A young woman once told me in passing conversation she had always been a "B" student. “Okaaaay,” I said. Then she said she had always been satisfied with a "B." The casual tenor of our chat immediately changed. "Then, you cheated,” I declared. She protested that she had never cheated. "Of course you did," I replied. "You robbed yourself of an opportunity." She thought for a moment, "An opportunity...?" Then I saw realization wash over her. "The opportunity to be great! Thanks, I needed to hear that. I never thought of that it that way."
I walked away thinking, "That's the only way I've ever thought of it.” I've long-remembered this brief, seemingly unremarkable exchange. It reminded me that when we see things a certain way and approach life with a certain outlook, we do not always pause long enough to recognize that others sometimes see things very differently. If my children do their best in a challenging class and get a B, no problem. If they do anything less than their best and bring home a B, there will be consequences. A "little" thing like being satisfied with being average when average is less than your best dramatically alters the trajectory of one's life.
In a book entitled “Excellence: The Character of God and the Pursuit of Scholarly Virtue,” Andreas J. Köstenberger wrote, “Mediocrity, sloppy workmanship, and a half-hearted effort do not bring glory to God or advance his kingdom” (40). I believe this is true in all aspects of life. People, especially Christians, should not be content with being average when average is not their best. We should strive to be excellent spouses, excellent parents, excellent workers, excellent examples, spiritually excellent, morally excellent, etc. This is how I've always seen it. How do you see it?