Resurrecting Excellence
Published: 4/27/2009
Okay, so I have to admit it—I stole the title for this blog from my brother and his friend Kevin Armstrong who wrote a book by that name in 2006. It’s a good book, but the general theme is even better.
God is good enough to deserve our very best.
So, if God deserves our best, why do so many of us, both clergy and laity, settle for mediocrity? The pursuit of excellence in ministry—whether teaching Sunday School, preaching, leading worship, visitation or advertising—requires a focus our mission and a rigorous discipline of evaluation.
In healthy churches, mistakes will sometimes happen even during Sunday morning worship. A word on the screen might be misspelled, or the sermon might be too long, or the hymn selection might be poor, or the Scripture read in an unhelpful manner. Things happen. But in healthy churches there is an evaluation session every Monday or Tuesday where leaders gather to ask, “How did it go on Sunday?” There is then open and honest evaluative conversation aimed at improving worship the following week.
In unhealthy congregations, such evaluation never takes place. People are too timid to speak the truth in love, or there is not a culture of excellence that asks “What are we trying to accomplish?” and “How are we doing?” Sometimes an unhealthy congregation used honesty to tear down others rather than build them up, or to mask power games that are still not aimed at helping the congregation achieve the greatest degree of fruitfulness.
When I was a young pastor, I did not do the kind of evaluation I am now advocating for. As bishop, I am regularly asking for that kind of feedback from the extended cabinet (my primary team) and the area episcopacy committee. I want to offer Christ the best possible service I can.