Last month we began the process of restoring the stage at church. This involved removing the carpet that had covered it, and replacing that carpet with tile.
The project itself was a good reminder that change is a good thing,
But it must be done the right way.
Removing the stage carpet was not a problem since everyone was in favor of that. However when it came time to look for tile, the decision wasn’t so easy. We had decided on a newer form of tile that ended up being quite expensive, and hard to find (lots of people wanted it).
After a morning of looking for the newer tile (and failing) I went with a friend and found another kind of tile that could be purchased that day for a cheaper price. But this was an older style of tiles that didn’t look good in the long-run.
We were faced with a choice between average tile, and excellent tile
Of course we decided to spend the money and get the higher quality…..
But that made me think about how many times we choose average over excellent
Choosing excellent over average is very easy when we are talking about something connected to ministry like tiles on a stage. But it’s much harder to consistently pursue excellence in daily life. There will almost always be an easy average road, and a difficult road of excellence. And the paths we choose make a great impact upon life.
Just today I chose between being average and excellent many times when it related to my fitness
- Do I get out of bed (excellent) or hit the snooze alarm (average)
- Do I exercise (excellent) or put it off till tomorrow (average)
- Do I eat a healthy meal (excellent) or an unhealthy one (average)
- Do I walk while visiting people locally (excellent) or drive (average)
The sad truth is I find these questions very convicting because of many average choices.
The motivation to choosing excellence is this: You cannot get an excellent ministry without an excellent personal life
In other words, it doesn’t matter what kind of tile I put on the church stage if my sermon preparation habits or lazy.
And the most majestic building won’t accomplish much if I don’t have integrity
The truth is the Lord does indeed build the church, but the leaders of that church have a responsibility to represent Him well. Growth comes not by making the inside more beautiful, but choosing Gods road consistently.
Johnhwilburn.org 