The "Good Enough" Gospel

Be excited, I’m posting on a Saturday.

Also, in case you haven’t noticed by now, most of the things that I post about I either had, or still have, problems with. Including todays.

Obviously I’m going to be talking about “Good Enough” or “Close Enough” Christianity. This is basically trying to do something for God, something that you should do, missing the mark, then shrugging your shoulders and say, “Eh. Close enough. Get points for trying.” Tell you what, keep trying that you’re entire life, and we’ll see what happens when our time ends. Sound good?

Yes, I am guilty of this as anyone else. I’ve had times where I really could have gotten into the Good News with a non-Christian, and yet I barely touched the surface, and that person’s life was never changed. “Eh. I told them I believe in Jesus. Close Enough.”  Looking back I have some of the worst regret in my life because of those moments. I was a part of the “Close Enough” gospel.

Most of us have been there, and most of them don’t realize it. “Oh I go to Christian conferences. I teach Bible Study. I baptize people. I tell others about Jesus.” Do you actually get them to know Jesus? Really know? Not just the Sunday School “Jesus is my savior and the Son of God” answer, but the down to earth, in the dirt, “Jesus is seriously the guy I go to for everything first” answer. The answer that tells you that you didn’t just inflate the tires, but you actually helped get them on the road. Did you do that? “Well no…but I told them I believed in Jesus. Close enough right? I still teach Bible study and Sunday School.” Okay? But do they know Jesus? “Umm…”

I’ve had this conversation with people before. It broke my heart. Not only do we have people living the “close enough” gospel, but we have them teaching, and being role models. So the generations coming up are learning this “close enough” gospel. The Christian life style of aiming for the mark, expecting to fall short, then just shrugging your shoulders and going “Eh.”

How is that going to expand the kingdom? How is that going to put a smile of God’s face?

Now don’t hear me wrong. Yes, we will mess up, we will fall short. It happens. But why are we so content with that mediocrity? There are two phrases from school that I can’t help but think of concerning this type of Christianity. The first of which is “Good is the Enemy of Great.” We strive for good, we’re looking to get around the bullseye, somewhere, so that we can look at those watching and say, “close enough right?” Yet we have a chance to hit the center of the target, right in the middle, and say, “BAM! Look at that!” We could be great with more effort, yet we settle for good enough. The second phrase that popped up was “C’s get Degrees.” Really? You just want to get C’s? That’s cool. I hope that goes well for you and you waste tens of thousands of dollars for a piece of paper that you lazily acquired because you don’t care how much it costs. Way to throw your money away. (I was very guilty of this early in my college career.)

But these two phrases are exactly what is being talked about here. We try to be the “good enough” Christian, thinking we get points for trying and purposefully missing the mark, but when it comes time, I don’t think C’s will get degrees. I think excellence will. Not excellence in the sense of “I’m perfect and do no wrong,” but excellence as in “I tried my best in everything I did. I fell short sometimes, but I tried my hardest.”

God will know where your heart was in all your actions. He’s good like that. So he’ll know when you just try to be “good enough” and get “close enough.” He’ll also know when you’re busting you rump to do the best you can for his glory. Not right before your project is due, but constantly, consistently. (Yes this applies to school too.)

So my only question to you tonight is going to be this: Are you just going to be “good enough?”