Measuring Progress

There are countless areas of life that we are constantly measuring to determine if we are making progress. Parents make a pencil mark on a door representing the height of a child at a certain age. In school, testing is used to measure a student's progress in acquiring knowledge and understanding of a certain subject. As adults we often measure progress by an increase in salary, a new title at work, or the purchase of a new car or larger house.

Today my physical therapist measured my progress since my knee replacement surgery six weeks ago. Two major measurements involve the degree of the straightness of my knee and the degree of flexibility or bendability of my knee. The straightness was 0 degrees (perfect). My flexibility was at 120 degrees which was an improvement from 90 degrees at the last testing - still another 10 degrees to go to match my non-surgical knee.

I am pleased about the progress, but the progress has taken time, exercise, and sometimes, as today was, resulted in pain. My progress with my knee caused me to consider my progress in a much more significant area - am I making progress in being a true follower of Jesus Christ?

As a child, our church had everyone in Sunday School fill out an offering envelope each Sunday. It had boxes you could check such as being present, on time, brought Bible, giving, and worship attendance. Each box had a percentage amount connected to it. The goal was to be able to check all the boxes and have a grade of 100%. We didn't stay for worship often when I was a child so I was a teenager with my own car before I was able to consistently get 100%

But the real tests of measuring progress in the Christian life is found in the Bible as we discover God's revelation of Himself and His purpose or plan for the living of our lives in relationship to Him. As we read the Bible, we discover commandments that He expects us to adhere to - The Ten Commandments would be a perfect example. Just when we get use to measuring our progress as a series of do's and don'ts, we move deeper into scripture and discover a verse like this one in Micah 6:8

"He (God) has told you, O man, what is good,

and what does the Lord require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God?"

Suddenly, it is not just something to refrain from, but progress has to do with relationships with others as well as with God. If we still needed clarity on how to measure our progress as a Christian, a person asked Jesus which is the greatest commandment. In Matthew 22:37-39, Jesus answered him by giving the first and second greatest commandments.

And Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart

and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first

commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love you neighbor

as yourself."

Measuring progress in the Christian life is far more than checking boxes on an envelope. Progress requires an ongoing deeply committed relationship to God that begins in accepting Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection as the sacrifice God offered us that through our faith in Jesus, we have an eternal relationship with God. That relationship then extends into our encounters with other people. We are to become an earthly expression of God's love and truth to those around us. The unit of measurement is not how well we are doing in comparison to other people, but how we are becoming more Christlike in following the example that Jesus set before us during His earthly ministry.

Measuring progress is difficult and humbling . My physical therapist gives me simple, straight forward instructions: "Keep up the exercises everyday; the results will follow." The Christian life is not a once-a-week event. Being a Christ follower is an all-day, everyday life that when lived according to His word and example, results follow.

Maybe the most important progress we need to check is not our weight, our promotions, or our investments. Far more important is our continual need to move forward in our relationship with God and our relationship to the people of His creation. This path to progress is laid out in His Word, as we pray, and as we listen to instructions He clarifies through the Holy Spirit. Let's all commit to grow in the Lord.