Culture of Mediocrity

Since December of 2005, Teresa and I have been members of Common Ground Community Church. For most of this time I’ve worked with the Elders of Common Ground to get small groups started (we have 4 with a 5th one on the way), developed a Men’s Ministry, and general church ministry stuff (i.e. preaching, teaching, and general leadership). Since January of 2010, I have been the Executive Pastor of our church. The founding pastor and the other Elders asked me to help get Common Ground more organized. God has been working since then and we have made some progress. We’ve redeveloped the Women’s Ministry, called a young man to lead the young people of our church, developed a Leadership Training program for men who will be part of the leadership of CG, and are making progress in completing the construction project. It’s a team effort with the other Elders working with me and of course God is the One Who does it all. There is one thing that is troubling to not only me but it has been seen by the other Elders. The culture of mediocrity has affected the church; not just CG, but I think in the church as a whole.

The definition of mediocrity is the quality or state of being of moderate or low quality, value, ability: ordinary, so-so. We have stopped asking our people to step up and use their giftedness for the sake of the church body. We have not educated the new Christian to think of others before they think of themselves. Our churches have been so consumer oriented that the average member will just sit and be served instead of serving others. It’s amazing to me that God’s people can be alright just sitting and allowing a few to do all the work. It blows my mind and I try to think how this has happened. I think one word can be given for the rise of the culture of mediocrity in the church; Accountability.

We do not hold our people accountable any more. We fear that they will get mad and leave the church. The statement is thrown out “We aren’t to judge our brothers or sisters but to love them.” We are to love them but what better way to show love but by holding a brother or sister in Christ accountable for their actions. James 5:19 and 20 says;

“My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”

The average church attendee has the wrong idea of what faithfulness is all about. Their view of faithfulness is a lower quality version of what faithfulness truly is all about. They see going to church as being good but if they get to bed too late on Saturday, they are alright with blowing off church and sleeping in. If junior or little girl has a function (sports, club activity, etc) on Sunday, that function is attended and church is blown off. I know people may miss church from time to time, but church should be something you set your Sunday to or whenever your church meets. Parents you are teaching your children on how important or unimportant church is by what your priority is. Do you miss church because of a sporting tournament season or because NASCAR is on or the NBA game is on? Church attendance has become of low value.

If you attend your church weekly, then I’m sure you are not part of the culture I am writing about. Or are you? Are you giving your all in your service; not just church attendance but are you serving the God Who gave His life for you?

The culture of mediocrity can and does affect church leadership. After hitting your head against the wall of lackadaisicalness enough times, it can affect the enthusiasm of the most faithful of God’s people. If you are leader of a church and you are reading this, keep your eyes on God and follow His lead. He is the One who does; we are called to follow Him. He will make sure to send you workers when you need them. As leaders, we are called to hold our people accountable for what they are and what they are not doing.

I do want to make it a point to say that at Common Ground, we have some great workers. We have people doing multiple jobs. We are a church of 75-80 people so we do have holes in some ministries but we trust God to send us workers. With the culture of mediocrity, it makes it challenging. Especially if you have workers who don’t show up to serve (not calling to say they won’t make it). Or when they are not scheduled to serve in their ministry, they miss church regularly. It can get frustrating but you know as you educate the body on what the Bible says about faithfulness and holding the body accountable this culture can be undone in time. It’s all about staying true to “What does the Bible say.”

I just want to say that Common Ground has some great people and I’m so thankful that Teresa and I have been able to use our giftedness to serve them since 2005. They are a hard working group who are other people focused. When I see their true faithfulness, I can see our little church do something great for the cause of Christ.

Reactions

There is an old middle-eastern proverb I once read; “When you throw a stone in the middle of a pack of dogs; the one who yells the loudest is the one the stone hit.” I didn’t think preaching on Mother’s Day would get a strong verbal reaction but one point did.

Yesterday was my first Mother’s Day sermon. I know that not all moms look forward to this day for different reasons so I wanted the sermon to be an encouragement. The title was “A Mother’s Day Card From God” where I read Proverbs 31:10-31 because to me this is an ideal Mother’s Day card. For those women who struggle with this day, I brought up the point that the Bible is God’s Mother’s Day card to all mothers. In this card, there is a message for everything they face and feel. I highlighted just six points. They were Discouragement, Needing Help, Loneliness, Tiredness, Worrying, and the final point was on Anger.

Anger was actually the second point I bought up. I used Ephesians 4:26; 31-32 and Proverbs 15:1. I used an illustration from Billy Sunday;

“Billy Sunday tells a story about a lady once came to him and tried to rationalize her angry outbursts. “There’s nothing wrong with losing my temper," she said. "I blow up, and then it's all over."
"So does a shotgun," Sunday replied, "and look at the damage it leaves behind!’”

I thought that all was just like the first point until I said that words can destroy so we all need to use anger as a tool and not as a weapon. I heard something in the crowd; almost like someone being elbowed. After the service, a man came up to me and said that his wife needed the sermon because she struggles with anger. He said with a smile.

You never know who needs what but the Holy Spirit does. I pray that this lady will do some self-examining and try to work on this.

More Ripley Photos and Video

Below is a video of me feeding Ripley green beans and some photos from Mother's Day.

Good greenbeans, Mommy!

Feeding Ripley greenbeans.

Daddy and Ripley on Mother's Day.

A photo of a cute coat that Ripley will never to able to wear now that it's spring and she has outgrown it.

Teresa was putting too small item to the side to sale and came across this coat that Ripley will be too big to waer next winter. Too bad.

Jumpin' Ripley

Ripley loves her Jumperoo. She has so much energy!

Ripley and Apples

We fed Ripley apples sauce for the first time today and she loved it. Below is a video of the eating plus some photos. Teresa found a great bouncing seat at a yard sale and Ripley enjoys that, too.