Murdering Mediocrity with a Pen
Published by J. M. Adkison under Wonderings on 6:27 PM
Satan loves a mediocre Christian.
That's what my mom always told me. I've even heard it from a few preachers. My mom tells me this line almost as much as she tells me I need to start working out more and stop eating junk food.
Satan loves a mediocre Christian.
It has such a weird ring to it. I mean, does Satan actually feel accomplished when he comes across a Christian defined as 'mediocre'?
Well, yes.
It's a scary thought. A very scary thought. How many of us Christians-those Christians who have grown up literally since birth in the church, knowing the hymns so well we could sing them backwards with our tongues tide in a knot, having recited John 3:16 so well that its lost the amazingly, spectacular power it has to inspire the exact opposite of what we know as 'mediocrity'.
So, here's another 3:16 verse that also preaches against mediocrity:
"But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!" (Revelation 3:16)
Lukewarm=Mediocrity. Hence, Satan loves a mediocre Christian. He wins your soul thanks to mediocrity.
Sometimes I hear friends who, like me, have grown up in the church their whole lives complain about how they wished that they hadn't been born into the church. That they had been converted later on in life. Converted by some sort of great and life-changing event that completely turned their world upside down. Something exciting. I think for those of us who have grown up going to church three times a week, going to a christian private school, or a living a combination of those two, we find our 'walk' with God to be not-so-exciting. Probably, because we're not really walking with God. We're moving our feet, but we're not going anywhere. Kinda like running in place. We go through all of these motions-sing the songs as loud as you can, have a perfect attendance record, bow your head and act like you're praying really hard, read the Bible, but don't actually listen to it.
We get so used to church and Christianity, that we actually get comfortable running in place. It's safe, easy and you don't know what really lies ahead, so you kinda hang back. It scares you. So you stay in one spot-safely living in mediocrity. Too bad you look like a complete idiot just running in place, while everyone else is off having grand adventures just a few feet ahead. We hear about the adventures, listen to them in church from the safety of our maroon pews, smiling at the wonders they've done and cry at their sorrow-filled tales. We even have dreams of going to those far away places, spreading God's word and being a Holy Warrior. Too bad we are so stinkin' comfy in our little boxes called mediocrity to do anything.
So, here I am. I feel like I'm running in place on the right road, but going nowhere. The grand adventure in sight, but too afraid to reach it. And its all because I've gotten stuck in this tight little box. I am very comfortable with my near-perfect chapel-attendance record, A+ in Bible and church-going attitude. Sitting in my little box of comforts, perfectly content to think that I've got my eternity packed and ready for an endless vacation. And yet, there are thousands upon thousands upon thousands living outside my box who are in possession of a one-way ticket to a place too terrifying to describe-a place that is literally God forsaken. And here I am, at Harding University where I have so many opportunities, and I've done so little about them. And before I know, that little box I've gotten so used to can become a lock-tight cage. A cage packaged and ready for an express lane to damnation.
So...How do I break free of mediocrity?
How do I break free of this little comfort zone I've gotten my-self into? I don't want to grow up into someone boring. Someone who is content to never leave the borders of a small, middle-of-nowhere town working at a desk job in a stuffy cubicle struggling to find meaning in my life. Someone who attends a local church only concerned with Sunday appearances, perfect attendances and sermons that make us feel all snuggly and warm in our little boxes. Now I don't know about you, but that sounds like hell.
What I want to do is write. I want write about anything and everything. I want the world to hear my voice in the black text lines of a white page. I want the world to hear me scream "HA-ZAA" in a best-seller, in a thousand different languages. I want to take the world by surprise, as art should and do. I want to travel to the corners of the world, see what wonders God has hidden in the deep places of his great, green earth. I don't want to just write fun fantasy novels that fit the way over-done Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings mold anymore. I want to write about the spectacular wonders of this reality. I want to write about God.
I don't want the world to see God as some white-bearded, ultra-conservative republican who sits way up in the clouds with an annoyed expression hurling lightning bolts to those who don't do what he wants. I want to show him like William P. Young does in the Shack. Not as simply the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. But as the Pappi, the Big Brother, and the Best-Friend. Someone who can rock your world, change your life, make things interesting. Keep in mind, he can still hurl lightning bolts if he feels like it. Luckily for us, he rarely ever feels like it. He would much rather hurl little love-notes and simple joys. It makes the world a better place.
I just have to keep in mind to write for God. Not for me. If I write for me, I become prideful. And, as everybody knows, pride comes before the fall. In fact, pride came before The Fall. It came before the Fall of Satan and his demons. Before the Fall of Adam and Eve. Before the Fall of Babel. The Fall of the Israelites in the Assyrian/Babylonian/Roman captivity. The Fall of the greatest empires. The Fall of countless human beings. Pride, as anyone can see, is much worse than mediocrity.
So, I've decided to murder mediocrity with a pen. I am going to bash its head with a keyboard. Blow it away in a whirl-wind of ink-stained papers. I have to leave fear and comfort in the dust. I've got to stop looking like an idiot and actually start running, instead of pretending. Every good story needs good material, good material needs great experience and a wild imagination. I think I've got the imagination-now I just need the experience.
Well, Reader, here's my challenge to you and me. Say no to simplicity. Stop reading the Bible and start listening to it. Quit mediocrity like a bad girl-friend and start flirting with danger, excitement, and adventure. Throw caution into the wind and let God catch you as you fall. Dare to be truly different.
That's what my mom always told me. I've even heard it from a few preachers. My mom tells me this line almost as much as she tells me I need to start working out more and stop eating junk food.
Satan loves a mediocre Christian.
It has such a weird ring to it. I mean, does Satan actually feel accomplished when he comes across a Christian defined as 'mediocre'?
Well, yes.
It's a scary thought. A very scary thought. How many of us Christians-those Christians who have grown up literally since birth in the church, knowing the hymns so well we could sing them backwards with our tongues tide in a knot, having recited John 3:16 so well that its lost the amazingly, spectacular power it has to inspire the exact opposite of what we know as 'mediocrity'.
So, here's another 3:16 verse that also preaches against mediocrity:
"But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!" (Revelation 3:16)
Lukewarm=Mediocrity. Hence, Satan loves a mediocre Christian. He wins your soul thanks to mediocrity.
Sometimes I hear friends who, like me, have grown up in the church their whole lives complain about how they wished that they hadn't been born into the church. That they had been converted later on in life. Converted by some sort of great and life-changing event that completely turned their world upside down. Something exciting. I think for those of us who have grown up going to church three times a week, going to a christian private school, or a living a combination of those two, we find our 'walk' with God to be not-so-exciting. Probably, because we're not really walking with God. We're moving our feet, but we're not going anywhere. Kinda like running in place. We go through all of these motions-sing the songs as loud as you can, have a perfect attendance record, bow your head and act like you're praying really hard, read the Bible, but don't actually listen to it.
We get so used to church and Christianity, that we actually get comfortable running in place. It's safe, easy and you don't know what really lies ahead, so you kinda hang back. It scares you. So you stay in one spot-safely living in mediocrity. Too bad you look like a complete idiot just running in place, while everyone else is off having grand adventures just a few feet ahead. We hear about the adventures, listen to them in church from the safety of our maroon pews, smiling at the wonders they've done and cry at their sorrow-filled tales. We even have dreams of going to those far away places, spreading God's word and being a Holy Warrior. Too bad we are so stinkin' comfy in our little boxes called mediocrity to do anything.
So, here I am. I feel like I'm running in place on the right road, but going nowhere. The grand adventure in sight, but too afraid to reach it. And its all because I've gotten stuck in this tight little box. I am very comfortable with my near-perfect chapel-attendance record, A+ in Bible and church-going attitude. Sitting in my little box of comforts, perfectly content to think that I've got my eternity packed and ready for an endless vacation. And yet, there are thousands upon thousands upon thousands living outside my box who are in possession of a one-way ticket to a place too terrifying to describe-a place that is literally God forsaken. And here I am, at Harding University where I have so many opportunities, and I've done so little about them. And before I know, that little box I've gotten so used to can become a lock-tight cage. A cage packaged and ready for an express lane to damnation.
So...How do I break free of mediocrity?
How do I break free of this little comfort zone I've gotten my-self into? I don't want to grow up into someone boring. Someone who is content to never leave the borders of a small, middle-of-nowhere town working at a desk job in a stuffy cubicle struggling to find meaning in my life. Someone who attends a local church only concerned with Sunday appearances, perfect attendances and sermons that make us feel all snuggly and warm in our little boxes. Now I don't know about you, but that sounds like hell.
What I want to do is write. I want write about anything and everything. I want the world to hear my voice in the black text lines of a white page. I want the world to hear me scream "HA-ZAA" in a best-seller, in a thousand different languages. I want to take the world by surprise, as art should and do. I want to travel to the corners of the world, see what wonders God has hidden in the deep places of his great, green earth. I don't want to just write fun fantasy novels that fit the way over-done Harry Potter/Lord of the Rings mold anymore. I want to write about the spectacular wonders of this reality. I want to write about God.
I don't want the world to see God as some white-bearded, ultra-conservative republican who sits way up in the clouds with an annoyed expression hurling lightning bolts to those who don't do what he wants. I want to show him like William P. Young does in the Shack. Not as simply the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. But as the Pappi, the Big Brother, and the Best-Friend. Someone who can rock your world, change your life, make things interesting. Keep in mind, he can still hurl lightning bolts if he feels like it. Luckily for us, he rarely ever feels like it. He would much rather hurl little love-notes and simple joys. It makes the world a better place.
I just have to keep in mind to write for God. Not for me. If I write for me, I become prideful. And, as everybody knows, pride comes before the fall. In fact, pride came before The Fall. It came before the Fall of Satan and his demons. Before the Fall of Adam and Eve. Before the Fall of Babel. The Fall of the Israelites in the Assyrian/Babylonian/Roman captivity. The Fall of the greatest empires. The Fall of countless human beings. Pride, as anyone can see, is much worse than mediocrity.
So, I've decided to murder mediocrity with a pen. I am going to bash its head with a keyboard. Blow it away in a whirl-wind of ink-stained papers. I have to leave fear and comfort in the dust. I've got to stop looking like an idiot and actually start running, instead of pretending. Every good story needs good material, good material needs great experience and a wild imagination. I think I've got the imagination-now I just need the experience.
Well, Reader, here's my challenge to you and me. Say no to simplicity. Stop reading the Bible and start listening to it. Quit mediocrity like a bad girl-friend and start flirting with danger, excitement, and adventure. Throw caution into the wind and let God catch you as you fall. Dare to be truly different.
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