CONSISTENT PERFORMANCE

Monday, June 12, 2006

When I was young I worked in a grocery store. I learned to do everything from checking to butchering. I showed up every day and worked as hard as I could. Did I ever have an off day? Yes, I did. I think everybody has days when they do not perform like they want to. But those “off” days were rare—very rare. I was consistent. Other employees came and went. I remained.

For almost fifty years I was a minister. I showed up and did the best job that I could do. I believe that God blessed what I did. All week I did the things a minister does in serving the church and then on Sunday I went to the pulpit prepared to say something worth while. Did I ever have a Sunday when the message just didn’t go anyplace? Sure! There were days like that—but not many. In almost fifty years of Sundays I gave a consistent performance.

Bragging? I hope not! In my eyes I’m just stating the truth.

I feel qualified to complain about the performance of our Diamondbacks. They have lost seven straight games. They have not only lost—they have lost badly. Aren’t they allowed to lose a few games? Yes, they can lose. All teams lose games and sometimes they slide into a losing streak. At times teams will lose in spite of everything they do. The other teams just do better.

My complaint is not that the Diamondbacks are losing. My complaint is that they are all playing poorly. Even if they showed up and did the best job they could they would still lose some games. But they are not showing up and doing the best job they can, the kind of job they did in their recent road trip. If they were, they would have won some of the games out of the seven they lost.

Consistent performance is what is needed. If you can’t or won't do the work that is required for working in a grocery store, then don’t take the job. If you can’t or won't give 100% in working for the church then maybe you weren’t “called” to that job. If you can’t consistently perform as a baseball player then don’t take the millions of dollars they pay.