Note to reader- This sermon series was the first one preached by Jon Morrissette at Lakeside Christian Church.
It is important that, in our newly forming partnership,we agree on the values that we will embrace collectively as a church and personally as individuals. It cannot be assumed that a great location, a great facility and a great opportunity will automatically spell "success" for this or for any other church. It cannot be assumed that strong, vibrant, healthy, growing, Christ-honoring churches just happen by default. Furthermore, it cannot be assumed that everyone here is on the same page. Therefore, it is imperative that we rally around those values that will enable us to best accomplish those purposes that God has set forth for us in his word.
Over the next several weeks, I want to share with you what I consider to be the "Eight Marks of a Healthy Church. Everything I plan on sharing with you is straight out of God's word and reflects God's will for all of us, both personally and corporately. In other words, the values I will share are not just my values. They are God's values. They are values that work. They are values that generate genuine, God-honoring results. Results that glorify God and produce fruit for his kingdom.
The first mark of a healthy church is excellence.
So having said this, I want to begin today by talking about the first mark of a healthy church. The first mark of a healthy church is excellence. Now I have to confess that excellence, as a value, doesn't sound very spiritual. It sounds more like something you would hear out of corporate America, or in a television ad for automobiles, or even at a company training seminar. And who would disagree with the sentiment that is so strongly expressed by many God-fearing, Bible-believing Christians? There are many who feel strongly that the profit-driven values of corporate America should have no place in the church and that they should most certainly not appear on a list pertaining to marks of healthy church.
But today, I would like to challenge you to think differently about excellence. It is my belief that excellence honors God and inspires people. Let's spend some time talking about this.
Excellence honors God: King Solomon
In 2 Chronicles 2, we find King Solomon making preparations to build God's temple. First, he gathers together 70,000 men to carry in the finest building materials available. He buys cedars from Lebanon, and gold, silver, bronze and blue yarn. Then he drafts 80,000 men to be stonecutters and he sends them out into the hills surrounding Jerusalem to find stones for the foundation of the temple. Solomon even sends off letters to the other kings to solicit their help in assembling a team of the finest craftsmen available in all the known world.
Solomon spares no expense as he prepares to construct God's temple! As we come to 2 Chronicles 2:5 (NIV), Solomon makes a stunning declaration. He says, "The temple I am going to build will be great, because our God is greater than all other gods." It was Solomon's contention that the best deserved the best. For Solomon, the most excellent God was worthy of his finest efforts. Solomon believed that for him to be committed to anything less than excellence was for him to be committed to less than God.
But as we continue in 2 Chronicles 2, Solomon finds himself in a predicament. In 2 Chronicles 2:6(NIV) he asks, "Who is able to build a temple for him, since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him? Who then am I to build a temple for him, except as a place to burn sacrifices before him?" Solomon knew, deep down in his heart, that his very best, his most excellent effort, would not come close to capturing the excellence of his God.
But did that stop him? Absolutely not! In 2 Chronicles 2:7(NIV) he writes to King Hiram saying, "Send me, therefore, a man skilled to work in gold and silver, bronze and iron, and in purple, crimson and blue yarn, and experienced in the art of engraving." In 2 Chronicles 2:8(NIV) he says, "Send me also cedar, pine and algum logs from Lebanon, for I know that your men are skilled in cutting timber there. My men will work with yours to provide me with plenty of lumber, because the temple I build must be large and magnificent." You can spend time reading the rest of the story later. But for Solomon, God was worthy of nothing less than his most excellent effort. Excellence for an excellent God. Excellence honors God.
Excellence honors God: Malachi the prophet.
As we make our way over to Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament, we learn another valuable lesson about excellence. God is announcing his judgment on the people of Israel. Evidently, when it came time for the people to give offerings to God, they had grown accustomed to giving less than their best. Instead of offering their best to God, they would go out to their flocks and find that blind, injured, crippled or diseased lamb. Then, they would offer that imperfect lamb as an offering to God!
Bill Hybels, in talking about this passage, offered this comment. "Instead of offering the lamb that would win the blue ribbon at the 4H show or the lamb which would bring highest price at market, they were giving God their junk. Instead of offering their choice lamb, they would say, 'Oh, it's just for God.' They were doing the exact opposite of King Solomon."
And so in Malachi, God responds in several ways. First, in Malachi 1:6 (NIV), God quizzes them. "Hey, am I not worthy of excellence?" In this passage God says, "A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?"
Second, in Malachi 1:8 (NIV), God basically tells them point blank," No one wants your junk. Try giving your junk to anyone and see what they say!" The verse reads, "When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?"
Third, in Malachi 1:10 (NIV), God pleads with them. "Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you." God is saying, in effect, "You might as well have stayed at home rather than coming here to offer me anything short of your very best. I'm not a Goodwill box. I deserve more than your hand-me-downs!"
Lastly, in Malachi 1:14 (NIV), God pronounces a curse. "Cursed is the cheat who has an acceptable male in his flock and vows to give it, but then sacrifices a blemished animal to the Lord. For I am a great king, says the Lord Almighty, and my name is to be feared among the nations."
Excellence honors God. Our very best honors God. "Good enough" is just not good enough when it comes to glorifying God. Excellence honors God, but excellence has an affect on people as well.
Excellence inspires people: Solomon
When Solomon built God's temple with excellence, he wanted to attract people to his God. He wanted their hearts to skip a beat. He wanted them to do a double take. He wanted them to taste something of God's greatness and excellence.
You see, when it comes to the church, non-Christians assume that things will be shoddily done. Non-Christians assume we will have low standards. Non-Christians expect us Christians to give less than our best. They think everything we are doing is a big charade. But when we value excellence, as Solomon did, it makes a statement about the kind of God we worship. It makes a statement about the commitment we have to our excellent God.
This past week, in preparation for this message, I listened to several tapes. One particular preacher said, "What you feel the most deeply about you will try to do to the best of your ability."
Our excellence tells others that we care deeply about God's honor.
Our excellence communicates to others that we care deeply about God's honor. If people drive up to our building and notice that the grass has not been cut and that there are weeds growing alongside the building, what do they think of our God? Or if people receive our newsletter, or some other church publication, and the print is faded, and the paper is cheap, and there are typos, what do they think of our God? Or if people go to use our restrooms and things are unclean, what do they think of our God? What do they think if the music is unrehearsed, or if the worship does not flow, or if the nursery is unkempt, or if there is no parking available? What do they think if the teaching, preaching, communion and offering thoughts are given off the cuff, with little real preparation?
If we did not care about excellence, would anyone care about our God? Would anyone be motivated to give his or her best to God? Would they be inspired to give their lives to Christ? A commitment to excellence makes a real difference. Excellence honors God and inspires people.
In 1 Corinthians 10:31(NIV) Paul says, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble." There is no place for anything less than excellence among God's people. Now having said this, I want to make a distinction between excellence and perfectionism.
Excellence versus perfectionism.
Excellence is motivated by a sense of God's greatness. God has given us everything. He has given us his best grace, his best love, his best mercies, his best forgiveness and his best power. He gave us his best lamb, his son Jesus Christ. Excellence is our gift back to God for all that he has done for us in sending his son to die on the cross for our sins.
In contrast, perfectionism is something altogether different. According to Dr. John Castelein, a professor at Lincoln Christian Seminary, perfectionism has standards that continually crush people. Excellence lifts our spirits and makes our souls feel noble. Perfectionism keeps prodding us from behind, making us feel guilty. Excellence inspires and motivates. It says "come". It draws us in. Perfectionism is always commanding, "you must." Excellence invites us and says, "you may." Perfectionism orders, "here is the pattern, copy this pattern." Excellence challenges saying, "all I ask is that you give your best, your personal best." Perfectionism is artificial.It neglects the heart and it motivates by guilt. Excellence is authentic and heart-driven and it is motivated by God's greatness. Perfectionism is done out of a sense of duty. Excellence is contagious and inspires people.
Dawson Troutman, the founder of Navigators, was a man who understood the importance of excellence in his life and ministry. When he was alive, he had set his heart on doing things right for God's glory. He trained his secretaries to carefully place address labels on envelopes and to fold letters with perfection. He used every opportunity to teach his employees the importance of excellence.
One day, Dawson Troutman asked one of his missionaries, John Crawford, to work on the front door and back door of their office building. John spent most of the day rebuilding the front door. He sanded it. He painted it. He carefully hung it. But when it came to the back door, the door that opened up into the alley where the trash was kept, where mud was splashed and where bums slept, John just hung the door and did not put too much care into it.
When Dawson returned, he complimented John on the front door. But when he saw the back door, he asked John, "What's up with the back door?" John said, "Hey, it only opens up into the alley! Very few people see it." But Dawson stopped him and said, "John, when we do things for the Lord, the back door looks just as good as the front door."
Bill Hybels, founder of Willow Creek Community Church, had this to say about excellence. "Good enough is just not good enough when it comes to honoring God through the Church. In response to his holiness and greatness, in gratitude for his monumental sacrifice for us, our attitude ought to be to pay tribute to him with the best we can offer. Not obsessive perfectionism, but an attitude of excellence that permeates all we do in the Church and in our personal lives. What we do as Christians reflects on the Christ we serve."
Friends, excellence honors God and inspires people. From the front door all the way to the back door, whatever you do.
"Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." 1 Corinthians 10:31(NIV)