Mediocrity vs Excellance

I believe there is nothing as sexy as a man with raised hands praising God. Women of faith are seeking men who will be leaders of their families and wondering why "It's slim pickings."

Dr. Tony Evans of the Urban Alternative and lead pastor at Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas is an amazing Pastor, teacher, author, and speaker. Recently, I was listening to him preach on "The Spiritual Patriarch" (http://tonyevans.org/the-spiritual-patriarch/) and he said that there is no shortage of men to marry, but there is a shortage of spiritual leaders for women to marry today. He explains that today's men are raising "mediocre boys," and they will grow up to become "mediocre men."

Everyone is a teacher. We teach by our actions, words, and deeds. Everyone around us is a student of ours, is judging us, and measuring their own beliefs and behaviors in comparison to what we say and do. We also are watching, judging, and learning from others. "Peer pressure" does not stop just because we left school. Our "peers" can be our co-workers, our bosses, and our social connections; in person or via information technology. Even social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat can influence our thoughts, beliefs, and reactions to anything that supports or opposes anyone's perceptions. Television news channels no longer report the news unbiased, and they even call their news "Entertainment," which means you're going to get commentary that will lead you toward a particular belief system that they are promoting. People who are unaware of such biased reporting can become swept up in prejudiced and hateful rhetoric and unknowingly accept lies as truth. This goes for "both sides of the political isle."

So, what does this have to do with the topic of Mediocrity versus Excellence? Let me put it this way: If you are not being purposeful in the raising of your children, they are learning by default. I often challenge parents to look at the example they are giving to their children. Do you have a, "Do as I say, not as I do" approach to parenting? Then you ARE teaching them to be mediocre and they WILL do as you do. Why would they see any benefit to doing otherwise, if you don't? Why should they go to school when you sit on the couch drinking beer (or smoking pot) all day? Why should they get good grades when you dropped out of school? Why should they get a job and move out when you don't? Why would they do the work that you are unwilling to do?

In life, you will get out of it what you put into it, and the same goes for parenting. The Bible says it this way;

"Bring up a child by teaching him the way he should go,

and when he is old he will not turn away from it."

Proverbs 22:6 New Life Version (NLV)

The meaning of "Bring up" is to purposefully raise them conscious of the consequences if we don't. We are to TEACH our children by example, lead them toward the life of excellence because you KNOW the way! If you've never taken that path they won't know where they are going either. Lead them, don't just side-line coach and tell them what they should do. We must have a goal, a destination where we want them to grow toward. If you don't give them guidance and encouragement to move toward success, they will automatically default to failure. And, if they are forced to learn from others because you are not proactive in brining them up, then they are going to suffer those consequences in addition to the ones they inherited from you. When we have an expectation that our children are going to "learn" the necessary lessons to be successful adults from school, the media, peers, or anywhere outside of the home, we are fooling ourselves. Be a parent who has a direction of excellence for yourself, and lead your children toward becoming excellent too.