Demons of Mediocrity

I went on a retreat earlier this month. I know that probably doesn’t sound too outrageous, especially for those of you who know that my full-time job is doing retreats. This one was different, though. It was a retreat for me. To tell you the truth, it can be hard for me to go on a retreat for myself. I mean, if you were a bus driver and had a chance to go on vacation, would you want to go on a bus? Similarly, when I have any ‘down time’, there are many other ways I would prefer to recharge my batteries and reconnect with God than to go on a retreat. And yet, I know well that retreats are excellent opportunities to get away from it all and be renewed - so there is one retreat I do attend, for myself, every year.

I am part of a men’s prayer group, and our annual retreat is on Super Bowl weekend. It may sound crazy and border on blasphemy for you football fanatics, but Super Bowl weekend really works well for our group. It is a weekend that is easy for us all to remember, and we always end our retreat by noon on Sunday - which allows us the opportunity to attend Super Bowl festivities on Sunday evening, with our families, at one of our group member’s homes. So, it works out perfectly.

The retreat this year blew me away. Our theme was Temptation and Discernment, and over the course of the weekend we prayerfully studied and discussed a book by the same name, written by a priest named Segundo Galilea. While it is impossible to summarize either a weekend retreat or an excellent book in a blog like this, I thought I would share the basic premise, give you an example of what we discussed, and encourage you (especially if you are in ministry) to read the book.

The basic premise of this awesome book is that since the devil is not a fan of those of us who are trying to live spiritual lives, he employs numerous deceptions (demons) to undermine both our prayer lives and our ministries. And yet, since we are good people trying to do good things for a good God, the evil one rarely comes to us as pure evil – satan knows that we will rarely choose something that is clearly and objectively wrong. Rather, the enemy disguises himself as what St. Paul calls “an angel of light” and so in his subtle deceits, the evil one tempts us to mediocrity.

One chapter of many chapters that really spoke to me in this book is simply called “Activism”, which describes the demon of ministry where we get too busy. I think that this is a huge issue for those of us involved in ministry. Now the author is clear that working hard is not the problem; the problem lies in getting too busy to take care of ourselves physically, emotionally, and spiritually. The deception here, and why this is “an angel of light” is that it seems good to work tirelessly for the Lord, right? What could be wrong about spending long hours doing ministry? The demon is active in our lives, however, when we are too busy to pray, aren’t getting enough exercise, and never have any ‘down time’. We forget that the Lord is the one who organizes and accomplishes all things. An activist minister does lots of good things, but does not stop to take the time to discern or ask if these things are what God wants, are in God’s timing, or should even be done at all right now. Activism can result in burnout, neglecting friends and family, impatience with others, discouragement, self-sufficiency, and pride. We can fall into the trap of thinking that our good works are what will save us. However, only God can save us, and I think I need him to save me from the demon of activism.

Just to whet your appetite - so that you will not be able to resist the very good temptation to pick up this book and break free from some of your mediocrities - here are just a few of the chapter titles from the book…

From the section “Demons of Ministry” – Messianism, Activism, Losing a Feel for Persons, Preferring Some People Over Others, Losing the Joy of Ministry, Pastoral Envy, and Losing a Sense of Humor

From the section “Demons of Prayer” – Not Being Sufficiently Motivated, Putting Quantity Above Quality, Neglecting Substantial Prayer Times, Discouragement, Evaluating the Quality of Prayer Improperly

Very rarely do I read a book that I highly recommend, but this book is excellent.