Have we embraced mediocrity? It would certainly seem so. We have the capacity, for instance, to make the best engineered automobiles in the world. The technology exists to make them powerful, fuel efficient, and safe. But we don't really want all that because, well, it's just too expensive. So, tell ya what ... how about if you just give us powerful? We'll deal with the "fuel efficient" by paying more at the gas pump and the "safe" by taking our chances and suing when we lose. How's that?
Actually, so much of our living is in mediocrity. The other day I overheard a TV cook say, "Put in it whatever you find in your garden. My garden is whatever I find at the grocery store." That's true. We don't care about fresh, natural foods. We care about cheap, altered foods. We sacrifice freshness and flavor for "easy". We buy frozen foods, frozen meals, pre-packaged, pre-made, pre-mixed. If I wanted to make a cake from scratch, I wouldn't know where to find the ingredients. (Where does one buy "scratch"?) Or look at your typical housing developments going up today. Fast and cheap, that's how they're typically built. And we pay top dollar for them. Gone is the sprawling spaces between houses. Gone is the solid build. Gone is the fine craftsmanship. Pre-fab ... that works for us. That'll do. Build your own??? What, are you crazy??? (Note: It would be crazy for me. I can't pound a nail straight to save my life.) We live in a mass produced, cut rate, "designer prices at discount store prices" world. We don't really care about the excellent. Just give us the mediocre.
It's not just in our goods that we have surrendered to the mediocre. Schools have largely adopted the "teach to the lowest common denominator" method. "Advanced" courses are hardly advanced. "Education" in America is hardly teaching us anything. Look at one of the latest TV game show: "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?" Truth is ... we're not. For decades we have stopped teaching what phonetics is, how to "spell it like it sounds", even "reading, writing, and arithmetic." American education is considered very low in the world's estimates. We aren't turning out scientists, engineers, or scholars like we used to. A bachelor's degree is likely sufficient. A master's is a bit too much work. Maybe later. And the quality of those degrees isn't what they used to be. Face it. Our education has become mediocre as well.
Look around. It's everywhere. We are looking for the fast and cheap in our food, our homes, our goods, our education, just about anywhere you please. We haven't merely surrendered to the mundane; we demand it. And if you look around, you'll find that the Church has largely embraced this approach, especially here in America. It has become few and far between the pastors who preach in depth. More and more cater to the 15-minute "pep talk". You know how it is. The "customer" that is the general public doesn't care for those long sermons digging deep in Scripture, so many have jettisoned them. What this "customer" really wants is light, easy, applicable, relevant. And we're giving it to him. Don't dig too deep; you'll likely lose them. Paul wouldn't have survived in this environment. Remember him? He killed one of his congregants with boredom (Acts 20:7-12). He preached until midnight, interrupted by this kid who couldn't take it, fell asleep, and fell out the window to his death. Fortunately he brought the lad back to life, but surely Paul should have known that no one wants to hear all that jabber. Mediocre is what we want in our sermons. Light, airy, not too convicting, and certainly not too deep.
We've fallen in love with mediocrity. We've embraced it in our world. We buy it in our stores. We drive it on our streets. We pay for it to live in. We send our kids to school to learn it. And we visit it regularly on Sunday. We stand convicted of the very thing that the author of Hebrews chided them for:
For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food. For everyone who partakes only of milk is not accustomed to the word of righteousness, for he is an infant. But solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil (Heb. 5:12-14).Is there any wonder that we are having little impact on our society. We haven't become mature -- meat eaters of the Word -- "who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil." We need to stop providing congregations with what they think they need (the comfortable and mediocre) and start giving them what they really need -- solid food.
2 comments:
I will attempt my reply by starting off with something that happened a couple of weeks ago during the airing of an Astros baseball game. It was on a Saturday so it was being covered by the national broadcasting team rather than our regular home town crew. During the middle innings they had head sets on both team managers to ask them how things were going, what they felt and other worthless information that should not have been taking up time since the ball game was in progress. One of the national announcers spouted off that the Astros were struggling and what was Phil Garner doing to get them into a competitive mode. Phil Garner, also known as Scrap Iron, got right up and put him in his place by telling him that first off the Astros were not struggling, that the team was actually doing quite well; thank you very much!, or something very close to that.
The point is, at least from where I sit in my Church, that the talks given are led by the Spirit and contain those messages which my Father in Heaven would like for me and my family to hear. We have no paid clergy and talks (sermons) are given by the membership, the topics picked in advance and assigned by a member of our Bishopric. The quality of these talks, whether given by a 9 year old or a 79 year old member contain Gospel truths which are able to find access to my soul.
I have a wonderfully excellent diet and if that includes a Whataburger ( better than any other fast food burger ) a Burrito Supreme from Taco Bell, a filet at Steak and Ale or the seafood platter at Pappas Seafood then I have no complaints on quality. The same is true with the music I listen to; quality from Beatles to Bach and everything in between. If the music on the radio starts to include an evil tone or beat I change stations or listen to my recorded music. It’s all about choice, isn’t it?
As for the rest of the mediocrity in life; to some extent I would have to agree, especially when the television and movie media is involved. They have been taken over by those who have an agenda which leads down a different path than the one which leads us back to our Father. If it were not for my love of watching live baseball I’d toss my television in the trash. Your assessment of the quality of education is also on the money, settling for the lowest common denominator seems to be all they care about.
You understand, I hope, that this is a generalization. Some pastors preach good sermons. Some people eat good diets. Some folks are careful about quality of life and character. I am simply suggesting that they are the exception rather than the rule.
Post a Comment