Commitment to Excellence

Commitment to Excellence

by Grant Gaines

Of the many teams who could make the “A-List” of sports franchises who are committed to excellence, the Oakland Raiders (NFL) are certainly not one of them. Now I’m not ragging on the Raiders, but let’s look at the facts: The Oakland Raiders have not won more than half of their games in any of the last nine seasons. In fact, since 2003, the Raiders have a combined record of 45 wins and 83 losses (a lowly .351 winning percentage). To make matters worse, the Raiders are annually one of the NFL’s top 5 most penalized teams

That’s hardly a commitment to excellence. And yet, decorating the Oakland Raiders’ stadium at every home game are banners proclaiming their team’s motto, “Commitment to Excellence”. The Oakland Raiders claim to be committed to excellence, but as can be seen from their awful win-loss record and the stark amount of penalties committed, the Raiders clearly do not practice what they preach.

But before we begin to get too critical of the motley crew, how many of us are the “Oakland Raiders” of Christianity? What I mean by that is, how many of us claim to be set apart from the nonbelieving world (1 Peter 2:9), and yet live an eerily similar life to theirs?

How many of us claim to have a relationship with the Almighty God of Love, but hate our neighbor? How many of us ask questions such as, “How much vulgar language can I use?” “How far can I go with by boyfriend/girlfriend without sinning?” “How many times a day do I haveto pray in order to earn God’s favor?” The list goes on and on but it all boils down to the same general principal, we only want to do just enough to be considered “good”.

This mentality is the problem with too many Christians today. Too often, we look for the boundary between what is right and what is wrong and settle in as close to that line as possible. As a result, unbelievers look at those Christians as “boundary setters”, or people who are just on the right side of doing wrong. The unbelievers reason, “If that is what being a Christian looks like, then why would I want to become a Christian? They are basically doing all the same sinful activities I am.” And unfortunately, too often, they are right.

When we settle for being a boundary setter, we settle for mediocrity. And when we settle for mediocrity, we stop being the lights Jesus called us to be in Matthew 5:16. We no longer stand out from the world because we have become carbon copies of the world.

But God did not call us to merely be “boundary setters”. God called us to be a standard of excellence for those around us.

Do you remember how the interaction between Peter and Jesus went down when Peter wanted Jesus to set a boundary on forgiveness in Matthew 18:21-22 (NIV)? “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.”

Did you catch the hint of sarcasm in Jesus’s voice? Peter wanted Jesus to draw a nice, neat boundary line so he would only have to forgive others up to a certain point. But Jesus wasn’t interested in having His followers straddle the line between good and evil. So in His answer, Jesus challenged Peter to never grow weary in forgiving others – no matter how many times they mess up.

And as you read the Gospels, you quickly learn that Jesus doesn’t want His followers to be boundary setters. Just look at Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. Jesus demands His followers to go far beyond the traditionally held boundaries when it comes to hating others (Matt 5:21-26), lustful thoughts (Matt 5:27-30), divorce (Matt 5:31-32), making promises (Matt 5:33-37), retaliation (Matt 5:38-42), and loving our enemies (Matt 5:43-48). And that’s only the topics Jesus covers in Matthew 5!

In fact, if you read these passages carefully, you will notice that Jesus begins each topic with the words, “You have heard it was said…,” or, “It has been said…” (Matt 5:21, 27,31,38,43 NIV). Jesus would then state the commonly held boundary the religious people of the day would adhere to. But Jesus wasn’t satisfied with the status quo. Instead, Jesus would follow every “You have heard it was said,” statement with a challenge to His followers to go above and beyond what was expected from society with the words, “But I tell you…” (Matt 5:22, 28, 32, 34, 39, 44), and then state His call to excellence.

How does this look in your life? Are you camping on the boundary line between good and evil or are you shining like a star in a dark world (Phil. 2:15) by committing yourself to excellence? Committing yourself to excellence takes time, it takes courage, and it takes a lot of effort. But when we invest our efforts into the things of God’s kingdom, we will never be disappointed with the results (Galatians 6:9).

He is calling you to excellence. Are you answering His call?

Comments? Questions?  Suggestions.

Email Me

©Grant Gaines 2013