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?