It never ceases to amaze me at the sheer enormity of people that decide on a day by day basis to make choices that all but ensure that their deepest hopes and dreams never amount to anything. Well Efrem, some will say you just don’t understand, I have responsibilities, I have a spouse and children, I have a demanding job, I have a very tight schedule, I don’t have enough money or (my personal favorite) I’m being realistic. Slap whatever pearls you want on that pig to make it pretty, but whether you want to accept it or not it’s settling for mediocrity.
When we were kids, we knew how to dream. Endless hours were spent day dreaming about our futures. Our dreams were free to roam wild, we dreamed often and we dreamed BIG! But something happened as we got older that unfortunately seems to be the norm when growing up. Our wild untamed childish ambition got replaced with the need for responsibility, safety, restraint and societal conformity. To be completely honest with you I don’t even know why this is the case (if you have any ideas please let me know).
For most people the human experience looks something like this.
You’re born – You go to school – You get a job – You get married – You have 2.3 kids – You buy a bunch of crap – You get old – You die.
The saddest part of this assembly line of mediocrity is we teach our children to live the same way even though we ourselves have been left completely unfulfilled taking this approach. Instead of encouraging them to be exceptional and embrace taking the road less travelled we pound into them the idea that it’s better to play it safe. If we were being honest most parents are more concerned with their children being safe and comfortable than living out their full potential in Christ.
I look around the world today and see a lot of settlers. I see men and women, of all ages, settling for what they think is the best life has to offer, only to be perpetually disappointed by those circumstances. I see them sinning as a result of their disappointment, as a means of escape or a brief opportunity to satisfy.
I see people settling for careers they can succeed in, that bring no real joy or spark to their life because they are afraid to challenge themselves. I see people settling for pursing the accumulation of money as the sole purpose of life because they don’t know there is a God that loves them. I see people settling for horrible spouses because they think that no one else will love them. Deep down a still small voice speaks to all of us and whispers “it shouldn’t be like this”. Our response is usually to shrug our shoulders and say “that’s just how it is”.
I refuse to believe this, simply because our God is not a mediocre God and he is not in the business of settling. He speaks and universes are brought into existence, he forms life from the dust of the ground. He is a multitude of things and has myriad of names to describe his attributes, but average isn’t one of them.
In fact, since the Bible says we are made in his spiritual image so in a way our mediocrity is actually insulting to God.
The only way we will ever be all that God has called us to be and hop off the assembly line of average is to embrace the fact that God has called us to be and act different from the rest of the world. We have to spend time in prayer and reflection and stop pursing old ideas of success and passing them on ignorantly to our children and grandchildren.
When I was in college I told a friend all about my dreams and future goals. They told me that it sounded like I was biting off more than I could chew. Well I would rather choke on greatness than nibble on mediocrity.
I consider this post the first in a series of posts to come. Over the next few weeks I will be writing and researching articles that address this issue of mediocre living and adding posts as God directs to hopefully shine some light in this area. I hope you will come along for the ride.
Now that you have heard my two cents what’s your take? Do you feel trapped in a mediocre life? If so, what can you do to break the cycle? Feel free to leave a comment below.
Article submitted by Efrem Jackson – Founder, Free to Serve Financial Ministries