“You Might as Well Congratulate Me for Not Robbing a Bank.”

We all lose when the standards by which we are judged and judge ourselves are lowered.

Note: When published initially, the caption for this photo read “Jones at the 1925 U.S. Open, courtesy Golf Magazine.” Reader Doug Pendleton corrected that error: “The photo is that of Inwood CC, which is incorrect. “The 1925 US Open was hosted at Worcester Country Club.” Editor: The photo is from the 1923 U.S. Open.

In the first round of the 1925 U.S. Open of golf, Bob Jones prepared to hit a wedge shot out of the 11th-hole rough. He inadvertently touched his ball with the wedge, causing it to move slightly. He penalized himself one stroke.

The officials could not verify that the ball had moved, so they left the one-stroke penalty assessment up to Jones, who was adamant that his ball moved–a one-stroke penalty that no one, but Jones, had witnessed.

After regulation play, Jones was tied with Willie Macfarlane and lost the 18-hole playoff to him. When folks congratulated Jones on his honesty, he replied, “You might as well congratulate me for not robbing a bank.”

In today’s climate, I think of Jones often because I read or hear of so many people wanting to glorify a person for doing their job, to perform the job as is in the job description.

As a wrestling coach, I reminded my charges that iron sharpens iron, a paraphrase of Proverbs 27:17. Those three words were printed on the back of our team tee-shirts. The wrestlers understood that the best way to help a teammate become a better person and wrestler was to be a hard surface on which to sharpen. In so doing, both became better.

All cultures need heroes, folks to admire for their integrity and courage and grit. However, let’s not set the bar too low. After all, we might as well congratulate someone for not doing the wrong thing, like robbing a bank.