Does God Grade on a Curve?

It always intruiges me when people in education debate the value of curving grades. I recently read a story of a school that proposed giving nothing lower than a 40 percent, to allow students--who would have failed with a few consecutive zeros-- a fighting chance to pass the semester!

As a former high school teacher I used to curve grades a lot- one year I curved an Algebra II exam about 30 points because no one had time to finish the test! I must admit I felt sorry for the students.

Many people think that when it comes to heaven and hell, that God grades on a curve. That is, some people who have good works and are more spiritual are closer to heaven than the rest of us. The "best people" don't need too much help getting into heaven, in fact they are "ahead" of the curve. In this view, the majority of people need some help getting to heaven, in fact they need a lot of help to "pass", but in the end God will grade on a curve. According to curve theology, only those people who are "really bad" like Hitler, Stalin, mass murderers or other violent criminals will be the ones who are destined to hell.

We hear this spiritual mindset all the time when people say things like, "God knows I'm only human." or "I'm trying my best, God will understand." Other people disguise the curve mindset by simply saying, "Well, there are many paths to God, and all of them lead up to the top of the same mountain."

The idea that God grades on a curve could not be further from what the Bible teaches. God saves people by his grace, and completely by grace. This is what Paul talks about in Romans 1:16-17 where he says that the gospel reveals righteousness that is from faith to faith (from first to last). He then goes on to demonstrate that all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, are sinners who stand condemned. All people have broken God moral law and face death, which is the just punishment for sin.

In academics, the idea of grading on a curve assumes that there is a level of inherent goodness or value in the person's effort who took the exam- they just need a "boost" to get a passing grade.

Salvation by God's grace means that there is no eternal value in our efforts to reach God. The Bible says that we are completely dead in our trespasses and sins (Ephesians 2:1) That does not mean that human beings cannot do many valuable things- they often can live lives that leave the world a better place--but when it comes to our eternal salvation, we are so far from God in our flesh that he must rmake us alive or born again, in order to rescue us (sinners) from hell. None of our good works merit us any "closer to God" than anyone else, because all of our human actions are tainted with thoughts of self: recognition, ambition, success, etc.

So, God does not grade on a curve, he grades by grace! Paul says in Romans 11:6 that if grace is mixed with any part of our works, then it would no longer be grace!

A parable that Jesus tells has always intruiged me concerning grace. It is the one in Matthew 20 where Jesus tells of a landowner who hires some workers. Some come in the beginning of the day and work all day, others come later and work only a few hours. In the end, the landowner gives each person the same pay! It seems so unfair! They were expecting a grade on a curve- that their efforts would be proportionately counted- that those near the top would remain at the top, and those at the bottom would receive barely enough to get by!

But the catch is where the landowner says, "Don't I have the right to do wht I want with my own money, or are you upset because I am generous?"

You see, God saves us completely by grace. Next time you think God grades on a curve, think again.