What is Excellence?

Whatever your hand finds to do, verily, do it with all your might; for there is no activity or planning or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol where you are going.” Ecclesiastes 9:10

(See also Phil. 1:9-10; 2 Cor. 8:7; 1 Thess. 3:12-13; 4:1, 10; 1 Cor. 10:31; Mt. 23:37-38)

EXCELLENCE! I prefer the word excellence over the word perfection because I believe that excellence is something we can attain. My working definition of excellence has been “doing the best you can with the resources currently available to you.” This definition acknowledges that excellence for me may be better or worse than excellence for someone else. It also recognizes that if more time, helpers, training, and/or money was available, the results could be better. But with the limited resources it was excellent.

The Lord wants us to be excellent in our service to Him (see Col. 3:23-24). Over 20 years ago I read some books and articles on “Excellence.” Below is a summary that I encourage you to prayerfully read and apply at home, at work, and in our church.

It is known that Admiral Hyman G. Rickover’s interviews were legendary and one of the reasons is he always wanted to cut through the glib and rehearsed answers to get a look at the person underneath. He especially wanted to know how candidates would act under stress. On occasion he had them sit in a chair with the front legs sawed off an inch or two shorter than the back, to keep them off-balance. In his autobiography, “Why Not the Best?” President Jimmy Carter tells about his interview with Admiral Rickover:

The admiral asked how he had stood in his class at the Naval Academy. “I swelled my chest with pride and answered, ‘Sir, I stood 59th in a class of 820!’ I sat back to wait for the congratulations. Instead came the question: ‘Did you do your best?’ I started to say, ‘Yes, sir,’ but I remembered who this was. I gulped and admitted, ‘No, sir, I didn’t always do my best.’ He looked at me for a long time, and then asked one final question, which I have never been able to forget—or to answer. He said, ‘Why not?”

Are you doing your best in serving the Lord Jesus Christ at The Bridge Bible Fellowship? Note I said doing “your best,” not perfection. Edwin Bliss once said, “The pursuit of excellence is gratifying and healthy. The pursuit of perfection is frustrating, neurotic, and a terrible waste of time.” What is excellence?

Pursuing Excellence is not to be a Quest for Superiority. Most people think of “excellence” as doing better than everyone else. This is often done for one’s own glory or significance or for the praise or applause of men. Brian Harbour (Rising Above the Crowd) says: “Success means being the best. Excellence means being your best. Success, to many, means being better than everyone else. Excellence means being better tomorrow than you were yesterday. Success means exceeding the achievements of other people. Excellence means matching your practice with your potential.” The pursuit of excellence comes from doing our best with what we have to God’s glory and with a view to growing and improving, but not with a view to the score or who is watching from man’s standpoint.

Pursuing Excellence Should Not be Limited by the Nature of the Task. The emphasis of 1 Cor. 10:31 is that we are to do whatever we do, whether it is viewed as important by society or very menial and insignificant, whether one is the president of a large company or one who cleans the offices at night, all is to be done to the glory of God. No matter what we do, it deserves our best for in the long run, it reflects on the honor and glory of our God and will ultimately be rewarded by Him (1 Cor. 15:58). “The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water” (John Gardner, source unknown).

Pursuing Excellence Is a Matter of Choosing the Best. The pursuit of excellence is never a matter of simply choosing between what is good or bad, but of choosing what is best or superior because it will better enable us to accomplish what God has designed us to be and do (cf. Phil. 1:9 with Eph. 2:10). The pursuit of excellence from a biblical worldview is always connected with the issue of God’s values and priorities. This means the pursuit of excellence must include the elimination of some things even though they may be good and legitimate. Film-maker Walt Disney was ruthless in cutting anything that got in the way of a story’s pacing. Ward Kimball, one of the animators for Snow White, recalls working 240 days on a 4 ½-minute sequence in which the dwarfs made soup for Snow White and almost destroyed the kitchen in the process. Disney thought it funny, but he decided the scene stopped the flow of the picture, so out it went. When the film of our lives is shown, will it be as great as it might be? A lot will depend on the multitude of ‘good’ things we decided to eliminate to make way for the great things God wants to do through us.

Pursuing Excellence is an All-Inclusive Pursuit (Eccl. 9:10; 1 Cor. 10:31). If it is a task worth doing, it is a task worth doing right and diligently. Perhaps it might be worthwhile to make a list of as many areas as we can think of where the pursuit of excellence should touch and change our lives. Be specific! Are there any areas or tasks that I have not really taken seriously and I need to work on? This would mean our occupation, ministries, family, hobbies, recreation, etc.

Pursuing Excellence Is a Matter of a Whole-Hearted Endeavor (Eccl. 9:10; Dt. 6:4-5; Mt. 23:37-38). When the Bible speaks of our inner person it uses the word “heart.” Pursuing excellence is a matter of the heart. We must guard our heart (Prov. 4:23) so that it is wholly devoted to the glory of God. We cannot succumb to the half-hearted lifestyle of the world around us but must grow more fervent daily in our devotion to Christ and His cause around the world.

Motives for the Pursuit of Excellence: The glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31); redeeming the time (Eccl. 9:10b); eternal rewards (1 Cor. 3:11-15; 15:58; 2 Cor. 5:10; Col. 3:23); and gratitude for all Jesus has done for us (2 Cor. 5:14-15; 1 Cor. 15:58).

The Role of Attitude in the Pursuit of Excellence. Someone said that life is “90% inspiration and 10% perspiration.” The Apostle Paul was inspired by God’s providence (Phil. 1:12-22); the encouragement of the Holy Spirit (Phil. 2:1-2); and an attitude of rejoicing over the soon return of His Lord and Savior (Phil. 4:4-5). Paul made the best out of every situation (even when everyone around him was giving up or doing things for their own glory) because his attitude was changed by God’s grace.

Conclusion: Are you giving your best? Are you pursuing excellence? Pray and ask the Lord to motivate you and all who attend The Bridge to do everything we do for the glory of God! Then look for places to get involved and do excellent work. Go for it!