Mensa Otabil - Learning Excellence Through Pressure - Part 1
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Continuing my teaching on excellence with the theme for the year, my message today is titled «Learning Excellence Through Pressure.» Sounds like a good title, don’t you think? I have already discussed having both a hunger and an appetite for excellence, and this week we’re going to look at how pressure enables us to be people of excellence—people who break barriers and do wonderful things for God. We’ll start from Proverbs 27, verse 7, which says, «A satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb, but to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet.» A satisfied soul hates the honeycomb, which should be loved, but doesn’t. In contrast, to a hungry soul, the bitter becomes sweet.
The honeycomb is naturally sweet; it is the core of honey and even sweeter than the honey itself. Bitterness is not sweet, and many of you can recall bitter things you’ve tasted in your life. Sometimes it might be a fruit you thought would be sweet but wasn’t, like unripe pineapple, mango, or lemon. Lemon itself is not sweet, and when it is unripe, it’s even worse. Yet, the honeycomb is sweet—something to cherish—while bitter things are to be disliked. Yet this passage states that a satisfied soul loathes the honeycomb. It should love it, but instead, it hates the sweetness. On the contrary, a hungry person finds sweetness even in bitterness.
Imagine choosing between a ripe, sweet pineapple and an unripe, bitter one. Naturally, we would choose the sweet pineapple, not the unripe, bitter one. However, this passage indicates the opposite occurs based on whether one is a satisfied soul or a hungry one. To summarize this proverb, self-satisfaction makes us see what is easy as hard. When a person is satisfied or self-satisfied, they hate the sweet thing, the easy thing, the good things for them, all because of self-satisfaction. However, when a person is hungry, they perceive what is hard as easy. They embrace the bitter and find it sweet.
The state of your appetite determines what you see as sweet or bitter, what you will embrace, and what you’ll reject. A person hungry for something, even when it’s hard, can do it as if it were easy. In Genesis 29, there’s a story about Jacob, who loved Rachel and was told to work for seven years for her. He worked and ended up with Leah instead of Rachel. Laban told him to work another seven years for Rachel. Jacob was madly in love with Rachel, and the Bible depicts how Jacob worked in Genesis 29:18–20. It states, «Now Jacob loved Rachel, so he said, 'I will serve you seven years for Rachel, your younger daughter.' Laban said, 'It is better that I give her to you than that I should give her to another man. Stay with me.'» In verse 20, which is very interesting, it says, «Jacob served seven years for Rachel, and they seemed only a few days to him because of the love he had for her.» Seven years felt like just a few days.
If you saw Jacob, you might think he was suffering through difficulty. You’d question what sort of mistreatment he was enduring at the hands of his father-in-law. But Jacob was thriving through those seven years; it was easy for him, not because the work was simple, but because his soul hungered for Rachel. He served those seven years without complaint. This shows that when you love something and pursue it with passion, you don’t complain about it, as you have a hunger for it, a desire for it, and you do it as if it were nothing. Conversely, when you engage in something you dislike, even a few days can feel like seven years.
What changes our approach to work is not the work itself but how we feel about it. This insight helps us understand how to become excellent individuals. To excel, we will undoubtedly work, but what influences our efforts is whether we are satisfied souls or hungry souls. In Philippians 3:12–14, the Apostle Paul shares his life philosophy. Paul, who wasn’t even present when Jesus was ministering, somehow became more influential than the other apostles. He established more churches than them, wrote two-thirds of the New Testament, and almost all the doctrine in the New Testament was articulated by him.
How does a latecomer like Paul manage to become such an influential leader? He wasn’t intimidated by those who preceded him, like Peter, James, or John. Paul shares his philosophy about how he sees life in Philippians 3:12–14, where he says, «Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do: forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.»
Twice in this passage, Paul uses the term «press.» In verse 12, he states, «I press on,» and in verse 14, he says, «I press toward.» It’s an interesting choice of words; it relates to pressure. In Greek, the term used, «dioko,» means to press, pursue, and interestingly, to persecute. So when Paul says, «I press on,» he indicates he is almost persecuting himself. The term implies suffering hardship under intense pressure. When Paul states, «I press on,» he is referencing a challenging endeavor, stating he endures hardship and intense pressure to move forward.
Paul’s life was driven by pressure. In other words, Paul claims he persecutes himself to progress. Pressure is a powerful force; without it, there can be no movement. Those who despise pressure achieve little in life because pressure propels us out of inertia.
I wasn’t a particularly good design student; I didn’t enjoy science subjects, except for biology, which was easy to grasp. I disliked chemistry the most due to its confusing concepts. I remember Newton’s first law of motion, which we had to memorize. It states that in a state of inertia, an object remains still or continues at the same velocity unless a force is exerted on it. This insight into motion and inertia leads us to understand that an object will stay in place unless pressure or force acts on it.
When you observe someone stagnant, it indicates they have avoided pressure, because to move, one must embrace pressure. Paul exemplifies this mindset when stating, «I press on.»
In ancient times, a common concept of pressure was the wine press, which applied continuous pressure on grapes to produce wine. Similarly, an olive press used the same principle to manufacture olive oil. The same mechanism was utilized by Gutenberg to create the printing press, hence its name. To achieve movement, my friend, you and I need pressure. If you detest pressure, you will remain stuck.
Paul communicates that even when one has achieved something, they must still apply pressure to move ahead. Without pressure, you will remain where you are. Life contains points of resistance, and without pressure, you can never surpass them. One of the most precious substances in the world is a diamond, formed under extreme pressure and high temperature. Diamonds are cut under intense pressure; thus, for both creating and polishing diamonds, extreme pressure is essential.
If you loathe pressure, your life will stagnate. If pressure gives you headaches, you’re unlikely to manage it, and hence, you can’t move. Excellence cannot occur in a state of inertia. The essential question I want to pose this morning is: How well do you function under pressure? Do you flee from responsibility when pressure increases? Do you criticize those who apply pressure on you to perform? Many of the world’s innovations were born out of pressure. Nations and cultures reluctant to endure pressure remain stagnant or progress very slowly.
I’m convinced, without a shadow of doubt, that the critical issues in Africa stem from what I call cultural inertia—a culture resistant to change. Our economic issues, our cultural quandaries, are products of this culture. It is people unwilling to embrace pressure that create the problems we face. Even in our religious realm, when individuals complain about prophets and spiritual issues, it’s often not purely a Christian problem; it’s a Ghanaian cultural issue. It’s the intrusion of African traditional religion into Christianity. We possess an innate resistance to change, opting for the easy route.
If we want to excel, we must embrace pressure and work under it as if it is nothing. Be it a footballer or any other profession, everyone benefits from pressure. Even pastoring requires pressure to achieve anything substantial. If a church is comfortably meeting in a small room without pressure, it will remain stuck. No one will likely challenge the status quo without pressure.
We have doctors here, and we respect their work. In other countries, however, if a hospital commits medical malpractice, it may be shut down. In our situation, surgeries can occur despite negligence without accountability. If our healthcare system faced genuine accountability, it would undoubtedly improve.
The same concept applies to pastors; if counsel leads to harm in someone’s marriage, and they were held accountable, they’d think twice before making careless statements. As it stands, we often escape consequences in Ghana. We speak and act without accountability, which hinders our growth.
Society reveals how we resist pressure, and our entertainment industry reflects this stagnation. Many films created decades ago retain superior storytelling and quality compared to our contemporary productions. We’re not lacking talent; we merely accept mediocrity without pressure.
Typically, when people induce pressure upon us, we resent them. However, as we grow, we appreciate those who put pressure on us. The teachers who drill us are often the ones we value most. Those who let us chase our own whims eventually reveal themselves as our worst enemies.
We may dislike pressure, and I certainly do, but it is essential for our progress. I won’t preach for long today since we have communion, which shortens sermons, but I’ll conclude by saying that pressure proves us. It showcases what lies within. Pressure reveals our true selves, just like a teabag infuses flavor into hot water. Without pressure, no one can benefit from the contents within.
I’ve discovered what I could accomplish only under pressure. I was naturally reserved and quiet; nothing in my demeanor suggested I could speak publicly. Until a Christian Fellowship leader put me under pressure, I had no idea I could communicate. He announced publicly that I would speak the following week. That pressure challenged me to confront my fears. I spent that week praying and hoping for a divine intervention, and when I finally spoke, I felt dreadful. Yet afterward, people praised my ability to communicate effectively, something I had never realized I could do.
Pressure strengthens our abilities. For instance, bodybuilders gain muscle mass through pressure applied to their muscles. Without it, they cannot develop their gifts and talents. Pressure reveals and sharpens who we are. It adds value to our work; without it, we might settle for mediocrity, becoming complacent with merely being hospitable.
Let us be reminded that pressure expands our capabilities. It pushes us to transform from one state to another. Each of us who desires to excel must recognize that we need pressure. May God grant you the strength to embrace pressure, as I will discuss the subtle pressures around and within us in the coming weeks. Without the pressure of growth, our comfort zones will keep us stagnant. So, as we proceed through this year, let us press on, recognizing the importance of pressure as a catalyst for excellence.