Thursday, June 12, 2014

Biweekly Bits #10: Everyone expects 100%

After writing 26 bits, I realized that there is so much I could elaborate on with each of my bits. So I decided to turn them into a biweekly (i.e. fortnightly) series, for the next year.
Everyone expects 100%. When I was a junior in college, one of my professors said this to me. She explained to me that in every single thing I do, everyone expects me to do it to 100% of my ability and make it a priority. Clearly, if you do five different things, chances are you'd give each about 20%, but that's not what people expect. Each person expects 100%, no matter how many other things you have on your plate.
This week's bit could be seen as part 2 of the last one. I think this one is more applicable to ministry. We have become a society of busyness, where we do hundreds of things, so many, if fact, that we can't do them all well. When it comes to our churches it is no different. We've somehow persuaded ourselves that as a "good Christian" we must participate in every single church activity or committee or event.

Apparently, busyness correlates to holiness these days, and it seems like a sin to tell someone that asks you to participate in yet another church endeavor that you simply don't have the time.

But when we do this, we miss the point of it all. If we are serving God by serving others, would it not be better to serve with excellence in a few things, than to serve in many mediocre ways? Won't others be better able to see Christ working in us by our dedication to the things we do, and not by our striving to do too many things at once?

So, let us ponder this. How can we give God 100%? How can we give others that we serve 100%? It is not by doing as many good things as we can, but in doing as much good as we can. And what good is it to serve with our attention divided among many activities? To be so busy doing things, that our souls are too exhausted to spend some time with the only One who has the power to renew them?

Let us never be so busy doing things for God, in our various forms of service and ministry, that we forget to do things with God as our focus. Let us aim to do the things to which we can give our 100%. This is not a call to perfection, but a call to dedication.

Be blessed and shine at 100%!

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A person finds joy in giving an apt reply—
and how good is a timely word! -Prov 15:23