change was such a threat that in order to prevent it they crucified God's only son. That is what happens when people simply go through the motions-when they're living a second-hand faith.
Dr. Ed Bauman in his book Beyond Belief tells a story about Groucho Marx and the Friars Club, which was an exclusive organization for actors and people in show business. Groucho was a member and was attending the annual banquet to hear a famous speaker deliver an address on the subject of "The Show Must Go On!"
This old cliche was repeated until Groucho could no longer stand it. He stood up and shouted, "Why?" This flustered the speaker to the extent that he couldn't continue, because he had never really wondered why.
A second-hand faith serves only when there is no danger, but sooner or later someone will ask why. Why are you standing guard? Why do you perform a ceremony of cleansing the outside of the man when he is corrupt on the inside? Sooner or later it will no longer be sufficient to say, "That is the way our fathers did it!" Tradition is a common substitute for real faith.
Another is respectability, or morality.
Several years ago country comedians/singers Homer and Jethro were popular. People familiar with Homer and Jethro would probably agree that they sang some of the worst songs ever written. One of their most popular songs had a refrain that went like this:
"We don't smoke and we don't chew, And we don't go with the girls that do. We ain't got no girlfriends."
Perhaps we should thank our Puritan background for the tendency in this country to define Christian life in terms of the things that a Christian doesn't do. If you don't drink, smoke, use drugs or run around with the wrong crowd, you're probably a Christian!
Gerald Kennedy once put it this way:
"Too often we tend to define Christianity as a negative thing. A Christian is someone who pays strict attention to not doing a good many things. I remember a professor of mine who told of one who did not do this and did not do that and did not do certain other things. He asked if this was a Christian, and we agreed he had most of the characteristics. Then the professor said, 'I was describing my neighbor's dog.'"
Don't misunderstand! Morality is just as important as tradition.
A country clergyman said to an old man sitting by the wayside breaking stones, "Well, George, that pile doesn't seem to shrink."
"No, pastor, them stones is like the 10 Commandments; you might go on breakin' `em, but you don't get rid of 'em."
Respectability is indeed a part of the Christian life. There are some things that Christians do not do. But respectability and morality are not the end of the Christian faith, they are just part of the beginning.
The third behavior that often mimics authentic commitment is good works.
Clarence Macartney once told a story about two men who were earnestly disputing the relative importance of faith and works when they came to a ferry over a river. As they started across the river they asked the ferryman his opinion. Was it faith alone, or works by themselves that represented Christian duty and Christian hope?
For answer the godly ferryman pointed to his two oars. "One," he said, "I will call faith, the other, works. If I pull only on the right oar, I get nowhere, but just go around in a circle. If I pull only on the left oar, it is the same way. But when I pull on both oars, then the ferry moves across the river."
Again, good works are important, just as tradition and morality are. They are essential elements of our faith, but all are only outward manifestations of an inward experience. The Christian faith is a dynamic, living relationship with God through His son Jesus Christ.
There is a story about a spider that started to build a new web high up in the rafters of a barn. The web was a long way from the insects' regular paths. Soon, however, the web fell down into the barn and there the spider lived a rich life on the insects that got caught in his web.
One day he noticed a single silver thread reaching up as far as he could see. Feeling that the cord was useless, he clipped it and the spider's whole life collapsed into a heap on the floor in front of him. That is what happens to us when we feel that the web of tradition and respectability are sufficient and forget the silver thread reaching upwards toward heaven.
As actress Gloria Swanson said to Merv Griffith on his show years ago: "I had everything, but I never had peace of mind until I found God." That is our need, isn't? For the faith that we profess with our lips to move downward into our hearts. It's just a few inches, but those few inches can make all the difference in the world.
1. Executive Speechwriter Newsletter
2. Elliot Johnson and Al Schierbaum, Our Great and Awesome Savior (Brentwood, TN: Wolgemuth & Hyatt, Publishers, Inc., 1991), p. 29.
3. Mortimer R. Feinberg, Ph.D., Effective Psychology for Managers, (Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1987)
4. Say Yes To Life, Sidney Greenberg, Crown Publishers, Inc., New York, NY. 1992.