This is a Guest Post by Tim Briggs.
Being in ministry for five years, I’ve heard the term “excellence in ministry” thrown around frequently, especially in regards to technology. I’ve been disappointed to learn though that the term for many is translated to mean “extravagance in ministry.” In other words, people really mean they want the best, most expensive, and most luxurious. Is that what excellence really means though?
Certainly, this term is polarizing and has different meanings for different people but what does the Bible say about the topic?
At the end of 1 Corinthians 12, Paul speaks about the “most excellent way.” He says, “Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? But eagerly desire the greater gifts. And now I will show you the most excellent way.”
What is the most excellent way? Love.
“If I speak in tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” The next few verses echo this same sentiment.
In Colossians 3:23, Paul says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for me…” I’m not a Biblical scholar by any means but meditating on these verses leads me to believe that doing something with excellence refers to how we do things. It does not mean perfection. It does not mean the best. Rather, it refers to our effort.
I’ve been working for a ministry called Church Sports Outreach for 2 years now. My official title is Director of Technology & Ministry Integration (TMI).
Yes, I’m the TMI guy (insert joke here).
Anyway, a couple of weeks ago we were looking to redesign our website. We’re a small ministry operating in difficult economic times and as we strive to be excellent in ministry, we simply can’t afford to be extravagant. Sure, we could have paid thousands and thousands of dollars to hire a developer to design a site but that’s just not reasonable for us (no offense to any web developers out there!).
So, I paid $50 for a WordPress template.
I worked diligently for a couple of weeks adapting and customizing the site searching for the right WordPress plugins and designing the right graphics. We spent time as a team storyboarding and planning videos that would communicate our love for the local church.
The result? It’s not the flashiest website, and it’s certainly not the most expensive, but I feel we have a stylish, functional, and efficient website. We did the best we could with what we had. Extravagant? No. Excellently done? Well, I can honestly say that “we worked at it with all our hearts, as if we working for the Lord.”
joannamuses says
Good thoughts. I've been pondering on similar lines lately. I've heard people involved with doing sound and lighting in church treat how much has been spent on the equipment as a badge of honour. Given that the quality of worship is an issue of the heart, rather than an issue of what it sounds like i can't help but wonder if the extravagance misses the point. I can't shake the feeling that maybe instead of more lights it would be better to direct it to other forms of honouring God like serving the poor or preaching the gospel.
austinklee says
Tim, right on man! No need to spend thousands when a $50 theme will maintain the level of excellence you strive to uphold. Kudos to you for your stewardship of resources and for posting this!
Jake Johnson says
Great reminder here, Tim. We are not to conform to the world's standards of excellence, but to transform our minds by the word of God. I fight the desire to look good in the world's eyes often in my work in the church. Thanks for reminding us that above all is love.
sdesocio says
Bravo. I think we have tricked ourselves into thinking we need thousand dollars solutions for everything.
Kevin Ring says
I think you're right in defining Excellence as making strategic investments and decisions from a place that is motivated by love, done as though you are working for the Lord, and a good steward of the resources that have been given to you.
Extravagance should never be for its own sake; however, I believe that being extravagant in how we love is also a key part of Kingdom excellence.
We see this often in the parables, the father throwing a huge party to celebrate the return of his son, the King inviting the poor to his banquet. God's love is an extravagant love and we are called to show that in how we live (or how our organizations operate). Our extravagance can show that we adhere to a set of values that is radically different from the world's values – that love and service are our top priorities and we are willing to give everything because of it.
Maybe another way to look at it is: as a ministry ,what does your time, effort and investment in tools and technology say to the people you reach through those tools about how much you value them? For me, excellence is a willingness to look at every activity of your organization as an opportunity to serve and love by demonstrating that the people you serve are the most important thing to you.
patrckb says
I think the key to an excellent web site is to think about a) who you want to reach and b) what do you want to say to them or provide for them. I've seen too many non-profits let any volunteer techie create whatever they wanted and called it a web site.
It's hard to do strategic planning for a web site. It takes a lot of effort.
But in the end, the planned out web site will be more USEFUL to the people who need it most.
Nic Gibson says
This is a great comparative dichotomy. I think Excellence can often become a fixation with extravagance. I would not pitch that thought through 1 Cor 12:31 though. The use of the word Excellence there is a little arbitrary from a translation perspective. It just means 'best' or 'superior' way. And using it creates an informal logical fallacy in understanding excellence. All excellent christian ministries are loving and full of effort, but not all ministries full of effort and love are excellent. So I would definitely encourage you to push this distinction, but I would not use this verse to so it. I think you are absolutely right on to use this PASSAGE though. 1 Cor 13:1-3 mean exactly what you are saying: formal excellence without love is nothing. But then again, so is effort without love- in that martyrdom without love is covered in these verses also.