THE LIGHT
by George Elrod
George is an Evangelist for Phoenix First Assembly of
God and Tommy Barnett of Phoenix, Arizona. George and
his wife Jan have lived in Turlock for one year and are
members of Harvest Christian Center. One of George’s
greatest passions is working with the men of Teen Challenge
of Northern California and being a guest chaplain with
the Stanislaus County Sheriffs Department. He is a decorated
veteran of the war in Viet Nam and has just completed
a book about some of his experiences there. It is due
to be released in the spring of 2009. Having experienced
some ups and downs in his own life he is just finishing
a book that will be an encouragement to others who have
found themselves on the side lines wanting to get back
into the game. George has experienced pain at a very deep
level. He has three grandchildren....but they are all
in heaven. However, his daughter is expecting and will
have a baby the second week of April. 2009 is going to
be a great year.
www.elrodministries.org
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MEDIOCRE
September 2009
The dictionary defines mediocre as “of average quality:
neither good nor bad; ordinary.” Some of the synonyms are:
uninspired, unremarkable, undistinguished, unexceptional, unexciting
and forgettable.
Did you hear all those words that started with
“un?” Just to be sure of the meaning of “un”
I looked that up as well. The dictionary says it means “not”
or “opposite.” Not inspired. Not remarkable. Not exceptional.
Not exciting.
My research didn’t end there. If mediocre
was the opposite of these other things I wanted to be sure what
these other things were. Inspired is defined as “guided
by or as if by a divine or supernatural influence.” The
word distinguished means “important or superior.”
Exceptional is “out of the ordinary or unusual.” Among
its varied definitions exciting means “stirring.”
Mediocre, then, means that I, if I am the one
being described as mediocre, am none of those things. Is it any
wonder that just saying the word makes my skin crawl and the hair
stand up on the back of my neck?! There has never been a time
in my life when the thought of being “average” didn’t
arouse such feelings in me. I have known people in my lifetime
who were or are okay with the middle of the road and I don’t
mean for this to be a criticism of them. I just can’t be
one of them.
It was Andy Warhol who said that every individual
would someday have their 15 minutes of fame. That is not what
I am talking about either. I am not interested in being famous.
And, according to the world’s definition, I am not interested
in being successful either. According to the world, success is
big houses, expensive cars and lots of money. It’s not that
I am opposed to those things; it’s just that they aren’t
worth my life. It’s not success that I am after but rather
significance. I have to know that my life matters. This drive
to significance that I am talking about is, as Dallas Williard
says, “a simple extension of the creative impulse of God
that gave us being.” My hunger for significance is simply
an indication of who I am and why I am here.
What has me encouraged of late is an awareness,
maybe for the first time, that my hunger for significance isn’t
about me or making a name for myself. I have a tremendous desire
to make Jesus famous. It is not about me. It is about Him. I am
not always the brightest crayon in the box but I do eventually
get it. And I think that I got it. The best way I know how to
make Him famous is for my life to be an accurate reflection of
His. Paul tells us in the book of Romans that the goal of every
Christ follower is to be conformed to His image. That really makes
it pretty simple. At least the understanding of the task is simple
- while the carrying out of the task is sometimes anything but.
If I am going to be like Him it is absolutely
essential that I know Him. Just knowing about Him is not enough.
I must know Him. In his letter to the Philippians, the great apostle
said that the goal of his life was to know Christ. Paul arguably
knew him better than any other person who ever lived and yet he
said his goal was “to know Him.” I simply want to
say amen to that.
I recently heard a song by a recording artist
named Matthew West. The name of the song is “Motions.”
What the song gives to us is an understanding of the futility
of just going through the motions instead of living our lives
in pursuit of God. It has been said that Christianity was never
intended to be defined by its disciplines but rather by its passion.
If mediocrity is anything, it is passionless.
The words of this song continue to ring in my ears and my heart.
I don’t want to spend my whole life asking what if I had
given everything instead of going through the motions. This is
a burning in my soul that won’t go away. And I don’t
want to go away.
I would like my headstone to read, “He
was never mediocre.”
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