When Good Enough is Good Enough
Good enough is not always good enough.
Sometimes we should be great. Even excellent.
But often times it is being good enough at most things that allows us to be great at something.
In 200 Pomegranates and an Audience of One I wrote about the fact that as artists (and we are ALL artists–read the book), we are often guilty of trying to be great at so many things (like everything) that we end up leading lives of mediocrity. So in our attempt to be great, we are actually mediocre.
However if we can decide to be great at something, to do something to invest in people that will last as we play to an audience of One, we will finish something of greatness.
To be great at something we have to be good enough at most things.
I know that is a hard thing to swallow for the “Excellence Generation” that we live in now, but it’s just truth.
You may have to be a “good enough” cook so that you can be a great mom.
You may have to be a “good enough” golfer so that you can be a great dad.
You may have to be a g”ood enough” friend so that you can be a great husband.
You may have a “good enough” yard so that you can be a great volunteer on Saturdays.
There are also some choices that churches can make to go from great to “good enough” that we will look at in the coming posts…
This principle caught my eye. When I was in college, my parents called it the “B minus” principle, since a “B-” is still a B. For them, B’s were “good enough” and they encouraged me to embrace life, invest in people, and pursue God rather than get caught up in grades. Although unconventional, their approach gave me room to be great in some things and good enough in others.
Shawn,
I’m loving the “good enough” blog series. I need to apply the good enough principle to my sermon prep. It seems like my prep is never “good enough”. I find myself working on Saturday nights, Sunday am until right before the first service. Then, I tweak between services. I even find myself still preaching to myself and taking from and adding to the sermon on Mondays. I need to find that “good enough” line and trust God to speak through me.