The Truth About Average

We saw Sunday morning that a Jewish man who was born on the island of Cyprus was given the name "Joseph" by his parents.  But in the book of Acts the Apostles changed his name to "Barnabas" which means "Son of Encouragement."  This surname was awarded to Joseph because he was such an encourager to the early church.  So we began Sunday morning to look at the nature of Barnabas to see what it was that made him tick so that we could see what kind of person can be such an effective encourager.

We saw Sunday that Barnabas' nature included the fact that he was a "good man."  In other words, he lived a life of moral and spiritual excellence.  He excelled in his relationship with God and in his relationship with others.  That is why we have so few "Barnabas'" in the church today.  The apparent truth today is that few followers of Jesus are excelling in their walk of faith.  At best, most Christians are just average followers of Jesus.  But what's worse is that they seem to be satisfied with being "average" spiritually.

A friend shared with me a great definition of average.  When you are average you are either the worst of the best or the best of the worst.  Think about it!  Whether you are the worst of the best or the best of the worst, neither category is a great place to be.  That's the truth about being average.

But truthfully we could go one step further.  One of my professors over 25 years ago when I was studying at Liberty University would say, "Most Christians live such a subnormal Christian life that when someone lives a normal Christian life it seems abnormal!"  So as we start this new work week out, let me ask you who are followers of Jesus that are reading this post a few questions:

Are you a "good man" or a "good woman"?

Are you excelling in your walk of faith?

Or are you an average Christian?

And if you are an average Christian, does that mean you are the worst of the best when it comes to being a follower of Jesus or the best of the worst?

Have you settled for average in your spiritual life?

What can you do this week to excel even more in your walk with Jesus Christ?