Sermon Tone Analysis

Good Enough

Welcome!

As we begin, I want you to think about a question that most of you have asked at some point.

The context may have been sports, school, or even your looks, but somewhere along the way, everyone has asked this question.

HOW GOOD IS GOOD ENOUGH?

Most of us recognize that this question is a big part of our world today.

We live in a world with measurements and standards, winners and losers, and we all want to know how good is good enough.

Whether it’s making the team, passing a class, or getting to first chair in band, we all want to know what it’s going to take, and we hope to make the cut.

Whether we like it or not, whether we agree with it or not, there will always be a standard to meet.

However, for some of us, it seems like the bar is set so high that it’s nearly impossible.

How many of you like to play sports?

Are there any athletes in the room?

Many of us enjoy playing or at least watching some sport, but have you ever thought about what it takes to play at the elite level?

For those of you who play basketball and have hopes of making it to the NBA one day, good luck!

The reality is that even if you’re the star player on your high school team, the percentage of high school players who eventually get drafted into the NBA is only .03%.

This means only 3 out of every 10,000 players in high school will make it to the NBA.

So, as good as you are now, and I know some of you are really good at basketball, you may not be good enough for the NBA.

If that’s your dream, your calling, and your passion, go for it!

Some of you in this room may just be that good and make it all the way, and I’ll be the first one to get court-side seats to watch you play.

I just want you to recognize that the standards are pretty high to play in the NBA.

For some of you, maybe sports are not your thing, but what you’re really good at is school.

While you may never brag about it, your report card has a lot of A’s on it, with maybe an occasional B.

Maybe you’re so intelligent that you have dreams about eventually going to an elite university.

However, for those of you who want to attend Duke University, not only do you have to have a 4.08 GPA, but you’re also going to need a 34 out of 36 on the ACT and 1580 out of 1600 on the SAT.

For Harvard, it’s pretty much the same on GPA and standardized tests, but they also have only a 5% acceptance rate.

This means that last year, out of 39,000 people that applied, less than 2,000 actually made it into Harvard.

As smart as you are, you may have trouble meeting some of the standards at Duke or Harvard, because they’re just so picky.

However, if this is your dream, go for it!

I wish you all the success in the world!

Whether it’s sports, school, or some other area of life, you need to recognize that our world is built around this idea: you’ve got to be good enough.

The best athletes make the best teams, the smartest kids get into the best schools, and even the best-looking people often get some of the best opportunities in life.

You may complain and say this just isn’t fair, but the reality is that this is how the world works today.

Everyone wants to know the answer to the big question, HOW GOOD IS GOOD ENOUGH?

Since this is true in our world today, and you have to be good enough and meet certain standards, have you ever wondered if it works this way with God?

HOW GOOD IS GOOD ENOUGH for God?

If He has a standard, what would it take for us to meet it?

What are some of your thoughts here, what are things we do to try to be good enough for God?

I’m sure some people would say things like go to church, read your Bible, or just be a good person.

But where do you draw the line in terms of how good is enough for God?

If it’s about going to church, how often are we talking about: once a month, once a week, more?

If it’s reading the Bible, is it weekly or daily and for how long?

Or maybe it’s more about avoiding all the bad stuff that’s out there.

So, we come up with these lists of the really bad things and the more minor stuff.

Most of us would put murder on the really bad list but lying and cheating on the minor offense list.

When we do this, we end up playing this game of comparison where we measure ourselves compared to other people.

We make these distinctions, not God.

The comparison game is interesting because we can take someone who is really bad like Osama Bin Laden and say— he is bad and nothing I do really compares to his bad level.

But that can also hurt us.

We can look to someone like Mother Theresa and there is no way I can compete with her.

To her I look like Bin Laden.

And truthfully, I think what we tend to do is put ourselves in the middle right?

The reality is that we can talk all day long about how good or bad we think people are and make lots of comparisons.

However, when it comes to God’s standard, everyone mentioned above and everyone in this room is in exactly the same place: we all fall short!

None of us are good enough for God on our own!

I want for you to see this truth this morning through a story about someone that most people would say was a pretty good person.

This is someone who came to Jesus asking the same big question that we’re asking this morning: HOW GOOD IS GOOD ENOUGH?

What does it take to get into heaven?

You may be surprised with how Jesus answered this question.

If you have a Bible, open to Mark 10.

We don’t know much about who this guy was, but we know he was rich, he was young, and he was a ruler of some kind.

This meant that he had some kind of position of leadership and influence.

He had been hearing about this teacher named Jesus from Nazareth and all His miracles.

If anyone knew the answer to his big question, it was Jesus.

So, he ran up, fell on his knees, and asked one of the most important questions that has ever been asked.

It’s the same question that people are still asking today: what do I have to do to get eternal life?

HOW GOOD IS GOOD ENOUGH?

Listen to how Jesus responds.

Jesus begins by giving him a new definition of “good.”

He says that no one is good except for God alone.

We all know that Jesus is God, but this guy didn’t understand all of this yet.

He thought Jesus was just a good teacher, and Jesus wasn’t ready to reveal His full identity.

So, He answered the question by listing the rules, laws, and 10 Commandments.

He said things like don’t murder, steal lie, or cheat.

It seems like He was saying, “follow all the rules, and you’ll be good enough for God, good enough to get into heaven.”

For the guy in our story, this was music to his ears.

He had been working really hard to obey all of these requirements since he was young, and compared to other people, he was a pretty good guy.

If the conversation ended there, he would have gone home a happy camper, but Jesus knew something was missing.

This guy only had a surface-level understanding of the Law, but Jesus knew something needed to change at the heart level.

Jesus looked at this guy the same way He looks at us: He had genuine love for him.

He knew that even though everything seemed good on the outside, the truth was that this guy was nowhere near God’s standard of perfection.

God isn’t only interested in our outward obedience to a set of rules; He wants our hearts!

He wants our complete devotion, inside and out.

For the guy in our story, there was one thing that he valued above all else: wealth.

Jesus knew this and asked him to do the one thing that would reveal his heart: sell everything and give this money to the poor.

Then we’re told that this man walked away sad, because he had great wealth.

We don’t know what happened later.

Maybe he thought things over and changed his mind.

But the point Jesus was trying to make through this story is that it’s not about how good you are.

It’s not about much you follow the rules, go to church, and read your Bible.

While those are all great, when it comes to meeting God’s standard, we all fall short.

Jesus looks at our hearts, and like the rich, young ruler, we don’t measure up, either.

Earlier in one of His most famous sermons — The Sermon on the Mount — Jesus said things like “you heard it was said that murder is wrong, but if you have anger in your heart, it’s the same thing;” and, “you heard it was said that adultery is sin, but if you have lust in your heart, it’s the same thing.”

When held to that standard, the guy in our story simply didn’t measure up and neither do we.

On the outside, he did all of the right stuff and was a pretty good person compared to most.

But inside, His heart was far from God, and he could never be good enough on his own.

The reality this morning is that everyone in this room is in exactly the same place.

Compared to some people, we might seem really good, while compared to others, we might seem really bad.

What I want for us to recognize today is that there is really only one standard that matters.

God has set the bar extremely high on spending eternity with Him in heaven.

His standard is perfection, holiness, and righteousness.