Are you as tired of mediocrity as me? No, I am not talking about the Dallas Cowboys either. Nor am I making reference to politics. I don’t know about you, but good is not enough for me. It never has been. It never will be. Here’s why:
1. Mediocrity is terrible! Think about it. We spend more time trying to get our Instagram flex on or trying to get our next social media fix than we do trying to grasp the gravity of Who and what we profess to possess as Christians. Too often we’d rather let mediocrity rule and then complain. How about we borrow some lines from Dre and get “in the lab with a pen and a pad,” and while we’re there, we read the Scripts from THE Dr…not just one who plays one in his music. Game playing time is over. We worry more about the price of a barrel of oil than we do the value of a man’s soul. We are so worried that we will offend someone when we speak truth that we just don’t speak, or if we do, we only speak love. Really? The message of the Gospel IS offensive. Those aren’t my words. Those are God’s (Gal. 5:11). Weekly, wait, check that, DAILY, I hear believers complain that the church is declining and losing ground in culture today. It’s easy to blame leadership like we would in the CEO world. It’s easy to blame Hollywood because they are out of reach for the majority of us. It’s easy to blame circumstances because those cannot always be changed. It’s easy to look everywhere…but the mirror. I won’t lie. This may hurt (it does me), but all I can be is real. While we allow ourselves to be mired in mediocrity as we refuse to look in the mirror, Satan is on the attack. I don’t know about you, but I am a winner. I’m a renegade from the culture of losing. Christ has made me both, and as a result, I REFUSE to remain in a mess of mediocrity while missing what God has for me because mediocrity is terrible!
2. It’s your destiny. I assume that if you are still reading this, then you have realized that I am a Christian. Yes, a born-again believer in the atoning work of Jesus on the cross and in His resurrection from the dead. Yep, that’s me. I do believe all of that. I assume that if you are still reading, then either you are also a Christian, or you are intrigued. Either way, please, keep reading. I dare you to be great because it is your destiny. If you too are a born-again believer, then your destiny is to be great because it is what you have been redeemed to be. Mediocrity is beneath you and me. I know, that sounds…harsh, even arrogant. Stay with me. The moment you received Christ, His righteousness and inheritance were imputed to you. Christ called us to be great. Get that! Jesus, the Jesus revealed in the Bible, called His followers to be great! My hope, your hope should be in Him. If you cling more to the words of a television preacher/teacher or a dead theologian than you do the LIVING Christ, then you are missing your destiny of being great because you licking scraps from the table while Jesus has prepared a veritable 5-star buffet from which you can feast in His Word! We’ve been called to be great, but too often we are like the teenage girl: we settle for the dude who comes along and looks kinda cute, sings well, and spits some game. Ole dude just trying to get in her pants, and then she walks around with all this baggage and distrust all because she settled for less than that for which she was made. That’s how we are! Instead of the girl guarding her heart, she gave her heart, and too often, her body to some dude who used her! It’s our destiny to be great, but it does require us guarding our hearts and the truth that has been entrusted to us through the Word! Reality check! We cannot guard that which we do not know! It takes work to know the Word! We are too often too busy looking for secret revelations and experiences of others. God has revealed Himself in His Word. Dare to be Great. Dare to Live out your destiny as a believer. Get in the Book. Take a closer look. The God of the Bible IS the hook! He’s written a better plot line than anyone else’s imagination. I mean, come on, He’s the One who came up with creation!
3. Champions have legit swag. Think about that. Champions have put in the work to make it to the top. No one wants to be a loser. No one dreams of playing for a National Championship and losing. People want to be winners. Winning feels good. If you have repented of your sins and received Jesus as your Savior, you have been made more than a champion! There is a certain amount of swag and confidence that comes with being a champion. Champions know who they are. They know their identity: they are champions. They have spent time to make it to the top, and they relish in their identity. Get this: believers have been placed on top by the One who is the top! We gotta know who we are. Too often we spend all this time in the mirror and taking selfies so we can get our swag right, but we won’t stand long enough to look in the mirror of the Scriptures for ourselves to see who we really are. We are some Snow White Christians. We keep running up to these wolves like “Mirror, Mirror on the wall,” because we’d rather eat the poisoned apples they’re pimping than put forth the effort on our own to understand our identity in Christ. There should be no insecure Christians. We have been set free and made MORE THAN CHAMPIONS, so let’s jump up in the gym and start pumping spiritual iron. Let’s be great. I dare you.
Before some of you go off on me thinking that I’m the least humble person you have ever met, please hear my heart. Humility is NOT weakness. Too often we express humility by allowing ourselves to be perceived as weak. Hear me. I am not talking about being arrogant, spiritual or otherwise. I am talking about understanding our identity in Christ and not settling for less than what He has made us. Arrogance is dangerous. However, humility that presents itself as weakness is JUST as dangerous. Jesus was humble, but He was also very aware of who He was while walking on the earth. He was humble, but He also got real real quick when His Father’s house was made into that which it was not made to be.
When I read the Bible, I don’t see a weak, emotionless book or hero. I see a warrior who makes Harry Potter look like a punk. I see a King who makes Team Edward and Team Jacob a joke. I see a warrior who turns 50 shades of grey into what they are: black and white. I see a warrior who rescued his adulterous love and reconciled her. I see a King who defeated the enemy of His people and is returning to claim His throne and rule and reign. I see a warrior who has called His people to be more than they could ever be on their own: He’s called them to be GREAT! Will you? Will you put in the work to not defame the Name by becoming all He’s made you to be? Will you be great? I dare you.
Thank you to Channel for your artistic inspiration, your friendship, and the challenges you are in my life when I need them. You can find out more about Channel at http://www.redinkarmy.bandcamp.com
