Category: Personal Growth

Sometimes you hear a message that you will never, ever forget. It’s a defining message. Early in my walk with Christ I heard one such message by Pastor Jack Hayford about the holiness of God. It changed how I think about God. If I had known how important that message was to me at the time, I would have saved it. But it’s not a great loss – I remember it like I just heard it yesterday. Among other things, the message helped birth in me an intense desire to do things with excellence, specifically to honor and worship God.

Pastor Jack spoke from Revelation where it says:

Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “ ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” Revelation 4:8-11

The picture that has been etched into my mind is of these twenty-four elders who were each sitting on their individual thrones around the throne of God. These are real individuals who have a will. They are not puppets. And yet they are so overwhelmed by the Presence of God that they fall to their faces to shout out their praise to God. When they are finished, they find their seats in perhaps one of the most honoring of all places to sit – only to find themselves in awe of God’s Presence yet again and compelled to proclaim it to one another and God Himself as they bow before Him. They do this over and over, never tiring, in rapt worship to our heavenly Father.

There is nothing half-hearted about these elders. Every fiber of their being is given to honoring God. 

Compare these people with those God Himself rebuked in Malachi, who were bringing mediocre offerings before God:

“But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’ By offering defiled food on my altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ By saying that the LORD’s table is contemptible. When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your Governor! Would he be pleased with you?” . . . “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the LORD Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands.” Malachi 1:6-8a, 10

The only thing I can think to say to that reference is, “Ouch!”

I’ve come to the conclusion that one of the best ways that I can honor God, is by giving him the best of what I have to give. That means my best resources. My best time. My best work.

Excellence Honors God!

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve not arrived. I still fall short, and I’m so thankful for His grace when I do. But I aspire to give God my best. I aspire to excel. Excellence is one of my core values. It’s something that drives and marks me. It’s not on some legalistic ‘to do’ list. It’s an act of worship and honor to God.

I think excellence should mark the ministry of every believer, in some way. It defines who they are and what kind of relationship they have with God. That’s a bold statement for me to make. It’s actually a little scary for me to say. Perhaps presumptuous? I don’t know, but it seems right to me.

How about you? Where does excellence stand out in your life and ministry?

Years ago I remember walking by a local pizza shop. There was a promotional sign in the window that boldly proclaimed their pizza was, “Good Enough”. Not very inspiring. Unfortunately, it’s very easy for us to slide into a ‘good enough’ mentality in our ministries. ‘Good Enough’ sneaks up on us. It begins with one small task or event and slowly creeps into more and more of what we do until we, one day, discover that our ministry is defined by those words: good enough.

Between the Lines
For anyone willing to think it through, there are some unspoken things we are saying when we choose to set ‘good enough’ aside and settle for nothing less than our best. Your excellence (or your mediocrity) is communicating several things, between the lines. Here are a few.

• Our best says we trust God.
  I believe it takes a lot of faith to give our best. The fact is, often we know in our hearts our best won’t be good enough. Most of us are our own worst critic. It can be simpler to give in to the reality that we just don’t always measure up. But when I give my best for Christ, against all the odds and even when I know I fall short, I’m committing my work to God, and trusting Him to do what He does best – breathe His transformative power into it.

• Our best says we value others.
  Jesus simplified the Christian walk and the whole Bible by declaring that everything hinges on the two greatest commandments, to love God and love others. When we give our best we are fulfilling that high call, not only to serve God, but to serve those He gave His one and only Son for. When we serve with excellence, we are communicating to those who will benefit from our work that they are of great value both to us and to God.

• Our best says we value our calling.
  Great leaders are secure leaders. They are humbly and intimately aware of their strengths and weaknesses and have become reconciled to their limitations while they lead and serve others. When we choose to give our all, whether for the most menial of tasks or for the big public event, we are accepting God’s calling on our life to be His hands and feet in the world.

• Our best says it’s important.
  Practically speaking, excellence communicates volumes to those around us about whether what we are doing is truly important or not. Not just whether it’s important to us, but whether it should be important to them as well. If people walk into an event that is only half-baked, there is a nonverbal message saying, “This wasn’t important enough to us to do it right, so you don’t need to treat it as important either.” Similarly, when we bend over backwards to produce excellence at every turn (remember, that means our best, not perfection), then we are letting the world know, “This is important to me, and we want it to be important to you too!”

What other things do you think excellence communicates to those around us?

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. Colossians 3:23-24

Years ago I found myself painting the walls in the master bathroom of our home. I’m a decent painter, but it’s not my trade nor is it something I enjoy. That said, I have pretty high standards, so I was very focused on doing a good job. At one point, I found myself laying on my back and reaching way back to the wall under a bottom shelf that was perhaps 18″ inches from the floor. As I was gently brushing the trim under that shelf, I realized I was overdoing it. Nobody in their right mind would ever be looking under this shelf to see if I painted the trim and that back wall properly. They’d need a flashlight to do so, and that was with the lights on in the bathroom.

That’s when the Holy Spirit spoke to me, “Do it for me.”

It was the most meticulously painted wall in the whole room. I found myself in tears while I did it too. It became a love offering to God. It was one of the most powerful worship experiences of my life.

Working for the Lord

According to Colossians, we’re to maintain that standard of excellence in everything we do. That’s not to say that we should spend hours painting the backside of the drywall before we put it up, or check every sentence we write in our emails with the grammar dictionary to ensure it’s perfect, or even to keep our homes or offices meticulously clean at all times. I don’t believe that’s the point.

God isn’t looking for perfection. He is sorely aware of how imperfect we all can be, which of course is why He offered His perfect solution for our imperfection in Jesus Christ.

Rather, I believe God’s standard for excellence is simply our very best with what matters. Of course, we’re talking about ‘what matters’ to God, not ourselves or our earthly masters.

The last sentence of this Scripture states, “It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” It may be my wife who asked me to paint the walls, my boss who is requesting the report, or my pastor asking me to make a few phone calls; but it’s the Lord Christ who I am always serving. His high calling is to serve those around me as if the request came out of His own mouth.

My best is going to look different than yours too. You might be a much better painter than me. God is simply looking for me to give the best I can, with what I have. That includes my skills, my strengths & weaknesses, my experience, my time and my resources. Excellence is less about what others see or think, than it is about what God knows.

After all, nobody would have ever thought the widow gave her best when she put two cents in the offering (Luke 21:1-4). In comparison to others, it wouldn’t have counted as excellent service. Yet, that’s what Jesus Christ said about her. That offering was the one that represented what Colossians is calling each of us to do. To give our best.

I have a confession. I’m not there. I’d love to say I raise my children, help others in need, do my weekly chores and carry out my work responsibilities like I did when I painted that bathroom wall. But I can say that I aspire to that kind of service to and for Christ.

How about you? Do you maintain God’s standard for excellence in your life and ministry?

photo credit: Guillaume Brialon via photopin cc