The Fallacy of Excellence

And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men (Col 3:23) Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Cor 10:31) 

Fast-forward 2000 years  and we find a major section of the body of Christ using these, and other verses like them, to justify what they call excellence in serving within the body of Christ. This term excellence has become so entrenched in charismatic church movements that it is not even questioned anymore. Money is thrown at programs and equipment in the name of excellence, hours of practice and rehearsals are done in the name of excellence and people are exalted and marginalized, at the same time, in the name of excellence.

There is no biblical precedence for us, as Christians, to strive for excellence. In fact, the Apostle Paul says quite the opposite. Paul says, that it is by Gods grace that he is what he is, and by implication, that he does what he does (1 Corinthians 15:10). A striving for excellence is in fact a quest for perfection, something that we can't attain. Only One was perfect, only One was blameless and only One can make us perfect - Jesus.

My question to those who are striving for excellence is, WHY? Why focus on something that can't be attained no matter how much you try? Why try and change imperfect flesh into perfect divinity? At this point, I can hear the question that many people will be retorting with, "If we don't strive for excellence, then we portray the body of Christ as amateurish and cheap" Here is a wake-up call, we are amateurs! At this point you may want to read my post on Money In Sports, money is always the game-changer. Before I get too carried away let me make my point by quoting some irrefutable scripture:

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. - (I Corinthians 1:26-29)

With emphasis on verse 29, "that no flesh should glory in His presence". All glory belongs to God. The more we strive for excellence in the name of "excellence brings Him glory" the more we are in the flesh and make standards our idol, worshiping excellence, instead of God (Gal 3:3). So, what is the solution, what should we be focused on instead?

Jesus has made us perfect. Our very nature is perfect, there is nothing to strive for (2 Cor 5:21) We need to trust our new nature to be excellent, by His grace, through faith (Eph 2:9). By focusing on Jesus and understanding who we are in Him (Col 1:28), then operating out of that. We will become more excellent accidentally than we ever could have been on purpose. Unbelievable? Believe it, it works! Jesus has made you excellent, understand it, believe it and then live it - it's effortless!

Beyond the Veil!

"Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?" - Romans 6:16

The question asked by the Apostle Paul, above, is one which I have been pondering. Why does he ask such a, seemingly, obvious and redundant question? This simplicity of it, makes me wonder if there isn't more to it, and I believe that there is!

I often think that we do things in life, expecting totally different results to that which we end up getting. For instance, if you invest your money in some sort of investment scheme that promises a certain return and when the investment finally pays out you get nowhere near the return promised, in fact you lose money. Naturally you will be disappointing.

One of two things could have happened here: Either you were deceived into thinking that there was be money to be made, or there really was money to be made and due to unforeseen circumstances (market related), your return was less than initially expected.

When Paul asks the question above, I think he is speaking to those people who fall into the first category; the one of, "I was taken for a ride". You see, it is human nature to measure and weigh things and then make decisions based on the outcome of your predictions; thus, making YOU god in your life. 

By submitting yourself to YOU, your logic and your intellect, you are in fact engaging in one of the most common forms of idolatry, known as pride. You thus become a slave to your limited knowledge, abilities and obvious frailties.

Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey ..? When we obey our impulses and selfish desires we get deceived into thinking that the returns on this will be advantageous; we become slaves to this illusion. This is the veil that clouds carnal decision making. 

Our decisions must be made in the spirit, backed up by the word and covered by prayer. Without this we will be at the mercy of carnal mindedness, which can only lead one way ...

"For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace" - Romans 8:6

Extreme: Banff Film Festival

Continuing on our extreme theme this week. I attended the screening of the Banff Mountain Film Festival in Cape Town. I was blown away by how the creativity of the film makers and the daring of the sportsmen were combined to bring me to a place of an adrenaline-inspired awe! 

Below are some pictures of the various stories that were shown in the combined short-film version. All these stories had to have a few things in common: Mountains, danger and skill. One thing that struck me was the overwhelming sense of focus that each one of these people had. The task at hand was the single most important thing in their lives, at that time. This could be due to the fact that these were life and death situations, but I strongly believe that our ability to stay focused and accomplish the task at hand will eventually separate the success stories from the not-so successful stories.

Sketchy Andy slack-lining across canyons, without a safety harness. He tends to base-jump of this 'stable' base as well!

Crazy rock columns being climbed in the middle of the dessert in Chad! Sometimes without guidelines ...

Bombing 20 meter waterfalls in Mexico, in kayaks! Lot's of blood.

Coastal crew going downhill, fast, very fast! Great jumps, great bikes, big hearts!