Faithful Excellence

When I was a sophomore in high school, I had the honor and privilege of making the basketball team for the second straight year. I was extremely happy about our coaches returning and for the chance to pick up where I had left off the previous year, as I concluded my freshman year with one of my most productive games. However, as the year wore on, it became very clear that I would not be playing very much and for reasons that still remain unclear. Since basketball takes from the third week of October to the third week of February, I quickly came to the conclusion that I did not want to be on the team if I was not going to get the chance to play. My parents, however, had another idea, as parents tend to do. They told me that I had committed and that I would honor that commitment, even though it was hard and extremely difficult. They told me to be “the best bench warmer the school had ever seen.” While I was not thrilled at this prospect, I did go about the job with a better attitude the rest of the season. Little did I know that that decision would impact the rest of my life, and has vastly changed my mindset since I have been working as a youth pastor.
As the year transgressed, I did get my chance to play, but because my attitude had changed while playing the bench, my attitude continued to change as I gained minutes and points. I was more grateful for the chance to play. I was more hungry for points and the chance to just play with my teammates. I remember my coach telling me that if I stopped shooting, he would take me out. Well, I wasn’t going to have that happen, so I kept chucking up bricks, knowing that I didn’t want to sit the bench. I was grateful for every second to bounce a ball in front of my family that I would do anything to help the team and coaches keep me in. My attitude of being faithful with the small thing (sitting the bench), was fueled to greater heights once I got to play. Not only that, but my attitude even impressed my coach to such and extend that he apologized to my parents (who had been faithful to attend every game) for not playing me as much. Faithfulness and commitment are watched because so few of us see these two traits anymore.
I bring this story up not because I wish to brag or share my past, but because I was reflecting the other day when the question, “Does faithfulness in ministry lead to excellence?” popped into my head.
In the Old Testament, faithfulness “speaks of someone who has shown themselves trustworthy in the execution of duties” while in the New Testament, the meaning of faithfulness was slightly enhanced, “requiring someone proven to be reliable and trustworthy in and by the execution of a given action.” Obviously, doing a job well and for a long time seems to be at the core of faithfulness. As Eugene Peterson wrote, it is a “Long Obedience in the Same Direction.” Yet, I’m convinced the reason Excellence is not achieved or gained is because Faithfulness is so intertwined with the other that it is difficult to distinguish the two from each other.
You can’t have excellence if you are not faithful, and you can’t be faithful if you don’t value excellence. They are intertwined. And since they are so closely connected, I began thinking about what prevents youth workers from obtaining “Excellent Faithfulness.” These reasons include: Time, Paths, Priorities, and what I call “the Splash.”
Most of these reasons are straight forward. Both excellence and faithfulness take extended amounts of time. In the case of Moses, both elements took his whole life, and some will question whether he was even an excellent leader, as he had a temper and took on way more than he should have.
The “paths” we walk while we are in the trenches is another reason we never obtain faithfulness. As Andy Stanly writes in his excellent book “Principle of the Path,” he writes that it is our “Direction, not our intentions,” that leads us to our destinations. We may want to be faithful, but if we have no habits that show or prove this, then we will never be faithful, which is why Jesus spoke of the small things, and doing those things well, before taking on more. We have to show we can do the one before we can do the other. The same can be said for priorities. We have to put people and relationships first, before we get into programming and leading. People won’t follow someone that doesn’t care, nor will they follow someone who has not shown great skill in the small things.
Finally, the subtle, but hurtful “Splash.” So many times in our media soaked culture, we feel that a “huge, big splash” will help get us over the hump in regards to an event, gathering or ministry. Yet, as seen throughout Scripture, Faithfulness is not about the “big” production or that life changing element. Yes, those things are a part of the ministry “pie.” However, it is the day to day following of Christ that leads to faithfulness, as you can’t have one without the other. Just because you do the “big” thing does not make someone spiritual or even more faithful then another individual. Heck, there will be people better at one than the other, as we all have different spiritual gifts. What makes the difference is the attitude, the “long obedience in one direction.” It all comes down to, will you keep going, no matter what?
When I was playing basketball in high school, my attitude dictated the rest of the season. I would even argue that it changed my life, the decision to follow through with the commitment with a better attitude than anyone could imagine. It was and is all about attitude. When it comes to faithfulness and excellence, will you do whatever it takes to be faithful, knowing that that is excellent in the eyes of the Lord?
Do you thirst to be thirsty? Is an adequate, final question, as your attitude of wanting faithfulness and excellence will play a pivotal and life altering role in your quest.