IS IT A SIN TO BE AVERAGE?

As a young pastor I had the idea that God calls every Christian to do great things. My faith heroes were all mountain-moving, charge-the-hill spiritual warriors. I assumed full submission to Jesus would transform anyone into a spiritual Braveheart; kicking-butt for Jesus and marshalling a battalion of others to do the same.

It sounded good. It was motivational. It was pure baloney.

Worse, it was spiritually dangerous. Not just for me, but for my flock. It filled me and the rest of our leaders with pride. It overwhelmed my congregation and non-leader types with unrealistic and unreachable standards of spirituality. And, I'm pretty sure, it ticked God off.

Are Average People Second Class?
The problem was that, like many leaders, I believed there was something seriously wrong with low-drive Christians. I tended to project my own passion and calling onto everyone else. Since I'd heard my call so clearly, I assumed anyone who didn't share the same vision and fervor must not be listening to what God had to say.

But then he brought two remarkable people into my life. They weren't remarkable for what they accomplished; they were remarkable for who they were.

Both were as godly in character as anyone I've ever met, but neither one had a leadership bone in them. When it came time to charge the hill, they opted to serve on the supply line. When I called on people to step out and do something daring, they smiled and politely demurred. And they weren't much for "spiritual disciplines" either. They couldn't point to a lot of kingdom accomplishments.

But when it came to obeying scripture their character, relationships, and integrity, they were two of the most Christlike people I'd ever met.

Frankly, I didn't know what to do with them. Their godliness messed with my head. It contradicted all my paradigms of spirituality. For the first time, I began to wonder if God could actually be pleased with simple folks who love him, love their family and friends, and then die without ever having done (or wanting to do) anything significant. To put it more bluntly, I began to wonder if there was room in the kingdom for mediocrity. Could someone be average and still please God?

I've come to the conclusion that the answer is yes — a resounding yes.

Now it's important to note that I am not talking about cold and lukewarm Christians who wave the banner of Christ but live as they please. I'm talking about wonderful people of integrity and obedience to God's Word who simply don't register much on the intensity or impact meter—and never will.

They aren't second-class citizens.

If you think about it, by definition, half of any group will always be below average - no matter what scale we use. These people matter to God. Yet I viewed them as subpar. And in so doing, I did them and our Lord a disservice every time I beat them down with exhortations and pathways of discipleship designed primarily to motivate and produce leaders.

I've since come to realize that if our church doesn't provide pathways of spirituality that work for everyone, we're presenting only a partial gospel; good news for leader types, but a suffocating and harsh yoke for everyone else.

Studies show that over fifty percent of men will never read a book. Yet most of our models of discipleship emphasize reading and personal Bible study. It's as if we can't conceive of anyone being spiritually mature before the Guttenberg Press.

Or have you noticed that most of our books on spirituality are written by hard charging type-A personalities or introverts, with bright minds, a passion for reflection, high self-discipline, and good education?

There's lots of good stuff in there. But to the dyslectic, the adult with ADD, the overwhelmed mom with three preschoolers underfoot, or the shy types who get tongue-tied and panicked when asked to talk to a stranger about Jesus, the path they offer isn't one of knowing God better as much as it's a path of shame and inadequacy.

Those of us with hill-charging vision have to find ways to grow and disciple those who want to stay and live in the suburbs while we conquer the world. We have to affirm the kind of folks Paul was addressing when he wrote: Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody. 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12

What I Learned From A Shoemaker In Corinth
My heart for non-leader types was awakened by my two friends mentioned above. But it solidified while reading through the New Testament. As I was reflecting upon the early church and the church-planting efforts of the apostle Paul, it dawned on me how much my leadership bias had blinded me to the reality of life in the first-century church.

For instance, I'd always assumed that Timothy, Titus, Silas, and the rest of Paul's missionary partners represented the standard fruit of his ministry, that they represented what every Christian under my leadership needed to know and what they all, ideally, would become.

But I was missing the obvious. Timothy and Titus were not the standard fruit of Paul's ministry. They were the rare and unusual; they were leaders. Most everyone else (the vast majority of the people Paul led to Christ and the vast majority of people in the churches he planted), never became leaders or joined Paul on one of his missionary journeys. Instead, they stayed behind as the farmers and merchants, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters who did nothing more than quietly live out changed lives through Christ.

I began to recognize the miracle and majesty of what I now call the "Cobbler in Corinth." I don't mean the pie. I mean the Corinthian shoemaker who after turning to Christ stopped visiting the temple prostitutes, became scrupulously honest in his business dealings, and started treating his wife and children with a love and respect unknown in the pagan and Roman world. And though he may have never planted a church, spent hours in study or solitude, or courageously preached on a street corner, he crossed the finish line still loving and following Jesus.

In God's eyes his life was a win-a big win. But in my eyes, up to that point, he was a loser, a pew sitter, a drain on missional focus.

Yet in reality, it was the "cobblers" left behind in Corinth who turned the ancient world upside down just as much as the zealous missionaries bouncing from town to town. Both were needed. Someone had to be out on the edge, spreading the word; someone had to stay behind and live it out.

All this has radically altered my approach to ministry and discipleship. It's not that I've stopped focusing on leaders and leadership development. It's not that I've lost vision or the drive to do great things with God.

But I have stopped trying to make everyone into a leader.

I no longer confuse spirituality with leadership, or zeal with righteousness.

As a result, our church has leaders AND followers who honor one another and live out their different callings to the glory of God and the expansion of his kingdom. For me and our leaders it's been a great thing — it's undercut our pride. For the average guy and gal in our church it's been a freeing thing — it's released them from the false guilt of comparison and gift projection.

And I'm pretty sure God is no longer ticked off. Because my zeal and passion is no longer leading our flock toward a land that was first settled by a previous group of spiritual zealots. The folks we call Pharisees.

For more of Larry's thoughts on spiritual formation check out A CONTRARIAN'S GUIDE TO KNOWING GOD, Spirituality for the Rest of Us. This article was adapted from A Contrarian's Guide To Knowing God, published by Multnomah Publishers, a division of Random House, Inc. © 2007

 

13 Comments »

1. Thanks for this.

   I have struggled with being a second class Christian all my life.

   I still do - as a Pastor.

   Comment by Peter P - Feb 06, 2009 @ 02:25 PM

2. I don’t think I fully agree with the understanding of what leadership is. Leadership has little to do with being up in front of everybody and preaching things at them to make them become what they’re not. I believe that leadership can be demonstrated in much more humble ways like a simple example of servanthood on the side or behind the scenes. In the Christian world, leadership is simply exemplifying the heart of Christ through our actions, and encouraging others to do the same. “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1)

   Also, I don’t think I can agree with the fact that a person who lives by the power of the Holy Spirit will live a life of passivity, but of intentionality and activity. If we are to reflect Christ’s likeness in this world, then the people who we are transformed into by the power of the Spirit brings out natural impact through us. The power of the cross naturally causes impact. The testimony of a transformed life naturally causes impact. The love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control that comes only from the power of the Spirit in our lives also naturally causes an impact. Does it have to be through louder prayers, more zealous preaching, harsher rebuking or the likes? Not necessarily. We all play our part—some roles more humble than others, some more in-your-face than others. Do they all work the same way? Of course not. But do they all make an impact? Yes.

   In sum, just because we’re not “leaders”, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be intentionally living out our salvation in order to make impact through our testimony. Just my two cents….?

   Comment by Cedric - Feb 09, 2009 @ 01:50 AM

3. I have just been asked to speak to a group of ladies on the topic “Debunking the myth of Superwoman” and was just mulling through some very similar thoughts.
   When Elijah cries out to the Lord that he is the only one left who has not followed Baal, God replies that there are7000 who were faithful. Quietly, in face of danger, faithful. God knew, and God was pleased.
   The conclusion is God requires us to do what is right, love mercy and walk humbly with our God.( Micah 6:8)

   Comment by Ann - Feb 17, 2009 @ 03:42 PM

4. I have been thinking about similar thoughts as well.  I would put it differently up to this point.  I think christians have an issue with excellence.  Everything needs to be excellent in order to be worthy of God.  While I don’t believe that we should be putting out crap, I think that excellence can be as much an idol as anything else. 

   Seth Godin (of Tribes fame) has said that if you can’t be the best in the world, then you shouldn’t do it, and I think many Christians feel the same.  So either they don’t do it or they throw everything (except balance) into the effort.

   I think we need to be focused on the ordinary.  What does it take to live a life that is honoring to God?  How can we focus on the relationships not the projects? 

   I read an article one time about the problems of the 5 nines.  Web servers need to be up all the time, but depending on the use, the amount of money you spend to keep them up can be very different.  It can cost 10 to 20 times as much to make sure a server is up 99.999% of the time as it does to make sure the server is up 99% of the time.  The question is whether in most activities we do if less than 1% difference is worth the 10 to 20 times the effort.

   Comment by Adam S - Feb 18, 2009 @ 06:46 AM

5. Thank you Pastor Larry. Your article is insightful indeed. The myth that every believer must be a super-charged christian leader, has done much disservice to the cause of Christ and His Kingdom purposes.

   Why are so many churches into ‘leadership training’ and hardly any one wants to do ‘servant training’. Did not Jesus say he that is a leader in the Body, must be ‘the servant of all’. Why dont we celebrate servant-hood? Was’nt Christ (the greatest leader) a ‘feet-washer’?

   Does not the Bible teach that everyone cannot be the hand or the foot - that each has a special function of service in the Body - even if it means being a tiny toe?

   I would re-phrase your title with the statement “Is it sin to be an insignificant believer?” Must we wait to get to heaven to see those myriad believers who quietly like ‘Enoch walked with God’, like Anna the prophetess unknown to others ‘served in the temple with fastings and prayers’, etc?

   Many thanks again for your perspective - very refreshing indeed.

   Comment by John B. Samuel - Feb 18, 2009 @ 07:06 AM

6. Oh my hat, at last….....thank you for the frank honesty. We shouldn’t stop striving, but how good it feels to know that I too can be called to be a cobbler.
   Also understanding the % of men that don’t ever complete a book, due to various issues.
   Thank you, great article.

   Comment by Karen K - Feb 18, 2009 @ 08:12 AM

7. Thank you, thank you, thank you.  Sadly, for me, the person hurt the most by this deception was me.  As of August 2008, I had just about burned out of ministry and was ready to walk away from all of it.  Thankfully, God led me and my wife to Dixon Murrah and his wonderful ministry at Sagemont Church in Houston, Texas, for pastors who feel they are burning out.  There, I discovered much of what is written by Larry (above), and the pressure was taken away instantly, and the joy and passion ignited.  Since August, when I regained by “true North,” our church has taken off, and I know it resulted from a changed view of myself triggered a radically changed view of others.  We rest as He leads and teaches with the goal of transforming so that we might impact others.

   Comment by Gary Lewis - Feb 18, 2009 @ 09:16 AM

8. Thanks for this one, sometimes people are left feeling less like christians jus coz they’re not taking part in the big church projects.

   Comment by ricky - Feb 18, 2009 @ 09:47 AM

9. I thank you for sharing this insight.  I gives me peace, that I don’t feel that I am out of the picture when I hear others share they testimony and ‘succerssful projects’ or “mission trips”  That even though I may not be a leader of a project, my support of things ‘back at the ranch’ does matter.

   Comment by Yulanda Humphreys - Feb 18, 2009 @ 05:34 PM

10. You’ve put into words much of what I’ve been learning over the past few months.  God can be honored by those of us living an ordinary life for the purpose of pleasing our extraordinary God.  Thanks for the insight.

    Comment by Steve - Feb 18, 2009 @ 09:45 PM

11. Great question!  It’s one I’ve been wrestling with, so I really appreciate the article.

    Ultimately, I think it comes down to what a person is calling “average.”  Are we looking at a person’s accomplishments?  Or are we looking whether they obeyed God’s calling with love and faithfulness.

    I wrote about that in my blog today:
    http://www.liveintentionally.org/2009/02/19/is-it-a-sin-to-be-average/

    - Paul

    Comment by Live Intentionally - Feb 19, 2009 @ 11:06 AM

12. Wonderful insight.  The hardest part of being a leader is being a follower.

    Comment by Margaret Peterson - Feb 24, 2009 @ 02:32 PM

13. Thank you for the article!

    This is a very interesting perspective that I will continue to digest for quite awhile.

    One question: from where does the statistic saying “50 percent of men will never read a book” come?

    
    Thank you!

    Comment by Shane Smith - Mar 09, 2009 @ 08:01 PM

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