Found this excerpt over at J.R. Brigg’s blog, on the destructive force of excellence as a value:
Recently Rick Warren challenged me to think carefully about this as he facilitated a small group of pastors in a discussion about how to build an equipping church. He said that if you want to build an equipping church, you have to tear down the idol of excellence. Why? Because most people are not excellent; most people are not extraordinary. Most people are ordinary. If you’re going to do ministry through ordinary people you have to give up the notion of excellence.
From the book “Leadership Baton”
Hmmm… I don’t like the sound of that. Of course, I’m always coming from the view of worship leader on the platform… I think we do want our teachers to be excellent, and our musicians to be at least sort of excellent…
Maybe the people themselves aren’t excellent, I certainly fit that description, but in their ministry I would hope we can at least encourage excellence.
Maybe I’m missing his point.
I think it takes a turn for the negative when we make excellence the primary qualification for even getting involved in ministry in the first place. We’re squeezing out the room for somebody who maybe just picked up their craft, has spent 6 months getting the basics down, but who isn’t a pro player. They may have an awesome heart, they may be effective at connecting with people and a strong team member, but if they don’t have that “excellence” quality, there’s not a place for them in the ministry.
I agree, Michael, but I hope that STRIVING for excellence is the key point in this entire conversation. I hope that the “not excellent” members of the worship team are all held to the level of wanting to improve. I don’t like people being called ordinary, anyway, and some called excellent, as if Excellent is a measurable, tangible and perfectly attainable status. I hope all humans, even us ordinary ones, strive for excellence in something, and I think as worship leader you can ask for that sort of effort. My two cents.
Cerise
I’m feeling a certain sense of vertigo, being on this side of the question. I’m not looking to lower the standards on striving, on effort, on developping skills; I’m a big fan of being good and getting better.
I’m also a big fan of casting a wide net, and not setting the bar of accomplishment so high that we leave no room for progress among those who lead in ministry. I think that’s JR’s whole point, and certainly mine.
We need to dial down the value placed on achieved excellence as a prerequisite for ministry, and maybe dial up the value placed on broad community involvement, especially among developing leaders.
Yes, again I agree wholeheartedly. I personally just think JR put it pretty negatively. At least, naming this person Extraordinary and that person Ordinary is not something I agree with or like reading. Nit-picking, I think, but it’s all about tone, man. All about tone.
Cerise
Yeah, that’s another thing… that guitar player better have EXCELLENT tone. Or else.
[taptaptap] OK, check. Ch-check. Check-one-TWO. Check-one-TWO. Checkcheckcheck. Yeah, can I get more me in the monitor. And can we do something about Greg’s guitar tone? We seem to be picking up nothing but mids. That’s better - excellent.
I hope you know I’m reading all of these comments outloud in my best Garth impression, and laughing milk out of my nose.
Dude, that’s like sooo excellent… like way.
mmm
throwing a spanner in the words here !
I wonder if he meant perfectionism. I live in Finland. People here speak
such good English, but are afraid of making mistakes so they say nothing!
It’s the same in evangelism - we are afraid of being what? laughed at - so
we say nothing
We aren’t sure if we are ‘good enough’ to do x, y,z - so we do … nothing.
And sometimes, in a church the pastor /leader is expected to excell at everything
which is just plain ridiculous!
We are to do our best, but sometimes it only needs to be good to be
obdedient to God. Sometimes our own overly high standards get in the
way.
does any of this make sense? or am I just rambling on? I haven’t read the
book but it does sound interesting!!