The pursuit of excellence

Excellence is defined as the quality of being outstanding or extremely good. It is A+ in our grade. To excel is to abound or to make progress. We are created to excel in life. In fact J. Hampton Keathley III says that the pursuit of excellence is both a goal and a mark of spiritual maturity.

Excellence should be differentiated from perfection. While perfection strives towards an ideal or without fault and can be frustrating but pursuit of excellence is giving our best shot in whatever we do and is healthy. Perhaps this is best conveyed by Paul in his letter to Colossians 3:23: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men”

Excellence should also be differentiated from success. The Olympic is held to showcase the mark of excellence. This is rightly expressed in the Olympic creed: “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part, just as the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle. The essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well.” Brian Harbour differentiates success and excellence as: “Success means being the best. Excellence means being your best. Success, to many, means being better than everyone else. Excellence means being better tomorrow than you were yesterday. Success means exceeding the achievements of other people. Excellence means matching your practice with your potential.” So success is more of outdoing others but excellence is doing our best with what we have with the purpose to grow, improve or learn. To succeed you compete with others but to excel you compete with yourself.

The pursuit of excellence must be motivated by the right values, priorities, and motives lest it becomes a pursuit for our own glory and for the recognition of men. The competitiveness to succeed and outdo others is evident in all spheres of life, be it in sports, science, arts, culture or market. This has led to so many setbacks and heartaches. The issue of doping in sports is taken very seriously and must be so because it goes against the very ethos of a true sportsmanship which is to excel. Perhaps the pursuit excellence is to not seek your own welfare by outdoing others but to seek the welfare of others. Paul in his letter directs the Corinthians to seek the glory of God: “So whatever you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians10:31).”

The pursuit of excellence is a way of doing ordinary, common and everyday things in life in a very extraordinary way as a devotion to the creator. When everyday work becomes worship to your creator miracles can happen. Perhaps this is the reason Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge University has produced the highest number of Noble Laureates from a single facility. Since the founding of the Nobel Prizes by Alfred Nobel in 1895, 29 members of the Cavendish have won one of the illustrious prizes. The oak door of the new Cavendish Laboratory have this inscription from the Book of Psalms in the Bible: “The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein.” Thus the pursuit of excellence is not just fruitful but can be fulfilling. After all Man's chief  end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever as Westminster Shorter Catechism states.

The pursuit of excellence requires prioritization. This means many things which are good and important will have to go away in order to make way for what is best. There are so many things that require our attention and our time. It is the ability to focus on the goal that will make us excel in life. Rob Bell tells of a story where he and his son were walking on a beach. His son was picking up sea shells lying on the beach as they walk along. Out of nowhere a big starfish washed up on the beach. His son looks up and wants to grab it. Rob tells his son to go and get it but his son says he can’t. Rob tells his son to just ran into the water and grab it, but his son replies again out of frustration that he can’t. Rob says, “Why not?” and his son says, “My hands are full of sea shells.” The pursuit of excellence requires us to let go of the good like sea shells in order to get hold of the starfish.