Excellence is a commonly touted value in nearly every segment of life. Businesses, athletic teams, luxury hotels and churches are all seeking this elusive thing called excellence. A recent post on the Gospel Coalition website even suggested that lack of excellence suggests a heart problem, a lack of the "awe of God."
Is excellence really a Biblical value? Does the Bible actually suggest that excellence is a value in and of itself?
I believe that excellence is not a Biblical value, but an American value. I think there are two lines of thought that suggest this.
First, almost all choices, including the one of excellence, involves competing claims for resources. Let's use preaching for example, as it is the situation with which I am dealing. To what degree should I seek excellence in my sermon this Sunday? Surely the Gospel is the very power of God. Surely the sheep that I have been commissioned to care for with my sermon are those purchased with the very blood of Christ. Surely the church, through word and sacrament, is Christ's mechanism to care for that which he spent his own blood to purchase. So what demands more excellence that my sermon? Such a question is too simplistic to be useful. Practically, how many hours should I spend to create excellence? If sermonic excellence is a value, in and of itself, the number of hours that I spend would need to be high. Is 40 hours too many? Is 50 more appropriate for those blood bought children of the living Christ? 60? But wait. Christ has called me to to be a lay pastor, father of 3 with a job that requires 50+ hours a week. Should I skip dinner with my children, or their bedtime hymn singing to work out excellence in my sermon? Is it impossible for Christ to call a man to bivocational ministry, or a family or something like eating or sleeping if he has also called him to preach? So, of course, there is a call for balance. Christ called me, and the apostle Paul to bivocational ministry. I'm both a father and a pastor and a doctor and a neighbor and a friend. As a pastor I'm called to help my friend process Romans in the same week I prepare a sermon on Mark. But any call for balance suggests that excellence is not a value in and of itself. I'm not aware of any relevant Biblical command for excellence (the Gospel Coalition article offered none), we simply have commands to love ("the most excellent way") and to work hard (Colossians 3:23). Love and hard work will often create excellence, but will often be unwilling to take the project the last step that excellence requires. My sermon may be good, but teaching my children or giving pastoral counsel will often preclude me from making it truly excellent.
Second, the Bible does specifically preclude excellence in some ways. Apparently, Paul's ministry in Corinth was being reconsidered by the church there due to his lack of excellence (or at least perceived excellence). "His bodily presence is weak and his speech of no account..." (2 Cor 10:10). Was Paul not excellent? If his preaching was not excellent, it was purposefully not so. 1 Corinthians 2:1-3: "And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling..." He acknowledges that many would find his message "folly" (1 Cor 1:18). Paul is never accused of excellence, and in Paul's mind, excellence was not equated with power. He was content with weakness, because in weakness, not strength was power (2 Cor 12:9-10). He even suggests that what the world would call excellence (eloquent wisdom) would limit the Cross' power (1 Cor 1:17). So, again, excellence is not a value in and of itself.
Should then the sermon this Sunday be done sloppily? I need to pursue a wisdom, but not one of this world. My hope on Sunday is not that my sermon would be excellent (such excellence is often about impressing people, honestly, not about those sheep for whom Christ died), but my hope is that the wisdom that I will proclaim is a supernatural wisdom (1 Cor 2:6ff). That in making the word of the Cross plain, the Holy Spirit will accomplish excellency in the hearts of the people hearing the sermon. Does that mean I work hard? Of course. Does that mean I can sleep Saturday night, know that Christ will speak to his sheep, through my mouth, despite my less than excellent sermon? Yes.
So I do not believe that excellence is a biblical value, in and of itself. It certainly is a value to many Americans, but any Gospel excellence must also embrace the Biblical contentedness with weakness and Paul's purposeful lack of eloquent wisdom. Any wise attempt at balancing competing callings must both recognize that each calling is from the risen Christ and that he may call you to do 8 things well rather than 1 thing with excellence. Is there a "Christian excellence"? Probably, but it is so different that what the world calls excellence that any comparison must be carefully clarified. The professionalism that the world calls excellence has taken over many aspects of the way the church makes decisions and it has surely resulted in the Cross being "emptied of its power" in many circumstances (1 Cor 1:17).
Personal note: Is such a line of thought an excuse for a lack of awe of God? Not always. Sometimes sleep is just a realization that I cannot be excellent at everything. It takes wisdom to know whether I should be a pediatrician and a pastor or drop one or the other for the sake of the excellence of the other. Thus far, I believe that that last step (for me, in this question) from good to excellent is more about my ego than about children getting better health care or Christ sheep being fed.
Is excellence really a Biblical value? Does the Bible actually suggest that excellence is a value in and of itself?
I believe that excellence is not a Biblical value, but an American value. I think there are two lines of thought that suggest this.
First, almost all choices, including the one of excellence, involves competing claims for resources. Let's use preaching for example, as it is the situation with which I am dealing. To what degree should I seek excellence in my sermon this Sunday? Surely the Gospel is the very power of God. Surely the sheep that I have been commissioned to care for with my sermon are those purchased with the very blood of Christ. Surely the church, through word and sacrament, is Christ's mechanism to care for that which he spent his own blood to purchase. So what demands more excellence that my sermon? Such a question is too simplistic to be useful. Practically, how many hours should I spend to create excellence? If sermonic excellence is a value, in and of itself, the number of hours that I spend would need to be high. Is 40 hours too many? Is 50 more appropriate for those blood bought children of the living Christ? 60? But wait. Christ has called me to to be a lay pastor, father of 3 with a job that requires 50+ hours a week. Should I skip dinner with my children, or their bedtime hymn singing to work out excellence in my sermon? Is it impossible for Christ to call a man to bivocational ministry, or a family or something like eating or sleeping if he has also called him to preach? So, of course, there is a call for balance. Christ called me, and the apostle Paul to bivocational ministry. I'm both a father and a pastor and a doctor and a neighbor and a friend. As a pastor I'm called to help my friend process Romans in the same week I prepare a sermon on Mark. But any call for balance suggests that excellence is not a value in and of itself. I'm not aware of any relevant Biblical command for excellence (the Gospel Coalition article offered none), we simply have commands to love ("the most excellent way") and to work hard (Colossians 3:23). Love and hard work will often create excellence, but will often be unwilling to take the project the last step that excellence requires. My sermon may be good, but teaching my children or giving pastoral counsel will often preclude me from making it truly excellent.
Second, the Bible does specifically preclude excellence in some ways. Apparently, Paul's ministry in Corinth was being reconsidered by the church there due to his lack of excellence (or at least perceived excellence). "His bodily presence is weak and his speech of no account..." (2 Cor 10:10). Was Paul not excellent? If his preaching was not excellent, it was purposefully not so. 1 Corinthians 2:1-3: "And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling..." He acknowledges that many would find his message "folly" (1 Cor 1:18). Paul is never accused of excellence, and in Paul's mind, excellence was not equated with power. He was content with weakness, because in weakness, not strength was power (2 Cor 12:9-10). He even suggests that what the world would call excellence (eloquent wisdom) would limit the Cross' power (1 Cor 1:17). So, again, excellence is not a value in and of itself.
Should then the sermon this Sunday be done sloppily? I need to pursue a wisdom, but not one of this world. My hope on Sunday is not that my sermon would be excellent (such excellence is often about impressing people, honestly, not about those sheep for whom Christ died), but my hope is that the wisdom that I will proclaim is a supernatural wisdom (1 Cor 2:6ff). That in making the word of the Cross plain, the Holy Spirit will accomplish excellency in the hearts of the people hearing the sermon. Does that mean I work hard? Of course. Does that mean I can sleep Saturday night, know that Christ will speak to his sheep, through my mouth, despite my less than excellent sermon? Yes.
So I do not believe that excellence is a biblical value, in and of itself. It certainly is a value to many Americans, but any Gospel excellence must also embrace the Biblical contentedness with weakness and Paul's purposeful lack of eloquent wisdom. Any wise attempt at balancing competing callings must both recognize that each calling is from the risen Christ and that he may call you to do 8 things well rather than 1 thing with excellence. Is there a "Christian excellence"? Probably, but it is so different that what the world calls excellence that any comparison must be carefully clarified. The professionalism that the world calls excellence has taken over many aspects of the way the church makes decisions and it has surely resulted in the Cross being "emptied of its power" in many circumstances (1 Cor 1:17).
Personal note: Is such a line of thought an excuse for a lack of awe of God? Not always. Sometimes sleep is just a realization that I cannot be excellent at everything. It takes wisdom to know whether I should be a pediatrician and a pastor or drop one or the other for the sake of the excellence of the other. Thus far, I believe that that last step (for me, in this question) from good to excellent is more about my ego than about children getting better health care or Christ sheep being fed.
No comments:
Post a Comment