In Genesis 1:31 the Bible says, “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. So the evening and the morning were the sixth day.” (NKJV). The New Living Translation translates the verses as “Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was excellent in every way. This all happened on the sixth day.” When God finished creation, he looked it over and said that it was very good, excellent in every way.

Sometimes we in the church settle for things that are less than excellent. We know that we cannot be perfectionists, for we cannot do things perfectly. At the same time, however, we often settle for less than the best when it comes to many aspects of the Lord’s work. We might hire someone to be a janitor who does not know how to clean, and we accept their “less than best” performance because we don’t want to hurt their feelings. While the preacher may know his material, at the same time he may not have the ability to present that material in the best of ways, or he may need to work on his diction and grammar. We settle with less than the best because a man cannot be perfect all of the time. The song service of the church may be interrupted by a sweet Christian lady who “can’t carry a tune in a bucket sideways” but she sings loud, and we “lie” and tell her she is doing a great job, thinking than maybe “encouraging her” she will do better. We often settle with less than the best.

In the church, we should strive for excellence in everything we do. We should not be happy with less than the best. God always demanded the best sacrifices from His people in the Old Testament, and demands that we give our best—indeed, ourselves—to Him today (Romans 12:1-2). When we settle for less than the best from ourselves, then we are one step away from mediocrity and lukewarmness—that which makes God sick at His stomach (Revelation 3:14-22). Mediocrity also breeds mediocrity, and visitors who may grace us with their presence will soon leave to find a church that works at having excellence in every way! (Sadly, we are living in a consumer thinking society—and people do “shop around” to find what they think they need. While we CANNOT and WILL NOT change the message—we should strive for excellence as we serve our Lord).

What does excellence require?

Excellence requires courage—the courage not to be satisfied with the mediocre, but the courage to risk it all and give the best we have to offer—at all times, in all ways. Paul said, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1;7 NKJV).

Excellence requires that we know ourselves and our talents, and use them for the glory of God. God gives all of us special talents and abilities to use for his church. He will hold us accountable for how we have used these talents. That is why it is imperative that we know what they are, and be honest as to whether or not we are using them to the best of our abilities.

Excellence requires money. We know this, and we understand this in everything else. We may pay more for an item that we know may last longer because it is of better quality (excellence). The same must happen in the church. It will cost money to do our best—but once we have given our selves to the Lord, the rest will naturally follow. Perhaps we need to adopt a slogan found in one church: “If it bears His name, it’s worth our best!”

Excellence requires thorough planning and preparation. Our worship needs to be planned and prepared for all week. We cannot come in on Sunday morning and expect the singing, prayers and preaching to go all right when the song leader, pray-er and preacher have not prepared. We can’t expect the work of the church to continue to go when we fail to prepare and use the opportunities God has given us.

Excellence demands perseverance. We can’t quit and settle for mediocrity in our lives as Christians, husbands, fathers, mothers, wives, sons, daughters, worshippers. . . Yet many do. And when someone wants to try to change things, it is these who have settled for mediocrity that will be your worst enemies. Have the courage to hang in there until the end, giving God the best of yourself. You will be glad you did.

Let’s not live life, or be a Christian, in lukewarmness. Let’s give God our all!

This article is a part of a series based on the book, The Ten Dumbest Things Christians Do by Mark Atteberry.