Core Values – Excellence – Ecclesiastes 9:10
Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might, for in the grave, where you are going, there is neither working nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom
What is Excellence?
· Possessing good qualities in high degree
· Synonyms: Class, distinction, fineness, goodness, greatness, high quality, merit, perfection, pre-eminence, purity, quality, superbness, supremacy, transcendence, virtue, worth
· Antonyms: failing, fault, flaw, imperfection, inferiority, mediocrity
Where does Scripture even talk about excellence?
· Heb 11:4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
· Dan 6:3 Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him;
· Psalms 8:1 O LORD our Lord, how excellent is thy name in all the earth!
· Psalms 150:2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.
· Philippians 1:9-11 And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is excellent and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
· 1 Cor 12:31 But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.
· Biblical examples of excellence in action:
o New wine @ Cana Wedding
o Sacrifices of the Old Testament
· When I say that excellence is a core value, I want to en-flesh that by what you see in the business world:
o Five-Star Churches
o Summarizing our Core Value of Excellence:
i. Excellence is offering the best of our time and talent in thorough preparation and execution of God’s service
ii. The standard of excellence requires that we do God’s service with superior quality that reflects the eternal impact of Kingdom work
iii. Excellence honors God and inspires greatness
iv. Every ministry and individual must strive for excellence
v. Excellence in our ministries and lives is a proper reflection of God at work in us
vi. Excellence in ministry is fitting worship to God
· The big question you may be asking is “Does excellence matter to God? Does God care about quality? Is He concerned with how well things are done? Does it make any difference to God whether: the instruments are in tune; the worship team has rehearsed the songs, etc.? Some would say, "no."
· All God cares about is our hearts. It’s the thought that counts. God is not impressed with a slick program or flashy audio-visuals; what matters to Him are internal things like love, compassion, and humility.
· God is primarily concerned with our hearts. But God does care about those things as an expression of our hearts. Because the way we serve God - in the church, in our homes, in our workplaces, in our families - the way we live out our faith; the level of commitment we have to doing things well, to honoring God in every area of our lives - that reveals what is in our hearts.
· We should strive for excellence because God is worth it. He deserves our best.
o Have you ever given your best to someone whom you later found out didn’t deserve it? [employer, friend, husband or wife, religious leader, politician] That will never happen with God. He is worthy of our love and devotion, worthy of our worship, worthy of our labor. He is worthy of late nights and early mornings. He is worth making sacrifices for. He is worthy giving things up for.
o Illustration: Winston Churchill’s first speech to the house of commons three days after becoming prime minister, at the beginning of World War II
§ "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy?
§ I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy.
§ You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival. Let that be realized; no survival for the British Empire, no survival for all that the British Empire has stood for."
§ Even more than Great Britain, God is worthy of our blood, toil, tears, and sweat. He is worthy of our best efforts, our highest achievement. He is worthy of excellence. There are many causes to which you could devote your time and effort. Small causes, large causes.
· Collecting stamps. Rebuilding old cars. Practicing medicine or law. Climbing Mount Everest. Building a business. Running for public office. Raising a family. Keeping your lawn well-manicured. Lowering your golf handicap. Tutoring disabled children. Reading Tom Clancy novels. Staying physically fit. Finding a cure for cancer. Finding new galaxies. Finding rare Beanie Babies.
· Some of these causes are more worthy than others. But there is only one cause that is worthy of every ounce of work, devotion, labor, sacrifice, suffering, dedication - only one cause that is worth giving our lives for every day. And that cause is serving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Mount Everest will crumble. The galaxies will burn out.
· Empires, such as the British Empire that Churchill fought to preserve, will rise and fall. Beanie Babies will go the way of cabbage patch dolls and pet rocks. Your body will fall apart. But God and His Kingdom are eternal. And those who serve Him will be eternal with Him.
· The excellence difference:
o Example: visiting a rich family member who is unprepared for your visit vs. visiting a poor relation who has gone all out to provide the best that they have. Which one loves you more?
o "Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a fattened calf with hatred." -- Proverbs 15:17 (NIV)
o Social norm of reciprocity – you give to others what is given to you
§ Christmas gifts
§ Greetings
· Excellence is commanded from us:
o Col 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord
o Ecc. 9:10 Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.
· Mediocrity (the opposite of excellence) makes Jesus sick:
o Rev. 3:15-16 – “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”
2. THERE IS ALWAYS A REASON TO OFFER GOD LESS THAN OUR BEST
a. The approximate date was around 430 BC
i. The place is Jerusalem
ii. Some years before, the people had returned from exile in Babylon and found the city in ruins
iii. They began to rebuild the temple and to rebuild the city walls.
iv. However, as the people began to settle into their lives, they forgot the lessons of the exile and they began to put their own priorities in front of God’s priorities.
v. They began to neglect the proper worship of God – Even the priests were guilty
b. Their reasons for doing so were problem similar to our own reasons
c. These reasons generally fall into three categories:
i. Category number one is usually expedience – doing things cheap and easy
1. It’s just a lot cheaper and easier to offer God a defective animal rather than a perfect one
2. Things haven’t changed much
a. We think it’s okay to just “get by” in our Christian lives.
b. We think leftovers are good enough for God.
c. We try to give Him our leftover time, our leftover money, and our leftover energy – Then we wonder why God doesn’t bless our lives
ii. Category number two is simply possessing a bad attitude
1. We really just don’t care about what we offer and how we offer it
2. Cain’s problem
a. God blessed Abel’s sacrifice because he gave out of the best he had and gave it the way God prescribed
b. Cain just grabbed whatever was convenient
c. His desire was not to honor God but to get the offering over with and move on to something more important.
iii. Category number three is what is called the “popular argument”
1. It’s the thinking that says, “Everyone else is doing it.”
2. Since everybody else is doing it, why should I hold to a higher standard?
3. OUR SERVICE REVEALS OUR ATTITUDE TOWARD GOD
a. The big issue is that our choice to give God less than our best reveals several things:
b. It reveals the priority that we place on our relationship with God
i. It shows that our desire to grow in our relationship with Him is less than we profess
ii. It shows that we are more interested in things other than what please God.
c. It also reveals that we treat God in a way that is dishonorable.
i. We show God less honor and respect than we give our parents or governmental leaders.
ii. We’re more concerned with ourselves and the things that please us.
4. SERVICE IS MEANT TO BE COSTLY
a. It was meant to cost something when God told His people to give of the best of their flocks and their fields.
i. Prov. 3:9 – “Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops.”
b. We forget that God has given us far more than we deserve
c. God has never cut corners or taken the short cut or found a cheaper or easier way.
d. The cost of serving God with excellence:
i. Excellence Takes Hard Work
ii. There’s a big difference between a “pretty good job” on something and doing it with excellence.
iii. Excellence takes a lot more time.
iv. Excellence Is Evidenced in the Details
1. A commitment to excellence (or the lack of it) often shows up most clearly in the way we do the “little” things.
2. Jesus taught us that we have to be faithful in the small things before we can receive the bigger blessings.
v. Excellence Takes Daily Diligence
1. Without diligence, excellence unravels into mediocrity
vi. Our duty is to live as stewards of what God has blessed us with.
1. Stewardship should not be slipshod.
vii. Someone once said, “Mediocrity is excellence in the mind of the mediocre.”
1. Jesus taught that unfaithful stewards were both wicked and lazy.
5. GOD EXPECTS AND DESERVES NOTHING LESS THAN OUR BEST
a. One church has a slogan that I think sums up this thought: -- If it bears His name, it deserves our best.
i. 1 Cor. 10:31 – “: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”
ii. 1 Cor. 15:58b – “Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord…”
b. Our “best” doesn’t mean perfection or superiority
i. Charles Swindoll: “Excellence is a difficult concept to communicate because it can easily be misread as neurotic perfectionism or snooty sophistication. But it is neither. On the contrary, it is the stuff of which greatness is made. It is the difference between just getting by and soaring – that which sets apart the significant from the superficial, the lasting from the temporary.”
c. Striving for excellence simply means making every effort in preparation and execution to do the very best you can.
d. Our God is worthy of our best efforts
i. Ps. 145:3 – “ Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; His greatness no one can fathom
ii. Rev. 4:11 – “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.”
e. If you’re someone who has been cheating God, please stop!
i. Stop offering God contemptuous sacrifices.
ii. Stop giving God your last-minute, half-hearted, left-over, and warmed-up efforts.
iii. Don’t slap something together and pretend it’s okay.
iv. Stop giving God what you wouldn’t give to your spouse, your boss, or anyone else.
f. 2 Tim. 2:15 – “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed…”
6. CONCLUSION:
a. Illustration: David Livingstone
i. David Livingstone was one of the greatest missionaries who ever lived. He moved to Africa, married his wife Mary in Africa in 1845, and never stopped pursuing excellence for the Kingdom of God during his lifetime.
ii. There was a time when Dr. Livingstone was approached about the possibility of a missionary society sending some more men to help him in his efforts to reach the people of Africa. They wrote him a letter that read, “Have you found a good road to where you are? If so, we want to know how to send other men to join you.”
iii. Livingstone wrote back, “If you have men who will come only if they know there is a good road, I don’t want them. I want men who will come if there is no road at all.”
b. Why should we give God our best?
i. Because He gave us His best
ii. Rom. 8:32 – “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?”
iii. God gave the best He had – His own Son, Jesus Christ – to suffer and die in our place for our sins
