“Excellence” is one of the many buzz-words at most church plants and self-proclaimed “modern” churches I’ve been exposed to. But there’s one major issue.
What exactly is excellence?
At OneLife, we’ve wrestled with this from the beginning. And one thing that surfaced very early was something I learned from my buddy Bruce Pearl in nearly every interview I heard him do in his first year at UT: It’s all about the process!
If our product (whatever that may be) is excellent but the process to get there is a big ole mess, count me out. It’s fake excellence. What we want is a culture of excellence, not just products of excellence. A culture of excellence will affect everything we do: the staff throughout the week, volunteer expectations, OneLife Kidz, the worship service, and on and on it goes.
This morning I shared with our staff what it is going to take for OneLife to have excellence as a culture and not just a buzz-word. It’s going to take a “that can’t happen!” culture.
In other words, gone are the days of accepting mediocrity in anything we do. When something begins to slip, we must approach it saying “That can’t happen!” When something or someone falls through the cracks, “That can’t happen!” When we begin to accept low-risks instead of trusting our BIG God, “That can’t happen!” When my relationship with God isn’t where it should be, “That can’t happen!” When someone doesn’t view their volunteer responsibilities as if eternity weighs in the balance, “That can’t happen!” And when those pesky details don’t get the attention they deserve, “THAT can’t happen!”
What I’ve learned is that no matter how great things are now and no matter how good we get at making things look good on the surface, if we let this culture erode over time then we will lose our excellence and therefore our effectiveness. No matter how much we say we want excellence, if we accept mediocrity at ANY level it will eat us alive. And that CAN’T happen!
OneLifers, our God deserves our best. We as a staff are committed to helping you and our church give him nothing short of that. And when we see the early signs of it slipping away, we’re gonna commit to this battle cry:
That can’t happen!
I once heard Johnny Hunt, former president of the SBC, say something that will forever change my life. I hope all Christians take to heart what you just said and what Pastor Hunt said that morning I’ll always remember, “The biggest enemy of great is good.”
This is fresh, encouraging, energetic and a call for all of us to stay engaged in the battle. It reminds me of Top Gun when Maverick has realized that he is in a life and death situation with the passing of his best friend. Upon meeting the enemy the next time he falls back, disengages from the battle momentarily leaving someone else at risk of loosing thier life.
My wife and I have only attended a few services but what I see and admire in OneLife is a group that is very engaged in the battle. It seems that the focus is not on quantitative things like attendance or baptisims but on qualitative things such as what it takes to connect with people and change lives.
Well said, Pastor.
Knoxville is growing, yet most of its churches are shrinking… That can’t happen!!!