He Is Kind of A Big Deal

I’m sitting in another coffee shop as I write this post. I just had a coffee with a friend. He is quite a bit younger than me and trying to figure out life, as we all are. He said he just listened to a Rick Warren sermon. This guy LOVES Rick Warren which is weird for a twenty-something. Anyways, he said Pastor Rick said something to this effect in his sermon. 

I can help you accomplish great things. But I can’t help you accomplish great things fast.

 I think this resonated with my friend because he is realizing that things don’t happen as quickly as we hope they would. Getting a college degree takes a few years. Dating relationships take time to nurture and develop. A six-figure paying job won’t just land in your lap. I think there is some truth in Pastor Rick’s statement. But something about it didn’t sit right with me.

I have written about this idea a lot, how our culture is obsessed with the big and glamourous and how we associate those things with greatness. We are obsessed with things that appear to be great. The bigger the greater. The more followers we have the greater we appear to be. The more money we attain the greater life we can live. You all get it.

But this is what I am wrestling through. If we are focused on being great, can we ever accomplish anything that is truly great? And how do we define great? I know a lot of people who have accomplished great things in the eyes of the world, but they are miserable.

What is greatness?

As my friend and I were talking through this idea I noticed a guy walk into the coffee shop. I doubt anyone else knew who this guy was but I did. This guy is a well-known church songwriter. If you are a churchgoer, I guarantee you have sung many of the songs he has written. In my little world of church music, this guy is kind of a big deal. He has won awards. I also know he serves at a fairly large church in the area. And here he is on a Thursday morning at a local coffee shop meeting with a guy from his church, or so I assume. As they ate breakfast, I watched them read scripture together, they prayed together, and then they both left to go about their day.

Here is a guy who has accomplished great things. Millions of people sing his songs every week in worship. Yet here he is doing the ordinary work of a local pastor, much like I was doing at that moment. Albeit, I don’t think he was creeping like I was.

Sure, in the eyes of the world, even the church world, he has accomplished great things. I am thankful for his gift to the church. But I can’t help but wonder if that hour he spent with that guy over a cup of coffee wasn’t just as great as winning a Dove Award. I also wonder if he could have even written those songs that connect with the broader church if it wasn’t for his ordinary daily work as a local pastor.

When he sits down to write I doubt he is aiming for greatness. I can only hope and pray he is aiming for faithfulness. And as he has been faithful with his vocation God has used it in great ways.

So, maybe we need to realign our aim from greatness to faithfulness. The reality is that most of us will not reach a significant level of greatness in the world’s eyes. But we can all aim for faithfulness. And I am praying that that is enough. So, I encourage each of us to be faithful in our ordinary lives and then watch how God uses that.

Grace and peace ‘til we rise in glory.