Back in the 1990’s, church leaders started talking way more about excellence in worship and ministry. Many churches have written excellence into their core values with phrases like:
We do all things with excellence for the glory of God.
If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing with excellence.
Excellence in all things, and all things for God’s glory.
Excellence, as a core value, is a double-edged sword, and we talk about both edges of that sword a lot among our church’s pastors and staff members.
On the one hand, yes, we should do all things with as much excellence as possible for God’s glory. It’s true that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing well. It’s also true that excellence is attractive, and while attractiveness isn’t the primary goal, it’s not a bad goal by any means.
On the other hand, excellence has its problems. Or at least the way we pursue excellence can be problematic. In particular:
- Excellence can be the enemy of execution – we don’t start things because we’re waiting for perfect conditions.
- Excellence can be the enemy of authenticity – we sometimes feel we have to “fake it to make it” and become afraid of showing our flaws.
- Excellence can easily slip into the idolatry of perfectionism in which grace has little room to work.
- Excellence can be intimidating for people who approach a church or ministry with a spirit of humility.
- Excellence can also feed our need to please people rather than to serve them, and there is a legitimate difference.
I don’t believe that the answer is in abandoning a commitment to doing things with excellence.
I believe the answer lies in an examination of our motives. And this simple question helps in that search:
Am I pursuing excellence because I’m passionate about my work? Or because I find my worth in the presentation?
Perfectionism drives us to “get it right” every single time. Don’t let people down. Don’t mess up. Don’t settle for second best.
Passion, on the other hand, motivates us to do things with a full investment of our heart and our energy.
When we’re passionate about Jesus and helping others to come to know him, we desire to perform at our very best for an audience of One rather than for the watching crowd.
