Article: Mailing It In by Rusty Hilliard

For those who enjoy online blogs, I highly recommend focuspress.org. Based out of Nashville, Tennessee, this website has a number of very interesting and well-thought out articles dealing with subjects which impact today’s Christian. Recently the authors published an article titled: “MAILING IT IN.” The major thrust of the article is examining different areas of the work of the Lord in which we have stopped working for ourselves, and are instead expecting someone else to do the work for us. I was inspired after reading this to research the phrase “mailing it in.” I came across the following quote which discussed the origins of certain phrases.

“Mailing it in has nothing to do with the mail and everything to do with delivery. The phrase refers to the act of performing a task or job with the minimal amount of effort required to satisfy the person who has hired you to do the work. But that's not all. To "mail it in," there has to be an understanding (express or implied) that the performer of the task is capable of better quality work than what is being delivered. Accordingly, mere hacks cannot "mail it in" the way an A-List Hollywood star or top-selling author can. Indeed, the strange thing about "mailing it in" is that a person has to earn the privilege through status or past, top-notch work.”

I have chosen to highlight the first sentence for a reason. Those first few words contain a great lesson for you and me as we strive to do the work of the Lord here in this local area. You see, it isn’t a problem with the mail (the message), the problem is with the delivery (the messenger.) Folks, God didn’t “mail it in” when it came to our salvation. Instead he gave us all he had to give in the form of his “only begotten son.” (John 3: 16) The question for ourselves is whether or not we are “mailing it in” when it comes to our delivery of the message which he has given to us.

Are you, as the performer of the work of the Lord, “capable of better quality work than what is being delivered?” As Paul stated in Philippians 1: 21  “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” 

This verse doesn’t allow for anything less than our best effort. In fact, this verse repudiates the idea of “mailing it in” all together. -Rusty-