Mediocrity

I recently realized that as a runner, I never aimed to be the best. I aimed to be better than most, but I only aimed for being better than 60-80% of the other people. I really had to ask myself, what would happen if instead of aiming for and believing I could run a marathon at 8 minute miles, I believed and aimed for running 5 minute miles? What if I didn’t hold back in a race, worrying about how much energy I would have at the finish, but ran hard at the beginning AND finished hard? (Like Coach McTavish said in “Ultramarathon Man.”)

I realized further, that in the rest of my life, I don’t aim for greatness - I aim for mediocrity. There are levels of mediocrity and maybe I aim for the upper levels, but it is still mediocrity. What if I aimed to be the best? What if I said “Screw the limitations,” and forgot about what I think is possible, and just did it?

What if, in my Christianity, I stopped worrying about what others were saying, what others were doing, what was possible or even “christian socially” acceptable, and put 100% of myself, heart, body and mind, into seeking and doing what the Lord wants?

What if I let God be the unfathomable, higher than anything God, and I stopped putting limitations on Him and myself? What could he achieve through me?

--------------

Because we aim for mediocrity in Christianity. The nail that sticks out gets hammered. It’s as much about the DO’s as the DON’T’s, and I don’t think we realize that. Our lives are meant to be significant. We are meant to accomplish great things. We are not called to live in obscurity, eking out existence bathed in the blue light of our television sets, eating fast food and TV dinners. We are meant to challenge the fabric of the universe. To strive to show God’s greatness through us as bright as the stars.

People have come to view Christian as moralistic policemen. They are supposed to be caught up in the wonder of God shining through us, not bludgeoned about the head with the rules we have imposed on them. God is the ultimate sherpa on an adventure race. He is the only one to guide us through treacherous paths and impossible ascents. He has made this life to challenge us - sometimes beyond what we think we can handle. If you are gliding through life, you are not living the way God intended - you are not following His path, because His plan flies in the face of Satan, and Satan will fight you. His plan crosses gulches and sometimes is run through pouring ice and rain. His plan will test the mettle of your existence. And when you break through to the other side, you will know with a bone wrenching certainty what you are made of.