In ballet, we use a bar (called a barre) for stability and stretching. Mount it too low, and it’s far too easy for us to reach. Mount it too high, and we will court strained muscles.
In track and field, the high jump uses an adjustable bar. The better we are, the higher we mount the bar. Put it low and we’ll be successful every time, but we’ll never improve our skills.
In our personal lives, we set bars, too. We call them goals, expectations, or perhaps milestones. If we set them high, such as graduating college in three years or amassing $1 million by retirement, we have to work hard to prove ourselves. Set our bar low, and we’ll still be flipping burgers at fifty.
Where does God want us to set our bar? We’ve got Swan Lake on the marquee, and we’re the star. We have to be able to bow and curtsey, back away, and fling ourselves across the floor. When we fly through the air, we must land on our feet, kicking, lunging, sliding, and spinning; and in the process, creating a masterpiece of motion that everyone will want to see.
If we set the bar too low in practice, we will never successfully master Swan Lake. We will fall on our faces, and we will hear the derision of disappointed fans.
How can we set our spiritual bar high?
Acts 18:26 says:
“He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him and explained to him the way of God more accurately.”
The man in question was Apollos. His heart was right, but his background was riddled with doctrinal holes. When we instruct one another in Christ, we raise the bar.
Romans 16:1 says:
“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church at Cenchreae…”
Paul also asked that Phoebe be given whatever help she needed. He wanted her welcomed in a way worthy of the saints. When we smooth the way of the righteous who labor for Christ, we raise the bar.
Titus 2:3-5 says:
“Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.”
Paul was a rule follower. A brilliant man, he also knew how to play off one rule against another. When he believed something was right, it became an ironclad point of reference for him. When we search out the scriptures and follow their leading, we raise the bar.
We will dance God’s ballet. Our performance is now. The marquee has been lighted, it’s a sold-out crowd, and the curtain is on the rise. There’s only one question we should ask ourselves.
Have we raised the bar high enough? Are we truly ready? Or will we fall on our faces in front of the entire world? Once we step on the stage, the time for practice is already gone. We have to perform.
Let’s make a masterpiece of motion that everyone will want to see. Let’s show the world that we’ve set our bar so high that we have mastered perfection through Jesus our Lord.
When we rise to God’s standards, we will show Christ’s love to the world, and they will see him in everything we do.
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