This Is Making You Mediocre

Men seek excellence.

Mediocrity means not fully using the gifts and talents that God has given you, and failing to take the necessary action to fulfill the role He’s planned for you. Many think mediocrity is a consequence of faith, as they’ve been misled into thinking that any ambition will necessarily run against faith.

This couldn’t be further from the truth. What goes against our faith is not the pursuit of excellence, but rather the cowardly refusal to aim for something higher. Mediocrity and excellence aren’t measured on results, but on effort: we’ve all been given different gifts and talents, and mediocrity simply means not making the most out of the particular blessings we’ve received through God’s grace.

Recall the final, damning statement of the parable of the talents (Matthew 25: 14-30)

“‘He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.”

But his master replied, “You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

The servant’s fault was not to have less to offer than the other two, because he simply was given less initially. His fault was not using whatever little he was given productively, and trying to make the most out of the talents he did have.

What Causes Mediocrity?

“A Christian cannot be satisfied with mediocrity. He must strive for perfection.
This is the command of Jesus.
“You, therefore, are to be perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt 5:48).

The same counsel is given in the Old Testament: “You shall make and keep yourselves holy, because I am holy” (Lev 11:44).
The Apostles had the habit of referring to all the Christians of their time, as holy. For instance, St Paul addresses the faithful of the church of Ephesus, in this way, (Eph 1:1), while, St Peter describes the Christian community as “a holy nation, a purchased people” (1 Peter 2:9).

We cannot be content with half-hearted efforts but, must work hard to become holy.“I come,” says Jesus, “that they may have life and have it more abundantly” (Jn 10:10).
Some day we shall either be saints in Heaven, or among the damned in Hell. Whoever is satisfied with mediocrity, betrays the mission of Christ.
He returns ingratitude for His infinite goodness and squanders His divine grace.”
— Antonio Cardinal Bacci

We are not here to squander all the blessings God has given us, nor are we supposed to use them selfishly or pursue greatness for our own benefit and pleasure. We are instead to make the most out of our gifts by using them to advance God’s Kingdom on earth, and putting them to the service of a genuine, honest striving towards holiness. For that reason, we must wage war against mediocrity, which is undeniably one of the greatest vices of our time.

There are a lot of obvious sources of mediocrity in men today: addictions to food and drink, social media, cultural brainwashing, and so on, but there are a few that aren’t so commonly spoken of and yet are some of the deeper causes of this epidemic of mediocrity. For the modern man, from what I’ve seen, aside from the things already mentioned, there are 3 unspoken and distinct causes that make him mediocre.

I anticipate that some readers will dislike what I’m about to explain, because these are things that most men are profoundly hooked to, so much so that there might be some pushback and resistance to seeing them as sources of mediocrity. I encourage you to read the whole article with an open mind, and ask yourself honestly if the things I’m about to describe could be things that are keeping you mediocre and if getting rid of them could be a step forward in your journey towards holiness and excellence.

I will explain what they are, and then provide both general and more specific strategies to combat them and remove mediocrity from your life.

So what exactly are these things that are making you mediocre?