If you watch any sports on TV, perhaps you have seen a humorous commercial by the online betting program BET 365 featuring curling. The seminal line in the commercial says, “At BET 365, we don’t do ordinary…we believe every sport should be epic.” The effectiveness of the commercial lies in the juxtaposition of epic with the sport of curling. As we chuckle at the commercial, we often fail to realize that we do not like ordinary. We have bought into the cultural lie that our lives should be epic, filled with grand achievements and extraordinary experiences, to be meaningful. This societal pressure for ‘epic’ lives, often fueled by social media and popular culture, can lead to stress and anxiety, highlighting the need for us to think biblically on this issue.
Life is, well, normal. It is ordinary. Perhaps you may be one of those with many epic moments, but for most of us, life is uneventful. We get up, go to work, school, or care for children at home. Lather, rinse, repeat. However, do not believe your ordinary life is meaningless for one minute.
After urging the Thessalonian believers to continue in their love for one another, Paul urges them to:
Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.
(1 Thess. 4:11-12)
Imagine a commercial for the Thessalonian church. “At the church of Thessalonica, we don’t do epic. We live quietly, mind our own business, and work with our hands.”
Why does Paul urge us to live ordinary lives amid a world crying for the epic? “So that,” Paul says, we “may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.” Living quietly, minding our business, and working hard is how we relate to people outside the church. We want to be self-supporting, but we also do not want to depend on unbelievers in the culture telling us how to live. We do not depend on unbelievers telling us how to live our lives, that is, the epic life, to have meaning and purpose.
Our ordinary Christian lives have purpose and meaning. God has done and will continue to do extraordinary things through ordinary people who quietly serve their neighbors and frequently proclaim the Gospel when God gives them the opportunity. And daily, God adds to the Church those who are being saved through their humble witness. God bless you, ordinary Christians. I love you, and God loves you too.
The Established Path of Discipleship 
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