I want to be extraordinary.
There, I admitted it. I want to be extraordinary. I want to be known for extraordinary work, go on extraordinary adventures, and have extraordinary things. I mean really…who doesn’t want the extraordinary in one way or another?
I have done some soul searching, and the heart of my desire for the extraordinary truly beats from a place of wanting to do extraordinary things for the glory of God and for the furtherance of His kingdom. I serve an extraordinary God, and I want to praise Him in extraordinary ways. In every little area of my life, I want to showcase my extraordinary God.
But sometimes I get stuck believing the lie that I must be extraordinary or do extraordinary things for God in order for Him to show up in big, extraordinary ways or for Him to be pleased with me.
The Bible is the book of the extraordinary – extraordinary people such as Samson, extraordinary events like the Red Sea, and extraordinary sacrifice like Abraham and Isaac. So yes, the Bible inspires me to pursue the path to the extraordinary. I think inside all of us is the desire to be extraordinary in some way, whether it is for the glory God or the glory of self. This desire is not unique to our time or culture. In fact, the desire to be extraordinary was birthed in the garden when Eve took of the fruit. The serpent tricked her by saying, "You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:4-5).
"You will be like God". Eve was enticed by the desire to be better, to be extraordinary, to be like God, and that desire is inside all of us. We crave something and someone that we are not.
The truth is, yes, the desire to be extraordinary was birthed back at creation, but it is extremely hard to be ordinary in the times that we live in. Society pushes us to be extraordinary, to do extraordinary things, to seek out extraordinary adventures and opportunities, and to post about all these things using the most extraordinary looking Instagram feed. Yet in our pursuit of the extraordinary, we so often miss the beauty and even the divine purpose in the ordinary.
Is it ok to just be average? And if so, can we be truly be happy and fulfilled in the ordinary?
Why Ordinary Christianity?
I have struggled with this desire to be extraordinary since middle school. In my struggle, I produced fruits of discontentment, anxiety, and misplaced affections. Middle school and high schools days are filled with comparison - the fight to be number one in academics, athletics, or social standing - and with the need to be seen.
Even beyond school years, we get so caught up in how we look to others or how we are performing that we forget our roots and our foundation. This problem is seen in the body of Christ as well. We get so caught up in doing that we ignore what truly matters.
Let me explain...
I remember when I first began dreaming up ideas for my blog, social media, and my career, I was so eager to jump into light speed straight to the extraordinary. I could not wait to do big things for God! I would wake up ready to roll, ready to jump into writing, inspiring others to pursue God, ready to do the big stuff. In my eagerness, my time with God suffered. The quality, undistracted time I used to have studying God’s Word became hurried and shallow. My prayer time become nonexistent while my love for others waned. This seems like an oxymoron, but in my excitement to do extraordinary things for God, I became self-centered and forsook my foundation. I stepped over the ordinary so I could achieve the extraordinary.
The opposite is also true. There have been times in my life when I get so caught up in the ordinary day to day that I forget the basics of my Christian faith. Complacency in the everyday shadows eternal purpose. The busyness of the everyday distracts from what truly matters. Passion for God and His glory is nonexistent simply because the ordinary routines of my Christian faith have been replaced or forgotten in the midst of the ordinary routines of life.
Whether you strive for the extraordinary so much that you push aside the ordinary or whether you are so caught up in the ordinary that you have forgotten your extraordinary purpose, we must all get back to our foundation - the ordinary rhythms of our Christian faith.
The Foundation of Christianity
The reality of either pursuing the extraordinary or getting stuck in the ordinary is prevalent in the church today. In wanting to do such big things for God (change the world, serve in multiple ministries, reach the lost, etc.), we tend to push aside the ordinary rhythms and routines of Christianity that God has called us to. Or in wanting to just get by or simply survive, we completely neglect the ordinary rhythms of our faith.
So what are the ordinary rhythms of Christianity? What are the foundational building blocks that we cannot neglect?
The rhythms of ordinary Christianity are:
· Daily time with God (Psalm 1:2-3)
· Prayer (1 Thess. 5:17)
· Loving God (Matt. 22:37-38)
· Loving others (Matt. 22:39)
· Obedience (2 John 1:6)
For now, we'll keep it simple. Ordinary Christianity is all about loving God and loving others. Because if we love God, we will want to get to know Him in His Word. We will want to spend time with Him in prayer. We will want to obey His commands. If we love God, we will love His creation. We will love others.
You don't have to be extraordinary or do extraordinary things to fulfill your extraordinary purpose. At the heart of it, we are all just ordinary people created by an extraordinary God. Let's be faithful in the ordinary and not limit God to the extraordinary.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”
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