Excellence Honors God

ex·cel·lence [ek-suh-luhns] noun

1.the fact or state of excelling; superiority; eminence

2.an excellent quality or feature

            When I was 15 years old, I worked at a sandwich shop. It was the 2^nd job that I had held, having previously worked one summer at an ice cream parlor. I never could have guessed that when I began my new job I would experience a major paradigm shift in my thinking about work.

            You see, I had always been a good student. I earned good grades, I was in higher-level classes, I gravitated towards leadership positions, and in general I thought I was ahead in the trajectory my life was taking. Boy was I wrong!

            As the youngest employee at this local purveyor of sandwiches, I had a lot to learn. I worked with one woman in particular that I liked: a single-mom in her late twenties or early thirties that worked hard, worked honestly, and did everything to the best of her ability. I was so drawn to her. I wanted to emulate her. I took everything that she said very seriously. I enjoyed conversation with her, asked questions, and hoped that she liked me too.

She didn’t.

One of the most mortifying moments of my life came when the two of us were engaged in a conversation, and she didn’t mince words to tell me that she thought I had poor work ethic. I didn’t apply myself. I didn’t do things well or fully because I chose not to, not because I couldn’t.

Ouch! My ego took a huge hit that day.

I tried to console myself—think of all of my positive attributes, make up for this major lapse in my character, defend myself…but she was right. I was capable of doing mundane tasks better. I lazily hoped to earn money by doing things half-way. However, if I was on the receiving end of goods or services, I expected top-notch service and quality (don’t we all?).

Looking back, that woman changed my life. What she said hurt. Proverbs 27:6 tells us that “Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiples kisses.” John MacArthur says that “to genuinely love is to manifest the truth, even if it means to rebuke” (MacArthur, Proverbs 27:6). [1] This woman may not have enjoyed working with a young teenager that, quite frankly, slacked. She may not have liked me, but she did actively love me. She chose to not be silent in regards to something that ultimately affected my future.

I was not a believer at that time, so my motive for improving my performance was solely for the sake of myself. It would take the Lord radically transforming my spirit from the inside out for my motives to move beyond personal gain to spiritual service and excellence.

I imagine we can all share stories of situations in which we could clearly see apathetic work, laziness in others, or “service” that was greatly lacking. I cannot count the times that I have asked a cashier in a store how they are doing, and he or she replies, “I’ll be better in half an hour when I get to leave.” Yikes---not even an attempt to force a smile to a customer. I think we can all agree that this type of sentiment is seen and heard almost daily in our interactions with others, even other believers.

Work, however, is not a consequence of the Fall. God created work for man’s enjoyment (surprise)! He designed us to be productive, to enjoy the fruit and profit of labor. Sin unfortunately marred that gift from God too. We were made to work. We were made to produce, to create, to grow, and to enjoy the rewards. Our sinful pride insists that we should reap the benefits of labor without expending any energy to sow. We want without cost.

Tommy Newberry is a Christian life-coach based out of Atlanta, Georgia. In his book Success is Not An Accident, Newberry says, “Many Americans have been misled into believing they will not be held accountable for their choices and that they will miraculously harvest something other than what they planted” (Newberry 15).[2] Many of us, if not all of us, at some point have hoped to reap what we have not sown. We want the benefits of work without actually performing the job well or at all. Paul writes in the book of Galatians that we should “not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6:7).

Please do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that we should all aim to be CEO’s of major companies, make millions of dollars, and bathe ourselves in the riches of this life. Life is too short for any of us to live for anything less than eternity. Many of us may never make much money or be known by thousands of people. However, those things aren’t of importance to begin with! Bringing glory to God means living obediently to the life that He has created for YOU as a uniquely and wonderfully made individual, regardless of your resume.

Regardless of worldly accomplishment, we are called to live with excellence wherever we are in life. We are to steward the resources of money, time, and energy according to God’s revealed will and to ask Him for wisdom for His personal will in our individual lives. Working with excellence is one of the primary ways that believers can live in the world, but not as part of the world. People notice excellence, and excellence is a platform for professing the love of Christ. Would you take the guy that shows up late every day, has a bad attitude, and does sloppy work seriously when he told you about his love for God? That love may very well be genuine and authentic, but if you were not already a believer, it would be very difficult to see something different about him based on the way he lives.

So what are some ways that we can practically live lives of excellence regardless of our occupations, stage in life, etc.? Here are 5 things to consider each day as you live your life:

1.    Determine the priorities in your life according to God’s word. 

      

     We can’t do everything and do it well. We must say “no” to less important things in order to do the most important things with excellence.

2.   Stop complaining.

     Some of our least pleasant experiences we have are when we are being “serviced” by a worker and we overhear them grumbling about how much they hate their jobs. Is this you? Are you lifting people up with the words you say about your job, even if it isn’t an easy or “fun” place to be? A positive attitude shines a light very differently than the majority of attitudes shown in the typical workplace.

3.   Do tasks to the best of your ability. 

     This doesn’t mean that everything you do will be top-notch, or award winning. How would we ever grow if we were already arrived? None of us are perfect, but we do intrinsically know when we are intentionally cutting corners, when we are being lazy, when we are apathetic, and when we just want the rewards without the labor. Whether you are making a bed, doing the dishes, writing a blog, giving a presentation, studying for school, analyzing Excel spreadsheets, or whatever else under the sun you do on a day-to-day basis, do it to the best of your ability (even if that isn’t a professional-level ability).

4.   Show up on time. Stay for your whole shift. 

     Do not abuse your work time for leisure. This is a form of theft known as time-stealing.

5.    Treat people the way you would want to be treated. 

      Mom was right when she repeated this over and over again. Change in a culture begins with change in the lives of individuals. Work for your clients, family, customers, and peers with the same positivity, the same empathy, and the same quality that you would hope to receive if it were you.

Working with excellence in all that we do honors God. If we are stewards of all that He has given (time, money, talent, etc.) how are we doing? Are we beacons of hope that point to a God that gave us everything in Christ? Let us run the race before us well. Run hard. Love strong. Serve and work with love, with excellence, and always pointing to the redeeming hope that is found in Christ alone.

---

[1] MacArthur Study Bible. New King James Version. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson,        Inc., 1997. Print.

[2] Newberry, Tommy.  Success is Not an Accident. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House        Publishers, Inc. 1999. Print