Mediocrity

Once, every so often, I have the opportunity to fellowship with other Pastors. This is a time that is very enriching, motivating, enlightening, and rewarding for me. Whether black or white, young or old, pastoring small, medium or mega-size congregations--I LOVE to pick their brains and gain new insights on how to do the work of the ministry in this contemporary, modern age. One of the questions I often ask Pastors is this: what is your greatest pet peave in ministry. You may not believe this--many of these pastors have never met, but they typically give the same answer: my greatest pet peave is wanting something for people that want nothing more for themselves.

Wow! Think about that--wanting something for someone who doesn't want anything more for themselves. Do you know what I call that? MEDIOCRITY.

I want to attach an addendum: people who do things that they know will never fly in the secular industry; but they bring it to the church and expect the church to deal with it.

* We give the secular our finest and our first; we give the church our least and our last
* In the secular we never question the boss' decisions or instructions (atleast not to his face); but in the church...everything the Pastor does is suspect and more than likely will be questioned.
* In the secular we show up on time and at our post; in the church, we show up late (if at all) and will likely sit on the sidelines.

I could go on and on--but I think we see the parallels and the imbalance or, should I say, DUPLICITY!

My prayer is that for laity and leadership alike--we will learn how to give God our best and want more for ourselves. That what we will want is what HE desires for us--that is that HE will be first place in our lives (Matthew 6:33). I know that when we get this, it will change the way we come to church, follow the leadership, serve the Lord, study the Word, give as stewards, work as laborers, and surrender as living sacrifices.

My prayer for each of us, starting with myself, is that we will give God more. I am not saying that the secular needs to be discarded or disregarded. After all, they provide a paycheck, etc. But we should always remember that God made the resume, the call, the interview, the call back, the paycheck, the promotion, the car, the house, and everything in between--POSSIBLE and PLAUSIBLE. He wants and desires for each of us to go further, do more, become more, and give more to HIM.

The greatest disease is mediocritis. What makes it even worse--it's infectious and contageous. The contagion of mediocrities should persuade so many of us to maximize our potential and realize our God-given purpose and identity. I pray that I will. I pray that the people who stand with me will. I pray that you will. Let us go on to be all that God has called for us to be. God us truly up to something GREAT!