How High Do You Set Your Bar?

Needing to fill an arts requirement for her college curriculum, my daughter, Sarah, excitedly selected an "Intro to Ballet" class. She had loved ballet as a young girl and always had hoped to return to it. Her excitement turned to angst, however, when on the first day she found herself the only one in the class who hadn't been seriously studying ballet for at least ten years.

Why would these talented and experienced dancers be in a class she had hoped would be relatively unchallenging and fun? The answer: an easy A. Those with that hope had it quickly dashed, however, when the instructor let them know she was on to their motive and "Intro to Ballet" suddenly became "Advanced Bolshoi Techniques."

What followed were phone calls with me literally rolling on the floor laughing at her attempts to keep up and avoid causing bodily harm to her classmates, who, inspired by her determination, conspired to help her. They formed human walls to block her from sight of the instructor. When it was Sarah's turn to perform a series of moves across the floor, someone would distract the instructor, who when she resumed observing, would see Sarah at the other end of the floor in a perfect ballet pose as if just having completed the intricate series of moves (but which in reality had been a mad running dash to the finish point.)

"Excellent, Sarah, excellent" she'd say, because Sarah has the physique of a dancer and looks pretty impressive when striking a pose. "If only I didn't have to move," she finished telling her mother who was writhing on the floor in laughter....

This continued for about a week an a half before Sarah had to admit that there was no way she was going to keep up. She went to the instructor, confessed that she was struggling and feared that she might have to drop the class. The instructor offered to meet with her privately and help her master the individual moves so that she could execute them with the class. Sarah enthusiastically agreed. She probably ended up spending more time on ballet that semester than she did on any of her difficult academic classes because the bar, quite literally, had been set high and she was striving to meet it.

The end of her story is that she received an A in the class-- I don't know whether the other students, who had signed up for what they hoped would be a very low bar, were rewarded. I think probably not, as the instructor was holding them to something higher.

The whole experience made me think about the way we do Drama Teams in so many churches. People join them thinking they'll be a fun thing to do. Maybe the participants were in a performance once in high school and enjoyed it. Maybe theater is something they've always wanted to try. But then the reality sets in. To do drama well, you need to commit to some basics, like memorizing your lines, practicing them, taking direction and showing up for regular rehearsals. Suddenly people find the bar higher than they'd like and one of three things happens: they quit, they convince the drama ministry director to lower the bar (and he or she often does fearing they won't be able to find people for dramas if they require too much) or they resolve to do what it takes to meet the bar. It's only the third option that results in excellence being offered in service to the Lord.

If you're a drama team participant, I encourage you to do what it takes to do your best and help to raise the bar for your team. If you're a drama team leader, encourage your team to strive for excellence. Lowering the bar to accommodate people who are looking for an easy ministry A is a disservice to your team and to your church. Be like Sarah's instructor. Keep the bar high and help your team to meet it.