John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Jesus brought people back from the dead, healed the lame, restored sight, drove out demons, caused lepers to be whole again, how in the world could we do greater works than these? That question plagued me for some time. It wasn’t until the Lord showed me when He said it, that it started to make sense.

Jesus said this before He died on the cross and was resurrected. That one event changed the world. The Good News wasn’t the Good News when He said it. Now it is. If you will consider that all the works Jesus did before the cross was only temporal and that they had no effect on the eternal, then what came after is a greater work.

Lazarus isn’t some two thousand year old man walking the earth still, he died again. The sick that were healed, they got sick again. But we get to deliver the Good News and that lasts for all eternity.

2 Corinthians 5:18 And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;

This is our greater works.

Deuteronomy 25:15 But thou shalt have a perfect and just weight, a perfect and just measure shalt thou have: that thy days may be lengthened in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

I was a mechanical inspector for a number of years. I became the leading authority on positional tolerancing. That is far more complicated than merely saying build to print. The use of the design dictates the tolerances required. The tolerances dictate the inspection method. The inspection method dictates the measuring tools.

From an inspectors standpoint there is no such thing as perfect. Man has yet to make anything perfect. There is however a zone of tolerance established by its maximum material condition and its minimum material condition. As long as the product surfaces remain within those boundaries, the size, shape, and straightness are irrelevant. The product is deemed fit for use.

If you are wondering how this fits in the Kingdom of God, allow me to explain. The basis for tolerance is use. We who sit in the congregation can be deemed to self-check as prescribed in 2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. No one is examining your life for out of tolerance conditions until something breaks. You determine rework and repair based on your own experience.

Pastors, preachers, elders, and teachers must be examined to determine a fit for use condition. The inspection to positional tolerancing has a standard and a method for examination. An out of tolerance condition is not acceptable. They are not perfect. All they have to do is fit within that tolerance zone established by design.

This is not about striving to be holy, faithful, gracious, loving and kind. We all should strive to be conformed. It is that you should not have to worry about being inspected for conformance on a personal level unless you are up for promotion.

Romans 14:13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.