We open our ninth window into the world of good, better and best. It was a theme in many of our services in church yesterday, although I loved the comment in our cafe church that, 'I didn't come here to do a self-assessment, I came for a break from that to worship.' I personally loved the time of chatting and thinking about our use of time. The singing bit I hated, as usual. (No criticism of our church musicians; I just pretty much dislike corporate singing.)
Anyway, the thought, the thought. It is said that the good is sometimes the enemy of the best. There is some truth in that but it is not completely true in every circumstance.
A guy owns a car lot. He has to sell 20 cars a week. He has worked out the exact length, style and tone of a sales pitch that will deliver him his target. Not everyone likes it. But 20 a week do, by and large. He could improve the pitch. It would mean that some of the customers who turn away bought cars. Maybe cars they didn't really need. But it might also mean he didn't have time for some of the customers who could be persuaded more easily and he'd miss them. In order to have an excellent business he needs a good enough sales pitch and no more.
I have a lot of things to do this week. Those on the receiving end of my work will (probably) not be able to tell the difference between good enough and excellent. So I will do lots of things well enough in order to finish them all and that will be an excellent week's duties.
Sometimes the good is the enemy of the best. But more often than not they are on the same side. You might still be too busy, needing to put something down before you can carry any more stuff. But until you have that luxury remember, sometimes good enough is good enough.
When Jesus found the queue at the door too long (Mark 1:38) he said to his disciples, 'Let's go somewhere else.' For those of us without that privilege this week, let's stay with the queue without feeling the guilt-inducing mantra of striving for excellence. Wander towards good enough instead. It's a nicer journey.
1 comment:
That is very interesting because my response on Sunday night was the exact opposite - the sung worship (with the group at its best imho) gave an opportunity to engage directly with God: the preceding coffee and chat, while pleasant, would have fitted better in its usual place after the service. And the theme was one which circumstances have recently forced me to ponder a great deal, so superfluous for me.
No service suits everyone, and I wouldn't expect everything to be geared to me. But I would like to understand the rationale behind the current fashion for 'interactive'. Great as a change, not (for me) so great as a feature.
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