The Joy of Being Ordinary
I have grown up in a stable, happy, fairly affluent family. I have been blessed that I haven’t yet suffered any great tragedy. My faith story is one where I committed my life to Christ at ten and barring a few silly moments my life has been very P.G. However the overwhelming drive of my life has been to prove myself, I haven’t wanted fame through singing in a talent contest or through being gifted at a special skill, I have wanted to prove my greatness through building and achieving success, acclaim as a leader and as an organisation builder. My greatest fear growing up, although it has taken me a while to see it, has been the curse of being ordinary.
Being ordinary, is to be unremarkable. To be one among many. Not easily picked out from a crowd. To have a legacy after my death that lives on in my family and close friends for one or two generations at most. The fear of being ordinary is to have a tombstone that would read “Nice but forgettable”
Here’s the truth that has dawned on me. I am very ordinary. Despite all the talents I have and the things I have done, I am very unremarkable. There are lots of leaders better than me, there are much better preachers, I am a good husband and father but I doubt I will write a bestseller about it. I am good at sports but I will never break any records or win any great championship. If you read my CV with 100 other CV’s it probably wouldn’t really stand out. It would be….about average
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The truth is there are very few people who are not ordinary. Even if you have had a difficult childhood, so have many others. If you have been a successful businessman, if have played a good standard or sport or achieved a great feat even climbing Mount Everest, the cold hard truth is so have lots of other people and many people will do so after you.
However, I am slowly discovering that rather than being crushed by the depressing nature of my ordinaryness (that’s a made up word…) I realise that the Gospel gives me great joy in discovering and owning my averageness.
Firstly isn’t it amazing that God knows who I am. Everyone else may forget me but He knows the number of hairs on my head. He loves me as a son. He has chosen me. He picked me… The guy who doesn’t stand out from 100 other people and God picked me, not by random but because he wanted to. The Gospel doesn’t tell me how great I am, it tells me how AMAZING God is. I am unremarkable but He is utterly remarkable.
Not only am I chosen as a son, Rev 1:6 says “I am to be a priest and King to God” I am a king in His kingdom. The ordinary, average, unremarkable me is being given a role in God’s kingdom, even though I don’t really have any special skills or talents, I haven’t earned it and you haven’t proved that I am worthy by my years of experience.
Written by Pastor Tim Cross
