It makes sense that we should always be trying to get better. And I know that we are all sinners in need of God's redeeming grace. But I would like to take a moment to reconsider the obsession we have with growth and improvement.
I am constantly bombarded with the idea of how I need to change to be different and better. The Steve of tomorrow should be a better man than the Steve of today. the Huntington of tomorrow should be better than the Huntington of today. Completely true. Not arguing.
But as we go to the words of Jim Collins* "Good is the enemy of great." His point was that doing "a pretty good job" would ruin any business that wanted to be great because it would lull them into complacency. Good isn't good enough. Let us then disdain good, "fix" what isn't broken and change, change, change.
That's not bad if you have a clear vision of what you want to change into. It's kind of a problem though if you are changing for the sake of change or because you hate the fact that you are just "good." I'm all for growth and I do want to be more like Christ, but we should slow down and celebrate small victories, celebrate who people are, and understand that we want to be changing for the sake of honoring Christ. Not for the sake of being perfect. Lets need Christ and worship Christ, thankfully accept the gift of Christ, and not pretend that we are going to BE Christ tomorrow. Guilt is a sign of an impossible goal.
I thought flipping Jim Collin's words around would be original. But it turns out that a french thinker by the name of Voltair thought of it long before I did.
"perfection is the enemy of good."
* Author of Good to Great and apparently the 14th disciple** if you are a business or a mega church. Also, interesting note. If you have actually read good to great you might be interested to know that Circuit City is going out of business.
**A thirteenth disciple was selected to replace Judas
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