The all-or-nothing mentality.

Tell me if this scenario is familiar.

You start of the quarter strong, going to every class and every discussion, maybe even popping into a few office hours while you’re at it. You look back at every weekend, nodding your head and patting yourself on the back, telling yourself what a studious and disciplined person you are.

One day, maybe around week 3 or 4, a schedule conflict arises, and you miss a discussion or *gasp* a lecture. Possibly the reason could be that you overslept, talked with a friend on campus for too long, or just plain forgot. Problem? Big problem.

It’s like the dam broke, and now the floodgates of laziness are swung wide open. Since you missed that one class, you say to yourself as you sleep in a bit, “Eh, I missed last week. Going to lecture today would only confuse me. I’ll just learn it all in bulk this weekend.”

Pretty soon, you find yourself in week 5, the midst of midterms, and completely screwed.
This is a classic case of the “All or Nothing” mentality. You start out strong, but once you screw up just a tiny bit, you excuse yourself and feel as if you should make a few more mistakes “while you’re at it.” You’ll just make them up all together later, right? Wrong.

You show me a Christian who thrives under this mentality dealing with school, and I’ll show you a Christian who takes spiritual matters much in the same way. We start out the week strong from Sunday, praying every day and *gasp*! reading the Bible daily. However, we miss one day and it’s all over. The cycle repeats (maybe) the next Sunday; maybe we don’t even feel like going to church the next week.

What should we rightfully do when we make a mistake? How does God view our mistakes and our failures? Should we continue along the road often traveled, the one leading to more sin “while we’re at it”? I would say that this mentality is in direct conflict with what the Word says to do.

“For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin… For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.

For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.

Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.”
Romans 7:14-25

(I understand that this is a controversial passage, with some debating whether or not Paul is talking about a saved Christian or one that is under the bondage of sin as an unbeliever. It’s hairy, so let’s skip it and look at it for my main point.)

Paul here is describing the war that goes on every day in every Christian’s heart. To sin or not to sin? Often times, Paul admits, he sins and falls short of the calling he has in Christ. His mind is still set on the goal, the goal of personal holiness for the glory of God, yet with his body, he still makes mistakes. Sound familiar? It most certainly does to me. Paul then recognizes that he is unable to set himself free from his sin; only God is sufficient through Christ. Let’s move on to the next chapter, where we can see his encouragement in times where he has made mistakes.

“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. “
Romans 8:1-4

The “Therefore” means “In light of everything I’ve just said”. Paul is saying here that as you know that we all fail and make mistakes, have hope! Don’t give up! For those who are Christians, there is no condemnation for the sins you’ve done! He goes on to describe the perfect sacrifice of sins that has cleared us of all debt: God has made up for our mistakes by giving us His son (and more!), who is sufficient.

Here’s where we come in. When we fail, we shouldn’t feel downtrodden and feel as though we should continue in our failures. Instead, look up! See the grace that so abundantly falls upon you at every moment – there is no punishment for our failures. Keep your eyes fixed upon the Lord, get up and walk again.

Perhaps you can now go to class, even though it’s week 8. Haha.