Yesterday I had the amazing opportunity to attend the New Spring Leadership Conference with my church.
I feel incredibly grateful to even be apart of Elevation Church but to attend an event like this with all the campus leaders…well, it was life-changing.
One of the core values at Elevation is, “We will not take this for granted.” And I completely had that mindset going into yesterday. I knew I was going to experience something that wasn’t going to be just another day…or another conference.
God was up to something, and I felt it in my gut at 4am when my alarm went off.
As our leadership team all piled into a van together, I felt something stirring inside of me again. Each session was absolutely a-mazing.
And the volunteers of New Spring Church?
Stellar.
Like this New Spring friend, Karen…absolutely amazing person.
I was blown away at the hospitality, honor, and just authentic care that every volunteer at New Spring had.
Excellence.
It does something to you.
Makes you a crazy for God. Makes you move beyond your normal. Makes you shift. Makes you realize how much is at stake every-single-day.
But more than anything, excellence prepares the way for the movement of God.
However, today I believe our society is confused with the difference between excellence for God and perfection for God.
Early that morning, Pastor Craig Groeschel was able to put into words that “something” that was stirring inside of me. He said this,
“God wants to do more in your life than just make a difference.”
Ministry has been so confusing for me lately. I’ve made things so complicated. That stirring inside of me was showing me how I’ve been attaining…perfection for God.
All for the sake of wanting to…make a difference.
In the process of this, I’ve lost that spirit of striving for excellence for God. Yes, I do the things I’m supposed to do, I show up where I’m supposed to show up, and I really do try to do things God’s way.
But God is leading all of us to a life that is so much beyond just making a difference. Obedience is a factor in that but not the complete picture.
My heart craves for people to be united. For personal platforms to fall aside and to really believe in the gospel enough to do anything for God. Anything.
Pastor Groeschel said this striking statement,
“There is no room in the Kingdom of God for personal branding.”
What a counter-culture message that is. For believers. For ministries. For writers. For speakers. For leaders.
I am wondering as these words roll out to you on this blog today, if they are as unsettling in your soul as they were to mine.
As a young woman, I know that I still have so much to learn. And I’ve wasted a good bit of time striving for perfection…I see that.
But I’m grateful…so grateful that this place of surrender is allowing me to not miss the will of God one more moment.
Excellence is so much more than just doing a good job. New Spring’s volunteer’s could have “just” done a good job yesterday. But they didn’t. They led with excellence from cleaning restrooms to handing out information packets.
They were the opening act for the movement of God.
What would happen if that was how we craved our lives to be?
Excellence leads us to a place of:
~Allowing people to be greater than you.
~Staying in a posture of learning.
~Knowing “who” your enemy really is [Satan].
~Doing what God tells you to do, despite details, resources, or the right people.
Perfection leads us towards:
~Thinking we are significant.
~Knocking everyone down beside us.
~Taking credit for what was God’s anyway.
There’s a big difference in doing things to achieve perfection and doing things to achieve excellence.
Finding the strength and passion to do this constantly isn’t easy. My soul is challenged to move beyond this attempt at making a difference. God is stirring my thoughts, my interest, my hopes and even my dreams.
Have you struggled with attaining perfection vs attaining excellence in your life? I would love to hear from you and create a healthy discussion in the comments.
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“There is no room in the Kingdom of God for personal branding.”
Did this leave you wondering what to do with all the marketing info we speakers/writers/leaders get from Christian marketing gurus, including those very qualified persons who publish books and give advice on booking more speaking engagements?
So, do we have a tag line and list our value statements or not? I guess that’s just the tip of the iceberg as far as “personal or ministry branding” goes.
I guess each individual needs to know her own heart motivations and continue to be led of the Spirit even if it involves writing tag lines and value statements.
What do you think?
I think I have a similar thought/question process as you do Melanie! Not accounting for the past few months as I have struggled with grief, but thinking back to the years of ministry I have been involved in, we can’t just sit on the sidelines and hope someone comes knocking on our door to ask us to write a book or speak to a group. God doesn’t want us there, so how do we live that full life of excellence and yet not ‘self-promote/personal brand’ ourselves? Very thought provoking, Nicki!!
Cindy, I agree…sitting on the sidelines isn’t what God has asked. He’s a God of movement and action and I feel like we need to follow that attribute of Him. But, I’m feeling like there’s a balance…
I feel like when we are living out this place of attaining “perfection” in ministry we might fail to spur others on towards the movement of God in their lives. That’s what I was talking about with the New Spring Volunteers…they were excellent and it was a strong opening act for the movement of God through the day.
Thanks so much for sharing your opinions! I hope others will too. 🙂
I so appreciate your comments and I hope others will join in this discussion because it is challenging as you said Cindy.
Mel, thanks for your honesty and yes…when I first heard him say this my soul became really unsettled. You know as a speaker and writer that I have sat through many sessions where I have heard this message of “branding”. I don’t think there is anything wrong with taking your strengths and using them as “taglines” or “branding”.
But…I think what Pastor Groshel said is so important to our culture today.
I see it more and more that we are moving to a place of “this is about me and what I’m doing FOR God” rather than “this is what God is doing”.
Mel, I agree completely. The question needs to always be, “what are my motives for this?”
Wow! It’s 5am and this is so much for my brain to handle at this hour.lol
But my soul soaks it in like the first drink of morning.
As of late, I’m beginning to see more and more where I’ve ‘stamped’ my name on something, as if that were my true purpose, and then wondered why the feelings I thought it would generate didnt happen.
They only come when true glory of the Father is revealed through my actions.
Motives. Key to why we are here and what we’re doing.
Oh, that my motives would always be pure.
“They only come when true glory of the Father is revealed through my actions.” -Love this Danielle. Thanks so much for speaking into this conversation, even at that early hour. 🙂
God met me this morning with a whisper to my spirit that was so loud it echoed, yet soft and loving. It’s been awhile since that happened and then to come on and read your post. Daddy was in it, too.
I love your heart, sister!! Keep basking in Him and spreading, others are gathering and reaping because of it.
Amen my friend, love it when God speaks like this to us.
Beautiful post and some words I needed!!!! I have a perfectionist bent in me that I have to fight everyday – some days more than others. Excellence has been a key word I’ve been processing for a couple months. And your post nails the topic beautifully. Thank you for sharing!!! LOVE you friend!!!
Love you Karen! You are a beautiful reflection of God’s excellence. 🙂
Love this, great post!!!
I just talked to my team about this today. Great confirmation for what has been on my heart!
Thanks,
Sue
Thanks Sue! Love that God confirmed this for you today.
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