Focus: it is a good thing

Today I am going to take a step in focusing this blog. I am in the process of creating another blog that will hold the entirety of my book. I will likely do the same for all book/semi-book ideas that come forward and take up more than one or two posts. A quick tease... coming January 2009 I will be revealing a project I am super excited about; and it is not even mine! But, I will have the privilege to help co-author a book that I believe will be very influential in church (and perhaps business) life.

Focus is something God has been talking to me about for almost a year now. A few months back I read a book titled, "Good to Great". If you have not read it, you need to. It is one of my "must reads" for anyone who comes to me with an idea and seems serious about carrying it to completion. I have to be honest, though, and say that there was a part in that book that really bothered me. It was the part that said greatness can only be achieved when I find the thing that I am best at in the whole world and then focus my resources on doing that thing. As I read it I remember thinking, "Well that sucks for me, because I am not the best at anything in the world." Did that mean that Greatness was forever out of my reach? Will I have to be satisfied excepting my mediocre place in this world while the Great people get to be the best?

This last week God answered those questions with the simple answer... Focus. He had me ask the question again, "What can I do better than anyone in the world?" At first I struggled finding an answer. I am not the best speaker, the best leader, the best organizer, the best visionary... and He told me to narrow my focus. Eventually He had me think about my children, and He asked, "Can you be the best father they have?" He had me think about my wife and asked, "Can you be the best husband she had?" You might think this sort of competition is unfair because I am the only father and husband they have. And yet, when I asked those questions I realized that Yes, I can be the best in the world at those two things. I truly believe that no one else in all of this world can be a better father or husband to my family than I can.

I began applying this same principle to the church and realized that sometimes Greatness involves narrowing our Focus. We are often tempted to be Good at many things while never begin Great at any one thing. We get trapped into thinking that a Narrow focus means a Small impact. I believe that just the opposite is often true, and will talk about that tomorrow. For today, what are you the best at... in the whole world? I think that question is often the first step to realizing what purpose God has for us in this life.