Defining “Excellence”

• Ecclesiastes 2:11 (NIV1984) Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.

I have a habit that I started many years ago: every time I come across a word that I do not know the meaning of clearly I underline it and then each morning I look up one of those words and write the definition in the margin of the book that I found it in.

Today’s word to look up was prolation.

Do you know the meaning of this word? (I suspect you do not.)

Well here’s the definition…are you ready for this…

Prolation = the time relationship between a semibreve and a minim in mensural notation.

Wow! Clear as mud, right? I’ll have to spend the next few days looking up the meaning of the definition so I can understand the meaning of the word! (This could take a while.)

The reason I highlight this is that before moving on, I want to take a moment and define the word “excellence” as it relates to yesterday’s ONE THING, for I have learned that if you’re not clear on the meaning of a word you can set yourself up for a lot of trouble.

Remember, one of the definitions of success is: Success is being able to look at myself in the mirror and know that I am doing what I was born to do with growing excellence.

You may not have been aware of it, but I defined “growing” for you in yesterday’s blog (it may be worth reading again). However, today I want to define the word “excellence” for if you get that wrong you miss the whole point. Remember, it’s possible to be successful unsuccessfully (being successful at lesser things while failing at the important things.)

So here goes: the meaning of “excellence”…

When I was a young man I saw “growing excellence” in terms of conquering the world – forging out my place in the world, climbing the heap to get to the top, etc. As the years have progressed my focus has narrowed more and more. Today I understand that growing in excellence has more to do with my relationship with my Lord, Jesus Christ; if I get that right all else falls in place. Sensing His pleasure is success; whether I am washing toilets or preaching to thousands.

Furthermore, early on, growing in excellence was about gaining the skills to perform.  While that will always be important, as I’ve grown older, I realize that growing excellence has to do more with relationships with the people God sends into my life.

Believe me, being skilled and knowledgeable in your field is poor compensation for broken relationships. Silver and gold are lifeless – no matter how much you have. Batting over .300 in your area of life is great but doesn’t come close to holding in your arms a covenant lover, child and grandchild. Even being world-renowned doesn’t come close to meaning the world to someone.

How many people do you know that were excellent at accumulating money and the stuff that money can buy and yet discover that all the money was good for was to afford a divorce lawyer, alimony and plane tickets for the children to come visit them a few times a year.

Remember, defining the word “excellence” is vitally important. Growing in excellence in the rights things is the difference between loving cake and loving the one who made the cake. When you get it right, you get the cake and the baker too.