Scale

The gym at Canada’s Carleton University has removed its scale.  Some participants called it “triggering.”  Seeing disappointing numbers appear day after day could lead people to be discouraged about their weight.  I figured that’s why they were in the gym in the first place.  But whatever.

Instead of yammering some more about political correctness, instead I would like to inject a bit of reality into the concept of measurements, particularly with regard to progress (or lack thereof) toward a goal.  I will grant you that a scale can be a misleading source of data regarding health.  Being “overweight” does not necessarily mean you are unhealthy, and slow weight loss does not necessarily mean you aren’t working hard enough.  Then again, you don’t want to throw the baby out with the bathwater.  Just because the obvious tool of measurement is imperfect doesn’t mean you should quit measuring entirely, or even quit using that particular tool.

Actually, measuring your physical health is considerably easier than measuring your spiritual health.  Paul tells us to test our faith (2 Corinthians 13:5), but he doesn’t tell us how.  Attendance?  Well, surely absenting yourself regularly from the assembly of the saints is not healthy; God tells us to attend for a reason (Hebrews 10:25).  But there are Christians who build their faith despite their constraints, and there are “Christians” who never miss but yet push Jesus out of every other part of their lives.

So, to bottom-line it, don’t quit measuring your faith because you think you won’t do it effectively. On the other hand, don’t assume things are great because of a single, flawed measuring device.  The cemeteries are full of people who don’t have cancer.