The day following writing the blog for Being Coached and Coaching Others, “Fighting the Good Fight Using Performance Coaches”, the following email arrived in my in-box. The author, Brandon Cox, makes some excellent points, no pun intended towards the title of “excellence in ministry”. His 5th point addresses the post for yesterday referenced above. I hope you will read his article below. I found it spot-on for keeping an appropriate perspective.
A book could be written on each of these points. Knowing what is being planned for us in the work in the SWD, I started immediately writing on each point. But I stopped. In due time it will be forthcoming. However, these five points Brandon Cox has chosen to share are vital for the success of the ministry before us. God is preparing us and paving the way by the work of his Holy Spirit. We are so blessed.
Be strong and courageous, dear friends and family. Today I was going to write on having a peace that passes understanding as a booster shot for avoiding anxiety in the perilous times wherein, we live. But suffice it to say, “be strong and courageous in Jesus Christ” because his Creator strength is in you. Now, let’s read the short article I found in my in-box that worked so well with what was written yesterday.
By Brandon Cox
June 8, 2020
Brandon Cox: In the pursuit of excellence in your ministry, remember these five guiding principles.
Scriptures: Colossians 3:17, Ecclesiastes 11:4
If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing well. As Paul put it in Colossians 3:17, “And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.” (NLT) If we’re representing God, we should do things well for His glory.
At the same time, excellence shouldn’t be exalted above some other values that really outrank it. In the pursuit of excellence, remember these five guiding principles.
We do things with excellence for God’s glory.
If you’re trying to do your best to impress guests or fellow ministry leaders, your heart is already in the wrong place. Excellence is something we strive for in order to bring glory to God. Or to put it another way, we perform with excellence for an audience of One, so that ultimately, He gets all the credit.
We refuse to make an idol of excellence.
Excellence is not the goal. Changed lives are the goal, and excellence merely describes the way we try to achieve the goal. Don’t miss the active and mighty hand of God in the name of excellence.
We refuse to allow the pursuit of excellence to hold us back.
Solomon said, “Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.” (Ecclesiastes 11:4 NLT) We have a lot to learn from successful bootstrapping entrepreneurs who dive into new ventures before having all the details figured out. Seth Godin often says, “Ship it. Perfect the product later.” That’s a good word for church leaders, too.
We will learn from models, valuing effectiveness over originality.
Vance Havner once talked about a young man who came to him and boldly declared, “I’m going to be original, or nothing!” To this, Havner replied, “Then you’ll probably wind up being both.” Originality isn’t the goal – changed lives are the goal. In fact, nothing is original unless God is Creator of it. The most creative people I know are those who are always being inspired by existing models and are building on the foundation laid by others.
We will be a model, sharing our excellence with others.
Everyone needs to be mentoring someone, and every church can serve as a model to another church. It doesn’t do much good for a church of 150 people to try to learn only from megachurches. You need to be learning from people just ahead of you, and you need to be mentoring those just behind you. Whatever we learn, it’s free for all for the benefit of the Kingdom.
Excellence is a worthy pursuit, but it’s not really the target. Jesus chose a rag-tag bunch of rough-cut fellows to be His disciples. He led them on a journey in which He often didn’t have a place to lay His head. They fed enormous crowds from lunch scraps. Never allow a lack of resources to become an excuse that deters you from doing the very best you can with what you have, and never let the pursuit of excellence stop you from pursuing God and pursuing souls for His sake.
