Do You Measure Up?

We gripe the loss of “the good ol’ days,” but do we really want to go back there? And how far back do we have to go to get to these halcyon days? Let’s assume that these glorious times were pre-1970. Back in the days when kids could trick-or-treat all over the neighborhood without having to worry about being kidnapped or poisoned.

Back when we drank from the garden hose and didn’t die. Back when there were only three channels on TV, and by-golly, those programs were good. Back before we worried about asbestos or global warming or a COVID scare.

But do we really want to go back 50 years?

We may curse our dependence on electronic devices, but our lives could scarcely function without that technology. You wouldn’t be reading this article on a website on an internet device back in the 1950’s. You couldn’t talk to someone on the opposite side of the country, much less the opposite side of the world, without spending a small fortune, even if you waited until after 5:00 p.m. when the rates went down.

You wouldn’t be sitting in an air-conditioned office or living room, and let me tell you something—this girl does not like to sweat. Remember those giant fans at the backs of classrooms that didn’t do much besides circulate Saharan air around the room?

Remember when smallpox and polio were a real threat? I’d say we’ve got it pretty good nowadays when it comes to everyday luxuries—many things we couldn’t have even imagined 50 years ago.

Our lives are complicated and messy and confusing, and our world is more and more secular. But other than our fancy new-fangled technological trappings, are we really very different from all of those “religious people” in the Bible?

Maybe not as much as we think.

Let’s go back a few centuries before the birth of Christ. The Hebrews had a complicated and messy and confusing relationship with the God who had named them His chosen people. Time after time, they failed to honor God and they suffered the for their failures.

Scores of Biblical prophets warned the Hebrews of the consequences of turning away from God. In the Old Testament book named for him, the prophet Amos writes, “Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!” (Amos 4:12)

In one of his visions, Amos sees the Lord standing beside a wall with a plumb-line in His hand. For those of us who have trouble with symbolism, the simplified version is that the wall is Israel and the plumb-line is God’s law. God tells Amos that Israel would be made desolate and its people would be exiled because they did not “measure up” to the plumb-line.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happened next. Hint: it wasn’t a “happily-ever-after” situation. Amos’ prophecy was fulfilled: Assyria destroyed the northern kingdom (Israel) and carried the people into captivity.

God had given Israel His laws as a plumb-line, but He realized that it was humanly impossible for them to adhere to the thousands of laws in the Torah. So God gave us a new plumb-line in John 3:16 and He simplified it: whoever believes in Jesus will have eternal life. Granted, that’s my extreme translation of the theology, but are we, like Israel, failing to measure up to the new plumb-line?

What are our plumb-lines in this secular world—what do we worship? Technology? Hollywood? Politics? Food and drink? Sex? If there were prophets walking among us nowadays, would we even recognize them, much less heed their advice?

I’m pretty sure that the message would be the same—turn away from the sins of the world and focus on the only One who can save us. Do you measure up?