“The Threat of Mediocrity"

There are a lot of “what ifs” in this life. For many, the “what ifs” surround the past, but for me, the “what ifs” surround the future. I think the possibilities of both the present and the future are much more meaningful than the success and failures of the past. One thing about being in school is constantly thinking about why I am going through these tests and papers, and what I am going to end up doing with them. Is it possible that after the hard work and many stressful hours of writing, researching, and bribing my way through school, I could end up in a state of being that scares me more than any boogie man in the dark or incurable health problem? That state is called mediocrity. Plain Jane… Regular Joe, whatever you call it, it’s scary.

So what does that scary state look like? Is it a young and eager pastor trapped in a dead, stubborn, church? Maybe so. I’ve heard it said that 40% of seminary students are no longer in the ministry 5 years after graduation. Maybe this state of mediocrity drives them out. Maybe they got into the kitchen and found out they couldn’t take the heat. Maybe they didn’t belong in the kitchen at all in the first place. Either way, it scares me. The only solution I can think of right now is to bust my tail, try hard, and pray that at the end of the day, I look back and see that I made a difference in someone else’s life. Because at the end of the day, the lack of impact on the world is the only thing scarier to me than mediocrity.

“God, give me the discernment to hear your voice when you speak to me. Also, give me the courage to follow your voice despite my own feelings and opinions. Help me to make a difference in everything I do, whether it is the pastor of a church or the Executive Director of a ministry organization. Whichever one, I can’t do it without you. Help. Amen.”