Standards

Luke 16:14–17 NKJV

14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. 15 And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. 16 “The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it. 17 And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.

Have you ever had someone hype up something and get your expectations up for it and then when you have it or experience it it isn’t as great as they made it out to be?

Or, how refreshing is it when someone meets your expectations…they actually do what you asked them to do? And if they don’t meet your expectation, you might say that they missed the mark or fell short of your expectation, right?

I want to talk to you about the standards that God has for us. A standard is an expectation that a condition will be met. It is qualitative, meaning it can be measured. And a just, or equitable, standard is one that applies equally across the board.

Meeting God’s standards leads to righteousness. It means that we are living up to His expectation, which pleases Him. One of the Greek words for sin (hamartánō) in the Bible carries the meaning of missing the mark. When we fail to live up to His expectation, we miss the mark, or we sin against God.

Have you ever been confused as to what someone’s expectations were and discovered that you were not living up to those expectations? This happens a lot in relationships or in business.

This topic of expectation and standards matters because we are all trying to live our “best life” but only God’s way of living leads to the abundance, fulfillment, and eternal reward that we are searching for.

The challenge is that the standards or expectations of others always seem to be changing or evolving.

Illustration: Propaganda by Edward Bernays who says there is an invisible government that intelligently manipulates the organized habits and opinions of the masses and they constitute the true ruling power in our country. He said, “We are governed, our minds molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of” (p37). This coincides with an article I read by Jim Taylor titled, “Popular Culture: We Are What We Consume” where the author asks the question, “Is popular culture really popular?” and he cites a source saying that “90% of what is considered popular culture is churned out by corporations…with the sole purpose…that we can be converted into voracious consumers...”

One of the titles given to our adversary the devil is that of “the prince of the power of the air” who influences the course of this world and works in “the sons of disobedience” (Ephesians 2.2). He is working behind the scenes to shift the standards of what is right and wrong. We are being constantly bombarded (ex. in the “airwaves”) by the messaging of the world and competing worldviews that are not interested in encouraging lifestyles according to God’s way.

We must recognize that in the face of increasing pressure to adopt a standard other than God’s, our decision about whose standard we will follow is even more critical to our future. It affects our welfare and wellbeing, our blessing and our peace, our prosperity and our joy.

When we choose to live according to the will of our heavenly Father then we enjoy the righteousness, peace, and joy of the Lord. We will experience the blessings of God. And when we stand before Him on Judgment Day, we will find ourselves on His side with a clean conscience ready for an eternity with Him!

The One Standard

It is said that there are basically two ways to meet a standard—either live up to it or lower it.

In our text, the Pharisees literally turned up their noses at Jesus and looked down on Him and mocked Him for His teaching. They did so because they loved money (and He had just told a story about money). Also they did it because they had a different standard than He did.

Luke 16:15–16 AMP

15 But He said to them, You are the ones who declare yourselves just and upright before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted and highly thought of among men is detestable and abhorrent (an abomination) in the sight of God. 16 Until John came, there were the Law and the Prophets; since then the good news (the Gospel) of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone strives violently to go in [would force his own way rather than God’s way into it].

There are two things that we want to focus in on Jesus’ response:

Their standard—the things they esteemed and thought of highly—was detestable and abhorrent to God.

And, by using a form of religion, people were striving violently to force their standard on God and enter into heaven instead of entering in God’s way.

The things that men think highly of are an abomination to God. This is a serious and sobering statement.

What things does our culture exalt and lift up? money, fame, sex, power, etc.

These are not the things that Jesus exalted. These things are not the standard that God set for us.

Consider how religion has lowered God’s standards…we have terms like “prosperity gospel” or “celebrity pastor” being applied to churches or leaders. Do these things measure up to God’s standard or the world’s?

All the metrics of success that the world uses to determine if they are living up to the social standard fall significantly short of God’s. And yet we might try to use those very things to convince ourselves that we are doing right and are a part of the kingdom.

The truth is that God’s standard is impossibly high. Like Him, it is perfection (Deuteronomy 18.13, Matthew 5.48). If keep all of God’s laws but break even one, we are as guilty as a someone who has broken all of them (James 2.10 NLT). And as long as we try to force ourselves into heaven by our works or the world’s standards, we will never get there.

John 14:6 NKJV

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

If instead we choose the Way of Jesus and live by the grace He extends to us in faith, we will be saved (Ephesians 2.8).

There is no other way. There is no viable alternative. There is no relative righteousness that changes based on our circumstances or opinions. We will not have true peace, rest, wholeness, blessing, joy, or freedom unless we choose God’s way.

We need to understand that God tells us this in the Scriptures for our good.

He communicates His expectation (cf. 1 Corinthians 2.6-16).

He shows us what it looks like in Jesus (John 14.9).

He gives us His Holy Spirit so that we can do it ourselves (John 16.13, Acts 1.8, cf. Galatians 5.22-23).

Let us resist the urge to fall into the trap of lowering God’s expectations. Let’s reject the world’s standards. Let’s choose life in Jesus, living by faith, and trusting His goodness and righteousness (2 Corinthians 5.21)!

Meeting Expectations

There are three principles that we can apply which will help us meet God’s expectations and experience the reward of faith (cf. Hebrews 11.6).

Recognize God’s Standard

As we stated before, a standard is an expectation set by someone that can be measured. There is one more important aspect of that concept: the person in authority is the one who sets the expectation for the relationship.

If you want to walk in God’s blessing, you need to start by recognizing that God is the one who is in authority over your life.

Genesis 18:16–19 NKJV

16 Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on the way. 17 And the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, 18 since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.”

God is relational. He loves us. And because He is our Heavenly Father, He communicates His expectation to us. He doesn’t hide what He is doing. He speaks through His word and His prophets (Psalm 19.7-11, Amos 3.7).

Please understand that only those who receive Him will benefit from His word.

John 1:11–12 NKJV

11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

Research God’s Standard

The second principle to meeting God’s expectation is to research His standard. Not simply read it, but dig into it. Learn it.

Matthew 11:29 NKJV

Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

When we learn (take Jesus’ yoke—His teaching and demonstration of the Scriptures) we will experience the rest of faith where we cease from our works and striving and enter into God’s (Hebrews 4.1-10).

Illustration: routines and actions can become habits often through the renewal of the mind (Ephesians 4.23).

When we know what God does expect, it protects us from changing His standard or falling for counterfeit ones (things that sound spiritual and right but do not reflect the expectation and heart of God, like in Matthew 23.23).

Respond to God’s Standard

Because God loves us and tells us what His expectations are, we are accountable to live up to them.

Illustration: test on a book or lecture…everything in the book or lecture counts (though we often skim or look for the “most important” things).

When we respond to God’s standard, we do so because we love Him and desire to please Him.

John 14:21 NLT

Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.”

When we show our love to God by keeping His standard, He releases His love to us and shows Himself in our lives. Fear and torment and shame will flee in the face of God’s love (1 John 4:18, Romans 8.1).

Leviticus 18:5 NLT

If you obey my decrees and my regulations, you will find life through them. I am the Lord.

When we keep God’s standards, we will find life.

Psalm 119 illustrates this:

We will overcome sin (Psalm 119.11).

We will find strength in the face of heaviness (Psalm 119.28).

We will walk in freedom (Psalm 119.45).

We will not be ashamed (Psalm 119.46).

We will be comforted in affliction and have hope in the face of despair (Psalm 119.49-50).

We will find direction and purpose (Psalm 119.105).

We will have great peace (Psalm 119.165).

Choose God’s standard and choose to experience the abundant life through them (John 10.10).

Conclusion

God’s way isn’t only the best way, it is the only way to life. This is why we must choose daily to walk in His way (Luke 9:23).

When we decide for ourselves to recognize God, research His standard, and respond to it in love and faithful obedience we will experience a deeper intimacy with God and blessing. Sin won’t separate us from Him and keep us distant (Isaiah 59.2).

When you choose God’s way and you choose to live by His standard you will live a life that counts for eternity. You will be able to stand before Him having lived a life pleasing to Him and you will receive the reward He has stored up for you (cf. Revelation 22.12).

Whose standard are you going to choose to live by?