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 (NIV)
I am a
pretty average guy. This was confirmed recently as I participated in a 5K run.
Out of 38 runners I came in 17th. Out of 20 male runners I came in
10th. Out of the three men 60+ I came in 2nd. I don’t
think you can get much more average than that.
In high
school, I was slightly above average. In college I was definitely average. And
throughout my ministry career, I would have to say that I have been an average
pastor. In some areas, a little above average and in others a little below
average.
I used
to attend a national leadership conference that made me think that being
average was not okay. The impression given by the many speakers was that if you
were not at the top of the curve then you were not doing your job. I stopped
going to the conference. I got tired of being told that I didn’t measure up.
But the
truth is that most of us are average, and that is normal and okay. If we look
at a standard bell curve, 68.26 % of us fall within the average category.
13.59% fall just above average and 13.59 % fall just below average. And only
2.14% fall into the exceptional category, while 2.14 % are failures. I don’t
think that it is wrong for us to strive to be above average, but most of us
will remain in the average category. It is just the way things are.
If we
look at the main characters in the New Testament, we see that this holds true
even for committed followers of Jesus. There were 12 disciples who walked
closely with Jesus. If we add Paul, Barnabas, and Apollos to the mix we get 15
people. We can place Paul, Peter, and possibly John in the exceptional category.
Barnabas and Matthew would fall above average. Judas would fall in the utter
failure category. The rest would fall in the average category. If fact, as far
was we know, most of the other people we encounter as followers of Jesus in the
New Testament would fall in the average category. We look up to Peter and Paul
as models of genuine faith, but they are not the norm. They are the positive outliers
on the bell curve.
This
should be good news for the rest of us. God has called us to be faithful right
where He has placed us. Some of us will make major contributions to the cause
of Christ. Most of us will represent Christ in more quiet and unspectacular ways.
That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t strive to be our best; we should. But for
most of us, our best will be average.
It is
interesting that when Peter wrote to the churches, he didn’t instruct them to
all be leaders or to all excel in ministry. Instead, he instructed them to live
quiet and peaceable lives, and in so doing positively influence those around
them.
Because
of my personality, I can feel guilty very easily. When I was in school, if
other kids acted up in class, I felt guilty. In my ministry, if people failed,
I felt guilty. Guilt is very real, but some guilt is genuine and some is false.
I had to learn to distinguish between the two. Understanding that it is okay to
be average has lifted a huge burden of guilt off of my shoulders. It has
allowed me to celebrate what God has done in and through me, without having to
compare my ministry to the Mega-church pastors of the world.
It
reminds me of a quote I have seen on several occasions. This is a paraphrase
because I don’t remember the real name of the Rabbi. We will call him Rabbi
Jacob. Rabbi Jacob said, “When I get to heaven, God is not going to ask me why
I wasn’t Moses. He is going to ask me, why I wasn’t Rabbi Jacob.” When I get to
heaven, God is not going to ask me why I was not like Bill Hybels, or Rick
Warren, or Andy Stanley. He is going to ask me if I was the best Dave Banfield
I could have been.
One of my favorite passages in
scripture is found in Hebrews 12. After the writer of Hebrews has gone through
the “Hall of Faith” in chapter 11, he turns his attention to us. “Therefore,
since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off
everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run
with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1 (NIV) I like to
focus on that last phrase, “the race marked out for us.” God doesn’t expect us
to run someone else’s race. He expects us to run the race He has marked out for
us. And if we are faithful to that, most of us will live average lives as
followers of Christ. Average is not bad; it is the norm.
Be imitators of
God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as
Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice
to God.
Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV)
