A man who prided himself on his morality, and expected to be saved by
it, was constantly saying, "I am doing pretty well on the whole. I
sometimes get mad and swear, but then I am strictly honest. I work on
Sabbath when I am particularly busy, but I give a good deal to the
poor, and I never was drunk in my life." This man hired a canny
Scotchman to build a fence around his lot. He gave him very particular
directions. In the evening, when the Scotchman came in from his work,
the man said, "Well, Jock, is the fence built, and is it tight and
strong?" "I canna say that it is all tight and strong," replied Jock,
"but it is a good average fence, anyhow. If some parts are a little
weak, others are extra strong. I don't know but I may have left a gap
here and there, a yard wide, or so; but then I made up for it by
doubling the number of rails on each side of the gap. I dare say that
the cattle will find it a very good fence, on the whole, and will like
it; though I canna just say that it's perfect in every part." "What!"
cried the man, not seeing the point. "Do you tell me that you have
built a fence around my lot with weak places in it, and gaps in it?
Why, you might as well have built no fence at all. If there is one
opening, or a place where an opening can be made, the cattle will be
sure to find it, and will go through. Don't you know, man, that a
fence must be perfect, or it is worthless?"
"I used to think so," said the dry Scotchman, "but I hear you talk so
much about averaging matters with the Lord it seems to me we might try
it with the cattle. If an average fence won't do for them, I am afraid
an average character won't do for you in the day of judgment. When I
was on shipboard, and a storm was driving us on the rocks, the captain
cried: 'Let go the anchor!' but the mate shouted back: 'There is a
broken link in the cable.' Did the captain say when he heard that: 'No
matter, it's only one link. The rest of the chain is good. Ninety-nine
of the hundred links are strong. Its average is high. It only lacks
one per cent. of being perfect. Surely the anchor ought to respect so
excellent a chain, and not break away from it?' No, indeed, he
shouted, 'Get another chain!'
"He knew that a chain with one broken link was no chain at all. That
he might as well throw the anchor overboard without any cable, as with
a defective one. So with the anchor of our souls. If there is the
least flaw in the cable, it is not safe to trust it. We had better
throw it away and try to get a new one that we know is perfect."