Commitment to Excellence by Alan Perkins

Colossians 3:23-3:24
Does excellence matter to God? Does God care about quality?
Is He concerned with how well things are done? Does it make
any difference to God whether: the instruments are in tune;
the worship team has rehearsed the songs, etc.? Some would
say, "no." All God cares about is our hearts. Its the thought
that counts. God is not impressed with a slick program or
flashy audio-visuals; what matters to Him are internal things
like love, compassion, and humility.
And thats right - partially. Its also partially wrong. God
doesnt care about those things in and of themselves. God is
primarily concerned with our hearts. But God does care about
those things as an expression of our hearts. Because the way
we serve God - in the church, in our homes, in our workplaces,
in our families - the way we live out our faith; the level of
commitment we have to doing things well, to honoring God in
every area of our lives - that reveals what is in our hearts. Its
not the things themselves God cares about. Its what those
things say about our hearts.
[Example: visiting a rich family member who is unprepared for
your visit vs. visiting a poor relation who has gone all out to
provide the best that they have. Which one loves you more?]
"Better a meal of vegetables where there is love than a
fattened calf with hatred." -- Proverbs 15:17 (NIV)
If all you have to offer God is vegetables [speaking
metaphorically], and you prepare them with care and serve
them with love, then God receives them in that spirit.
However, if you have more - if you have beef, and ham, and
roast chicken - but you give little thought or care to what you
offer God, then God will rightly see that as indicating a lack of
love. Do you see what I mean? God wants our best, whatever
that may be. Excellence in Gods sight isnt being the best; its
being your best.
At WestShore we believe that God cares about excellence. We
believe that God deserves the very best we can offer, and we
believe that He desires our best. The best of our time, abilities,

energy and strength, creativity - our best thinking, and caring,

our best efforts.
"Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all
your crops."
- Proverbs 3:9 (NIV)
God desires and deserves the "firstfruits," the best of what we
have to offer, our best efforts. He wants excellence.
Why should we strive for excellence?
1. We should strive for excellence because God is worth it. He
deserves our best.
"Great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; His greatness
no one can fathom."
- Psalm 145:3 (NIV)
"You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor
and power, for you created all things, and by your will they
were created and have their being."
- Revelation 4:11 (NIV)
Have you ever given your best to someone whom you later
found out didnt deserve it? [employer, friend, husband or wife,
religious leader, politician] That will never happen with God. He
is worthy of our love and devotion, worthy of our worship,
worthy of our labor. He is worthy of late nights and early
mornings. He is worth making sacrifices for. He is worthy
giving things up for.
[Illustration: Winston Churchills first speech to the house of
commons three days after becoming prime minister, at the
beginning of World War II]
"I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We
have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have
before us many, many long months of struggle and of
suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage
war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the
strength that God can give us; to wage war against a
monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable
catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is

our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all

costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and
hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
Let that be realised; no survival for the British Empire, no
survival for all that the British Empire has stood for."
Even more than Great Britain, God is worthy of our blood, toil,
tears, and sweat. He is worthy of our best efforts, our highest
achievement. He is worthy of excellence. There are many
causes to which you could devote your time and effort. Small
causes, large causes. [Collecting stamps. Rebuilding old cars.
Practicing medicine or law. Climbing Mount Everest. Building a
business. Running for public office. Raising a family. Keeping
your lawn well-manicured. Lowering your golf handicap.
Tutoring disabled children. Reading Tom Clancy novels. Staying
physically fit. Finding a cure for cancer. Finding new galaxies.
Finding rare Beanie Babies.]
Some of these causes are more worthy than others. But there
is only one cause that is worthy of every ounce of work,
devotion, labor, sacrifice, suffering, dedication - only one cause
that is worth giving our lives for every day. And that cause is
serving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Mount
Everest will crumble. The galaxies will burn out. Empires, such
as the British Empire that Churchill fought to preserve, will rise
and fall. Beanie Babies will go the way of cabbage patch dolls
and pet rocks. Your body will fall apart. But God and His
Kingdom are eternal. And those who serve Him will be eternal
with Him.
"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working
for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive
an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ
you are serving." - Colossians 3:23-24 (NIV)
No matter what we are doing, we are serving the Lord. It may
appear that you are working for a government agency, or a
paint company, or an accounting firm, or a home builder, or an
insurance company, or a software company, or a retail store,
or a hospital - but you dont. If you are a disciple of Jesus
Christ, you work for him. That place where you work is just the
specific location where you work for Him, the specific company
in which you work for Him. [That job is like your "cover". You
are an undercover agent for Jesus Christ.]

This has implications. First, it gives the quality of your work

new importance. If youre working for Jesus Christ, then it
matters how you do your job. He cares whether youre working
diligently or goofing off. He cares whether you are doing your
best, or just getting by. He cares whether you are doing the
right thing, or just doing the easy thing. The quality of your
work matters to Him. Why? Because all honorable work, done
well as an expression of devotion to Christ, brings honor and
glory to Him. Your conduct on the job either honors Christ or
dishonors Him. He cares about that.
"The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because
plumbing is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in
philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither
good plumbing nor good philosophy. Neither its pipes nor its
theories will hold water."
- John Gardner
Second, it gives your work new purpose. Your job isnt just a
way to make a living; its an assignment from Christ. How will
that job be done differently because its being done by a
Christian? What difference does your presence make in that
workplace? Can anybody tell the difference? When you do well,
do you give Him the credit? Are your professional ethics guided
by your faith, or do you leave your Christianity at the door
when you go into work?
But what I really want to focus on in this verse is the reason
Paul gives for why we should work wholeheartedly - because
we are working for Christ. In other words, if something is
being done for Christ, then we should give it our best effort.
Now, if following Christ means that we should pursue
excellence in our secular vocation, doesnt it stand to reason
that we should pursue excellence in the other areas of life as
well? If even the most mundane type of employment deserves
our best effort, then doesnt it stand to reason that we should
strive for excellence in the church? In our families? In our
marriages? In our outreach and witness to the world around
us?
A follower of Christ should pursue excellence in every area of
life, because everything you do is done to honor and serve

Him.
2. Why should we give God our best? Because God gave us His
best.
"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us
all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all
things?" -- Romans 8:32 (NIV)
God gave the best He had - his own Son, Jesus Christ - to
suffer and die in our place so that we could be reunited with
Him. [Your most precious possessions are your children] Jesus
Christ gave his best for us - His own life - so that our sins
could be forgiven and we could have eternal life. Nothing we
can ever give Him could compare with those gifts, but He
deserves no less than the best we have to give. Will you give
your life to him?
(For an .rtf file of this and other sermons, see
www.journeychurchonline.org/messages.htm)