Decent, middling, ordinary, second-rate, so-so, undistinguished, uninspired, characterless, colorless, common, conventional, fair to middling, humdrum, intermediate, medium, moderate, no great shakes, passable, run-of-the-mill, standard, tolerable, unexceptional, vanilla…
Many years ago, on a whim, i called a friend one day… when he answered the phone i asked him, “Hey man! How you doing?” His reply was as he always had replied, but this time, the Lord began to speak to me. His reply was, “Oh, i’m alright, i’m still saved pretty much i guess, for the most part.” Through his words, the Lord began to speak to me about myself… his words described how i saw myself… not how he saw himself, but how i saw myself.
You know, the Holy Spirit is so close to us that He gives us ideas and we think we thought of them. In the moment of hearing his reply to my question, i had the thought, “How can you be sort of saved, or pretty much in the Kingdom of God?”
Somehow, i get the feeling that most people don’t have an expectation of excellence, so when anything exceeds their concept of average, they ooooo, and ahhh appropriately… even though it could all be so much better if we weren’t lost in the world of a mediocre life.
Interestingly, when someone exceeds the parameters of our average herd perimeter, going to extreme’s to produce art, music, food, or even have exemplary personal behavior, they are called “eccentric” or “over the top”, their surge above the leaning of the herd to be mediocre is unnerving to more than we might think.
A fellow at church was telling me that he was trying to not be angry at his son. i asked him why, and he told me that his son was entirely capable of make exemplary grades at school, but yet he purposely brought home simply average grades, only a little more than just scraping by. Then he said, “I don’t believe we should be only mediocre at anything… not being the best, not being the worst… just common and mediocre. I would rather be the worst at something that to be just plane jane vanilla milktoast.”
If we look at the church as a whole, many seem to be lost in a mediocre walk with the Lord, like a smoldering camp fire… moderate and passable seems to be satisfactory. Are you satisfied with where you are in your walk with Christ? If there was more, so much more than where you are, would you be interested in that?
This evening’s topic is “Lost in commonality”, or… not hot, not cold, just in the pot nine days old… mediocre. Put your ears on, sit back and take it in.
i saw a poster on a website which said, “Mediocrity: It takes a lot less time and most people won’t notice the difference until it’s too late.” Another definition is for “mediocre” is, “something that is adequate but not very good.” To be mediocre literally means to be “half way up the mountain.”
i believe, these days, the greatest assault on the church is loss of heart… after that, it is also my belief, one of the most treacherous and deceitful influences on the body of Christ is not violence, not drugs, or immorality, but our pursuit of the trivial, the mundane, and our tolerance of all which is third rate… which would be mediocrity, lost in a world of lesser things. We are often more concerned about the curtains in the sanctuary than steadfastness in Christ or our understanding of scripture… lost in the things of lesser importance.
In my younger years, i simply didn’t think outside the box… i truly didn’t know how. In fact, i wasn’t even aware there was a box to think outside of… i just closed my mouth, consumed whatever the world around me presented, and didn’t really make any effort to think for myself. One day, while i was at work, i had a thought which went like this: In the days before there was mainstream media, people didn’t so easily buckle under so… unknowingly, to a life of middle of the road. At that point, i believe the Lord began to wake me up to the tragedy of simply being satisfied with being fair to middlin’. He asked me plainly, “Is this all you want? Is this enough for you? There is more if you’re interested.”
In Revelation 3, the angel spoke to the church of Laodicea saying, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” They were satisfied to only be half way up the mountain.
Is it enough for you to only be sort of involved with the Lord? Is there a fear that if you get involved more deeply with what God is doing that you’ll have to step outside of your comfortable world where things are too this way, or too that way?
Years ago, a woman got mad at me saying, “Do you always have to do everything a lot?! Why can’t you just do a little sports, a little hunting, a little music, a little church stuff, and a little work?” She was asking me to be mediocre, uninspired, and indistinguishable from the herd. The truth was, i wasn’t trying to be distinguished and above anyone, i just loved the things i did. i loved my woodworking, i loved my hunting and fishing, i loved good conversation… i loved it all and was passionate about it… maybe a little too much probably, but i did passionately love the things my hands found to do. i can remember thinking the lady probably didn’t seem to feel it necessary to enter a foot race and actually win, but that it was more important to run with the majority of the people who finished, more or less, in the middle. i was truly perplexed… wondering why anyone would want to live a life of pretty much, just about, and for the most part.
Is that what God really has in mind for you, to be a person that’s only middle of the road, moderate, and just medium? Have you always been medium, and if not, when did mediocrity become the norm for you? 1 Corinthians 9:24, “You’ve all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win.”
i believe it is highly probable, at the core of the distrustful and pessimistic attitude behind mediocrity is that we don’t believe God cares too much what we do or how we do it. The problem revealed in the opening verses of Malachi is that the Israelites didn’t think God cared about them. “God doesn’t value us much, and probably doesn’t love us. He allowed our city wall to be destroyed, the holy temple to be leveled, and our families to be torn apart. He let our enemies conquer us. He took away our wealth, our land, and our possessions.” i bet there was a big “poor me” at the end of that too. Sounds more like Eeyore from Winnie the Poo doesn’t it? Israel’s words, in short, basically said, “why should we care about God? He sure hasn’t shown concern for us.”
They did indeed bring sacrifices, but they were nothing special… just ho-hum offerings… they brought the mediocre things and acted in average ways. Their mouths said one thing but their actions reflected a life of approximation… a life built on “more or less”.
In Malachi 1:6-8, the Lord says, “Isn’t it true that a son honors his father and a worker his master? So if I’m your Father, where’s the honor? If I’m your Master, where’s the respect?” i, the Lord your God is calling you on the carpet: “You priests despise me!
“You say, ‘Not so! How do we despise you?’
“By your shoddy, sloppy, defiling worship.
“You ask, ‘What do you mean, “defiling”? What’s defiling about it?’
“When you say, ‘The altar of GOD is not important anymore; worship of GOD is no longer a priority,’ that’s defiling. And when you offer worthless animals for sacrifices in worship, animals that you’re trying to get rid of—blind and sick, crippled and crazy animals—isn’t that defiling? Try a trick like that with your banker or your senator—how far do you think it will get you?” Pay attention here, I, The Lord, am asking you.”
God was pretty well in their face about their mediocre attitude, i’d say.
The lukewarm are those who claim to know God but live as though He isn’t all that important. Sure, they may go to church, but their faith is more constructed of self-righteous complacency. They may claim to be Christians, but their hearts are unchanged, and their hypocrisy makes the Lord’s heart sad.
When i was in grade school, one time when report cards came out, a teacher wrote in the comments section, “This student can do exemplary work when he wants to, but he won’t and seems satisfied to just get by.” Many years later i look back and see myself, for a part of my life, as someone who didn’t think anyone cared or noticed, therefore i never gave anyone my personal best. i gave what was “adequate” or “good enough.
i well remember my turning point from excellence to mediocrity. In the 5th grade, i was very good at all my studies. i was an A+ student and worked hard at school. One day we had a math test… oh man, i was ready. Not only did i know how to get the answers, i understood the operations. i whipped through that test and was the first to turn in my paper. i … KNEW… it was right. Shortly, i got my test back and it had 98 written at the top. i went back up to the teacher and asked why 98 if all the problems were correct? She told me quite sternly that she counted off 2 points because in my haste i spelled my name incorrectly. i was SO mad. i remember thinking to myself, “Well, if it’s more important to spell your name right, and no one cares if you understand the material… then that’s it… i quit. From now on i’m just going to go play ball with the other boys. What difference does being smart make? No one notices, and no one really cares.” From that day on, my life was mediocre by my conscious choice… eventually i barely made it through high school and it would be years before i gave anyone my personal best ever again.
If a mediocre life is anything, before it is ever evidenced in our actions, somewhere in our hearts it is like a polaroid photograph of how we think God sees us. When we are confident that someone important to us has taken note of our lives, most of us have no problem reaching above our inclination to just be average. But when we think someone is indifferent, wouldn’t you agree that we tend to hold back, justifying our attitude of “good enough” and “pretty much”? How many men and women simply settle for a “good enough” relationship instead of holding out for God’s best?
When we doubt a political candidate, a wise voter will go back to the candidates record of how they voted, what they said, who they know… and from the facts we collected we try to make an educated selection. i wonder why, in the years past, when i’ve doubted the Lord’s care and concern for me, why didn’t i go back and check His track record? Israel totally had a hard time, but it wasn’t because God was being hard nosed, it was their own sin and indifference to the Lord that did them in. The Lord gave them opportunity after opportunity… Israel was up one minute, and doubting Him the next.
In our relationship with God, mediocrity is a serious misjudgment. Our God is an amazing and vast Lord of all. He loves us. The Lamb deserves the reward of His suffering, not our average life… not our generalizations and approximations… not our measly 10% and the rest is for us… not our blind, twisted thinking type gifts, nor what’s left at the end of the day after we’ve had all we want for ourselves.
Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Deut6:5 says we shall love the Lord with everything which holds our house together, all our thinking, vitality and breathing, and with all our emotional intention and physical passions until all our matters are concluded at our end. Friends, there is nothing mediocre about the Lord, and dare i say, our mediocrity cheats God out of what he rightfully deserves. The world is watching and our “for the most part” mentality dishonors God. Mediocrity, if allowed a place at our table and a little room to stay in, will eventually influence the character of even the most steadfast believer.
The world seems to always cater to everyone being at middle ground. Our kids play team sports and even though their team wins every game and are the champions, i have actually been witness to trophies being handed out which merely said, “Participant”. i saw this with my own eyes long before it was a car advertisement on TV. i remember it seemed no one but the director and the teachers were smiling… no winners, no losers… and you know… none of the kids or parents were smiling. Why would any kid want to play to win if in the end they are only seen as a mere participant? Why would anyone want to be the best at anything, if everyone from the most care-less to the most care-ful got a prize which only said, “Good job!”?
Romans 8:37 says we are MORE than conquerors through Him who loved us… and nobody can be mediocre, just plain vanilla and be more than a conqueror at the same time. Friend, even at your worst, you are, through Christ, you are still the offspring of God… He is never common and neither are you.
Marianne Williamson wrote, “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, His presence automatically liberates others.”
Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might… ”, … in other words whatsoever the Lord gives you to do, do it with all your heart, work and live above the common, ordinary, commonplace, characterless, colorless climate. If you don’t, you become “mediocre”.
One definition the Lord has helped me devise for my own clarity is… Godly character is the will to do what’s right as God defines right, regardless of the cost!
i believe in the days to come, we’ll hear more and more often of the Holy Spirit coming to visit Himself upon places we wouldn’t expect. When those small churches and fellowships come to the crossroads of what to do when the hour of their visitation is upon them, it will be a choice of excellence in Christ or to stay on the path of mediocre religion, business as they’ve always done.
There was a small, rural church in North Carolina that was building strength in the congregation, young people were coming, and middle-aged parents brought their kids… the place was growing. Interestingly, there also grew a contention between the older folks who had become set in their ways and the younger believers who wanted to talk about stuff… they had questions that challenged the average, business as usual crowd who could say “my family has been here for seven generations”. As the young people pursued their interest in something more than ordinary, church-as-usual… the church leadership began to make it a habit to quickly shut them and their non-traditional questions down… even before they could get the questions out of their mouth. One Sunday, they sang some moderate traditional hymns, took up a humdrum offering, and there began the usual unexceptional, colorless message from the pulpit. Suddenly, the wind picked up, and low and behold, the Holy Spirit was instantly thick amongst them. People were on the floor, the hair stood up on people’s arms and necks, the young people took hold of the Holy Wind Of God with both hands and said and did things that probably hadn’t been done there in over 150 years… oh my gosh, they were so out of control… it was all very upsetting to the older generation and all the church leadership who nervously looked for some place to be other than where they were. When there were people weeping, repenting, some singing, and yet others staunchly holding their ground for tradition and moderateness… the pastor, who was pale as a ghost, rounded up his family and left. He just left. On the day of their visitation, the main guy just left… drove away and didn’t even lock up. In the weeks to follow the young people left, the middle-aged parents and their children left, and the only thing remaining was the elderly ones who claimed their family had been there for seven generations… the same ones who had always been there doing mediocre, passable church for traditional, undistinguished reasons… eventually, it was so dry and silent, the crickets, who only sing when it’s dark, were the loudest chorus in the house. Ultimately, even the pastor left his post and just went home. That is not to say that there were no true believers there, only that the church as a whole was spiritually uncommitted to excellence.
What will you do in your day of visitation? How do you want to be found when the Holy Wind Of God which blows from the four corners of the earth, picks up speed where you are? Will you be found settling for average, pretty ok life, claiming the words, “We aint never done it that way before!” You are so much more than just a mediocre believer, you are so much more.
2 Timothy 2:15, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Let all that’s been said here sink into your ears. Think about it.
It’s time to get to your feet church, stand… up. The days are upon us to light your lamps in the evening so wayward travelers might find shelter… turn up the burner on the stove to make more food than just for yourselves. The day is far spent as evening plows under the day… oh you lighthouses, set your watch and stand ready by the bright lamp God has given you, let it shine over the turbulent seas ‘round about, warning of danger and pointing the way to safe harbor. Stand up church, get to your feet, for we must change, find your testimony and tell it, hold nothing back… calling wrongness of character what it is and let the Greatness of God be revealed for deliverance. Get your testimony practiced up… practice a long version, a medium and a short version of how the Lord delivered you from all your troubles and fears. These are the days of excellence in all our works… in business, in relationships, in conflict resolution, in preaching and teaching… there is no place in the Kingdom of God for mediocre prayer time, or just generally fasting. Rise up in faith and excellence… stand… up church, stand up!
i’m Social Porter with Cletus Iaomi and this has been Outposts, a semi live broadcast from the deck area of a rural cafe overlooking the Ockluhwahha River, where the trees gently lean over the rivers edge, and every beautiful evening is pleasant. As we all sat on the deck yesterday evening, when the sun was going down and there was a light warm breeze out of the east, everyone sort of broke out into a song we’d never sung before. Much to my surprise, it seemed the crickets under the deck suddenly started tuning up, and all the night creatures sounded like they were joining us. The air smells like we were sitting under a grape arbor with faint wisps of vanilla and myrhh. It is beautiful. Someday, i hope to meet you here, that is, if you’ve got time.
i am very passionate about this that i’m about to say: You are NOT mediocre or common place. If you are in Christ Jesus, there is nothing ho-hum about you… in you is such potential to be extraordinary. You may have settled for moderate or middlin’ things or relationships in the past because of simply being exhausted with trying. Chin up my friend, you are never mediocre when you live life under the banner of the Lion of Judah… God doesn’t think you are a more-or-less person… mediocre living only leaves us in our own disappointment as to where we think we should be in life. Your feet are on the path, your face is toward Heaven’s gate, you are not mediocre. You are an overcomer and more than a conqueror in Christ Jesus the Lord.
We are not called to be just decent, middling, ordinary, or second-rate. The excellence and shout of the King is in us, and we are called forward in the Name of Jesus to be world changers, extraordinary in love, amazing in kindness, courage, and truth. Maybe many of us think we are living a mediocre life, but i bet from the perspective of others, there is nothing mediocre about you, and if there is, get to your feet, take a chance with Jesus, and you will rise from the surging tide of commonality, upwardly mobile from a conventional, fair-to-middling life. It is time to walk on water.
Be strong and courageous my friends. Stand up church, the Lord is near to us, and we all know, the closer He gets to all things, the more all things become like Him.
Pray for your neighbors this week, be a blessing, and live at peace with others as best you can. i hope we’ll meet again next time. Amen!