Mediocrity

One of the most important baseball players of these last years was OREL HERSHISER. In the 1988 season he beat various launching records, and he was named "athlete of the year" by the North American Press Association, but the most worthwhile thing in Orel's life was that he was a good Christian.

Sometimes we think that our inner life has nothing to do with sport, but this is a great mistake.

Orel explained in an interview that "to call myself a Christian and not desire to be the best I can, and not do it using the talents that God has given me, would be hypocrisy. Being a Christian is not an excuse for mediocrity, nor is it an excuse to passively accept defeat."

Mediocre sportspeople do not triumph, and in the same way, mediocre Christians do not go anywhere. To be a Christian is not to hide under a mantel of religiosity, not doing anything for fear of what others may say.

Never forget that God does not tolerate mediocre Christians (Revelation 3:16).

It is not a matter of being the most important, or of doing supernatural things... the most important thing is to do that for which God has prepared us, and do it the best way possible.

It may be that you are one of the best sportsmen, or maybe you only pick up others' T-shirts, but that which you do has to be the most important thing for you, because it is the most important thing for God.

Do not accept second-best, do not drag along through life without any hope. God has made you very special and all that you do has a special dimension.

On many occasions we offer God cheap goods, requiring little effort – what is despised... and we still give excuses: "Since it is for God, he knows that..." That is so ridiculous! To be a Christian is to do everything better than anyone else, and to have more self-respect than anybody!

And this for a very simple reason: we do all things for God's glory. In this way the world will know many things about God, when they see how we behave.

From today on, the word mediocrity will not appear in my personal dictionary.