Do You Serve Perfectly or With Excellence?

• Share on Facebook
• Email

How to Distinguish Between the Two and Glorify God

There were two women. They didn’t know each other. They didn’t live near each other or even at the same time. And they both tried to do their best in everything they did. But they took different approaches to do it. Two different approaches we can learn from in order to be confident we are glorifying God.

Rebekah

Email

Rebekah went to the well to draw water, which was her usual task. When she arrived, a man was there. He asked for a drink of water. Because Rebekah was committed to doing her best at whatever she did, she hastened to draw water for him. She didn’t do so leisurely or begrudgingly. She quickly provided the water. Genesis 24:15-18.

Rebekah didn’t stop when the man was satisfied. Instead, Rebekah offered to do more.  She didn’t ask if the man needed her to do it, or if the man would allow her to do it. She didn’t even say she would go to get help to do it. She merely said she would do more. She would water the man’s camels also, drawing water until the camels were done drinking. Even when doing more than the man asked her to do, she still hastened. She didn’t slow her efforts because she was merely tending to the animals. She hastened to fill the trough, going back and forth, to and from the well, until the camels were done drinking. Genesis 24:19-20.

Martha

Martha, on the other hand, didn’t have to be asked to do anything. When Jesus came to visit, she already had in her mind what needed to be done and knew how to do it perfectly. Like Rebekah, Martha quickly set her hand to the task. She began preparing the perfect meal to serve her guest. But she didn’t do it with quite the same attitude as Rebekah.

Email

There was much to be done. Martha glanced around to see who was going to help her get it done. When she found her sister sitting at the feet of Jesus with no intention of helping Martha, she marched straight to Jesus and begrudgingly asked (and I paraphrase), “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to serve alone?” Martha did not discreetly and respectfully approach her sister directly to ask for her assistance. Instead, Martha went straight to Jesus and accused Him of not caring about her situation. She then went a step further and demanded that He instruct her sister to help her. Luke 10:38-42.

All the Difference in the World

What was the difference between Rebekah’s and Martha’s approaches? Rebekah sought to serve with excellence. Martha sought to serve perfectly. The approach we choose to serve with makes all of the difference in the world. Although the quality of service may appear the same, the impact on our relationships and the consequences of our service may be very different.

Excellence is the quality of being very good at something. Perfectionism on the other hand is the refusal to accept any standard short of perfection. Since we are called to do all things to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31), it is important to understand which of these approaches glorifies God.

Email

Rebekah served with excellence. When the man asked her to draw him a drink, she respectfully replied saying, “Drink, my lord” and gave him a drink. She did not cop an attitude. She did not act inconvenienced. She did not seek someone else to help with the task. She respectfully complied. Then she offered to do more, to water the camels. Again, respectfully and with haste. She had no responsibility to water the camels. She could have gone back to tend to her own responsibilities. But, instead, she saw the need and offered to handle it. Without grumbling. Without acting overly burdened. Without seeking someone else to help her. She went the extra mile.

Rebekah’s excellent service resulted in high quality service and building a relationship. The man and the camels were quickly satisfied. Their needs were met. And she built a relationship with the man. Because of her demeanor and response, he felt comfortable that she was the one to be the wife of his master’s son. She became the wife of one of the patriarchs of the Israelites. Rebekah’s excellent service glorified God. Genesis 24:67.

Email

Martha strived to serve perfectly. There is no doubt the service she provided was of high quality. She put the perfect meal on the table for her esteemed guest. She likely received many gracious complements. But in the end, she damaged her relationship with her sister and with Jesus. In fact, Jesus had to correct her publicly for her incorrect approach. Her perfect performance brought attention onto herself, but did not glorify God.

There is a world of difference between doing something with excellence and striving to do it perfectly.

Importance for Us Today

I received many comments about my last post, Stop Feeling Guilt and Shame for Disappointing God Now!  In addition to the posted comments, people contacted me through private message. It seems many Christians struggle with feelings of disappointing God when they are not able to achieve perfection. Yet perfection is not His standard. And perfectionism does not glorify Him.

Yesterday I was scrolling through my Facebook page and saw the following post from a dear sister in the Lord, Sujey Garcia:

Adding excellence to your life means, if you are going to do something, don’t just do what they ask you. Add something else. Remember the story of the young girl named Rebekah. She did not just give water to Abraham’s servant. She offered water for his camels also. And she was greatly blessed. Because of her excellence, she became the wife of a prince, the son of promise. (Translated from Spanish)

As I read that post, my heart was pricked because I knew those of us who struggle with perfectionism need to rethink our approach. In order to be confident that we are glorifying God in everything we do, we need to stop pursuing perfection and simply serve with excellence, striving to see the needs and tend to them without having to be asked. Go the extra mile. And let God be glorified, not ourselves.

How do we tell the difference?

The Apostle Peter tells us how to develop excellence. First, we act by faith and diligently seek virtue, developing knowledge, self-control, patience, godliness, brotherly affection, and Christian love. 2 Peter 1:5-7. These characteristics were evident in Rebekah when she hastened to fetch water first for the man and continued doing so for the camels. These characteristics build upon each other as we continue diligently, leading to knowledge, then to patience, then to godliness, etc.

Email

Excellence also includes honesty. When we act in faith and diligently pursue the above characteristics of excellence and speak honestly with all people, our good works will glorify God. 1 Peter 2:12. As Rebekah did, when we pursue excellence we speak honestly and kindly to others and we take responsibility for our actions. By our actions, attitude, and behavior, God is glorified.

Perfection on the other hand is striving to achieve an unachievable standard. It is striving to be flawless, which is not consistent with the Biblical concept of perfection. When the Bible speaks of perfection in us, it is generally referring to maturity. The Apostle Paul describes the gifts the Lord gave for the perfecting of the saints. Ephesians 4:12. This perfecting is the maturing of the saints, fully equipping them to do the work of the Church.

When Jesus called us to be perfect, he was calling us to grow into “complete maturity of godliness in mind and character, having reached the proper height of virtue and integrity.” Matthew 5:48 AMP. This Biblical perfection is more akin to excellence, not flawlessness.

Email

We can tell we are striving for perfection instead of excellence when we do not tolerate our own mistakes. When we berate ourselves and constantly pick at our own work because it is never quite good enough. Also, when we see our relationships with other people suffer, especially those that are close to us (family members) or who must work with us. This happens because we impose our own high, unachievable standards on everyone around us. And they cannot measure up, causing both ourselves and them frustration.

Another sign of perfectionism in our lives is that frequent feeling of disappointing God as presented in Stop Feeling Guilt and Shame for Disappointing God Now! As Nathan V pointed out in his comment to that post, we often find our “prayer time being ineffectual because [we] replace fervency with apology.” This damages our relationship with God because we are not growing in Him, praying for others and for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. We are constantly in repentance, not in growth.

Call to Action

Let’s observe our own actions, attitudes, and behavior in order to determine if we are striving for excellence or for perfection. If the latter, turn our hearts back toward God and diligently pursue the characteristics of excellence, which will glorify God and lead us into Christian maturity. We can be confident we are glorifying God when we pursue excellence.

Email