Confessions of an Insignificant Pastor CHAPTER 2: EXCERPT #1 Most of us in the world are Joe and Jan average. Is that really all bad? Is it fair to expect everyone to be exceptional? Are we born with giftedness or is it dormant, later discovered, and then developed over the years? If life is lived in stages, can a person be average in some stages and excellent in others? Perhaps as we grow through these common life stages, we come to the final summit of above average in our last stage in life. How can anybody expect to be extraordinary? Isn’t it the ordinary people that make the world go around? Isn’t it the middle eighty-percent of the population that we count on each day to bring continuity and normalcy to our chaotic world? I have my share of spiritual gifts but I’m not overly gifted, how about you? Are you a Christian super-hero? Shall we call you Superman or even your incredible family the Fantastic Four? These are confounding and confusing questions Batman! Captain America, I’m not. Are you? When did average take on such a bad name? Our wanting to grow and be better than our current state is after all commendable. But we don’t have to frown on our current status and the status of others just because we are not there yet. If we’re all innately born with higher giftedness, higher understanding, and higher righteousness, what would be the challenge and purpose of living out our lives? Isn’t perfection after all quite predictable and boring? Perfection is overrated! Appreciate the process, enjoy the journey, and smile that the grace of God has developed you from the person you were yesterday to the person you are becoming today. Take hope in the fact that the God who has begun a good work in you today is faithful to complete it in his time. God has used some pretty messed up people along the way. Moses was a murderer. Abraham was a liar. Jacob was a cheater. Rahab was a prostitute. David committed adultery. The apostle Paul had previously martyred Christians and had them killed. God loves to use those unsure of themselves (Moses in Exodus 4:10) and yet, sure of Him. Even when others doubt you (David in 1 Samuel 16:7), you are a candidate for God to use greatly. God loves to use the unlikely underdogs! God will use you despite your insecurities and often even in the areas that you are most insecure. God used all these messed up biblical people to do awesome things. God doesn’t choose the prepared but rather prepares the chosen. CHAPTER 2: EXCERPT #2 What have others told you that you cannot do? You can’t write a book! What makes you think you can finish college? Are you kidding…you can’t start your own business!? You’ll always struggle with financial debt! How could you forgive someone like that? You’ve never led a small group before. Nobody’s ever done that before! Well friend, I’m that nobody from nowhere who God is going to help become a nobody to do what perhaps nobody else has done before. My name is Mark. You’ve never heard of me. That’s not unusual. No one has ever known any of the nobody’s of this world until they did something extravagant to be known for. Your reading of this book is God’s way of making me known to you so that He can encourage you through His daily story being written in me. It’s about Him! NFL Pittsburg Steelers Super Bowl coach, Chuck Knoll once said, “Champions are champions not because they do anything extraordinary but because they do the ordinary things better than anyone else.” It’s all about we Christians doing the fundamentals better than we ever have before. If we give attention to detail, to the small matters, and commit to finish what we started, we will win more battles than we lose. Do whatever it takes and make no excuses. Success is more about perseverance than most anything else. Do the ordinary better than anyone else. I remember a Chicago inner-city pastor friend of mine years ago who when asked, “How is it going?” he would respond, “I just keep showing up and praying that God shows up too.” Faithfulness to show up and do the regular, routine, and fundamental things better than anyone else makes us champions for God. Work within the culture of your environment. Tony Dungy, Super Bowl champion coach of the NFL Indianapolis Colts recalls his father’s advice to focus on the job at hand, not the conflicting surroundings, and then decide to embrace the situation rather than trying to change it right away. Don’t panic! Do what you do because it is the right thing to do and it is good to do it. It’s more about character and core values than giftedness. Don’t get distracted by the circumstances, the growls of your enemies, and the wind of your storms. Keep the faith and your faith will keep you. CHAPTER 2: EXCERPT #3 So how do you move from poverty and obscurity in 47452 to prosperity and significance? Is that opportunity really even possible? Is there a secret treasure map somewhere? Do I need the decoder ring in the bottom of the cereal box? How do you do what you have never seen done by anyone else before? The only super heroes I knew were in TV cartoons and DC or Marvel brand comic books. Nothing incredible ever came out of Orange County, Indiana to my knowledge. What could make me feel like I could be the first? Was I better or smarter than the rest? Why me Lord? Why now? Are you kidding? Is this a cruel joke of God? Reality television programs such as “The Biggest Loser,” “Beauty and the Geek,” “The Apprentice,” “American Idol,” or “America’s Next Top Model,” are about turning losers into overnight winners. Television game shows are about making contestants into shortcut millionaires. One day I am going to hit the jackpot and win the lottery. We all dream of shortcuts to greatness, quick-fixes out of our average lifestyles, and moving into a big house with a white picket fence on Easy Street. Something within us all strives for more. We don’t want to live the life of Joe or Jan Average but neither are many willing to take the road of sacrifice to attain their wildest dreams. We all want to strike it rich like the “Beverly Hillbillies” and make something of our pathetic, average, and insignificant existence. We’re waiting for our ship to come in. We’re looking for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. We love infomercials, “get rich quick” schemes, “no money down” real estate seminars, chain letters, rich dead Nigerian ambassadors giving away their fortune to any and all who will send their social security number and bank account information. If only it were that easy. There is no Easy Street! The Bible says you reap what you sow. If you don’t work, you don’t eat. Most of life is just good ole’ fashioned hard work, perseverance, and doing the ordinary better than you did yesterday. That makes for an extraordinarily blessed person. | 
