I served my mission from 1995 to 1997. My mission president was Walter John Bailey III. It’s coming up on 30 years at this point. In a recent post, I spoke of the mediocre member. It caused me to reflect upon my mission and a phrase I heard my mission president speak a few times. All these years later, those words have stuck with me. They were: “mediocrity is of the adversary.”
THE DEFINITION OF MEDIOCRITY
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary says: “One of the things that is remarkable about mediocre is the extent to which it has retained its meaning over the course of more than four centuries of continual use. The word, when used as an adjective, has changed very little, if at all, in its meaning since it was used in a 1586 book titled The English Secretorie (our earliest known evidence): “Mediocre, a meane betwixt high and low, vehement and slender, too much and too little as we saye. . . .” The word comes to English via Middle French from the Latin word mediocris, meaning “of medium size, moderate, middling, commonplace,” and perhaps originally “halfway to the top.” The noun form of mediocre is mediocrity.” As well as: “of moderate or low quality, value, ability, or performance : ORDINARY, SO-SO”
WHAT ELSE HAS BEEN SAID ABOUT MEDIOCRITY?
“Mediocrity will never do. You are capable of something better.”
― Gordon B. Hinckley
“Most humans, in varying degrees, are already dead. In one way or another they have lost their dreams, their ambitions, their desire for a better life. They have surrendered their fight for self-esteem and they have compromised their great potential. They have settled for a life of mediocrity, days of despair and nights of tears. They are no more than living deaths confined to cemeteries of their choice. Yet they need not remain in that state. They can be resurrected from their sorry condition. They can each perform the greatest miracle in the world. They can each come back from the dead…”
― Og Mandino
“If any of you have a desire to be mediocre, you will probably find that you have already achieved your ambition.”
― Hugh B. Brown
“I told her I didn’t do very well, and she sat me down and said, ‘David, you can do a lot better than that. When you are mediocre you are the best of the worst and the worst of the best. Don’t you be mediocre.’
― David L Beck
WHY IS MEDIOCRITY BAD?
in short, if we settle for mediocrity, we do not rise to our full potential as children of God. How could this be said in scripture? Often times, those who have settled for mediocrity desire to tear other down to their own level.
Revelations 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
Matthew 25:24-25 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.
James 2:7 Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
2 Nephi 28:21-23 And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will say: All is well in Zion; yea, Zion prospereth, all is well—and thus the devil cheateth their souls, and leadeth them away carefully down to hell. And behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance. Yea, they are grasped with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the devil, and all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God, and be judged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.
WHY IS MEDIOCRITY OF THE ADVERSARY?
Satan, the adversary or great deceiver, desires to prevent all men from returning to God. If he can discourage you, hold you captive by sin, prevent you from turning to God, tells you the atonement does not apply to you, stop you from reaching your divine potential, or even making you feel easy that all is well in Zion.
I didn’t even think about it until a second ago, but the idea that you can simple declare “I have been saved” and have no works is a lie by the adversary. An attempt to pursued men to put no effort into living the laws of God.
I guess even on a more foundational level, obedience is the defining factor of mediocrity. You will either live them or you will not. As you learn them you will implement them, or you will not. This gets complicated from here.
MEDIOCRITY VS THE BEST I CAN DO
We each have the ability to develop talents in life. I think it is important to not mix up the best I can do with mediocrity. Afte writing this post, I was transcribing my mission journals. I was talking about the efforts I was going through to learn the Spanish language. I struggled tremendously. My Spanish language skills never developed to the level of other missionaries. In a sense they were mediocre when compared to other missionaries. But the effort was not mediocre.
I then thought about my song writing abilities. They are mediocre compared to others. But, they are the best I can do for where I am in life. I’m OK with them not being developed to the level of a master musician. However, when I think of my living the gospel. I know I can do more. I can do better reading and praying daily. I can do better gaining power over my mind and my flesh. I can do better fulfilling my callings, my temple attendance, and more.
If you are close to the Holy Ghost, you will know if it is an area in which you can do better.
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