The other day my son asked me, “Dad, can’t I be mostly good? Do I have to struggle with every sin and vice?”
I said, “that’d be like me asking you, ‘can’t I be mostly faithful to your mom, most of the time?’”
You see, Christianity isn’t a moral code or a philosophy about how to live. If it were, then half-measures would be fine. But Christianity is about a person who offers his life to us and wants our whole lives in return. It’s more like marriage than rule book. And that raises the bar a bit, doesn’t it? Jesus said, “Be perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect.” But that’s not because he wants us to be rigorist moralists. It’s because he wants us to be “all his” – just as he is “all ours.” A relationship demands a lot more than a moral code, but it’s also infinitely more beautiful.