Leadership in The Lord's Churches

Leadership in The Lord's Churches: Marks of True Leaders
by Dr. Lester Hutson

Chapter 18

True Leaders Possess A Spirit of Excellence

By Dr. Lester Hutson

Romans 12:1, Malachi 1:12-14

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

"But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible. Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord."

This study deals with a quality important to all who would lead, but a quality that is especially important to those who would lead the Lord's churches. The really top leaders of the Lord's work all possess a spirit of excellence. In the churches where they serve, they tend to inspire a climate of excellence, a climate that is so important to the welfare of every true church.

In the days of the Levitical priesthood, multitudes of sheep, goats, bullocks, pigeons and turtledoves were offered to God as sacrifices. Never once was a second-rate sacrifice to be offered. Every sacrifice was to be the best the worshipper had to offer. In Malachi 1:6-7, God accused those who offered less than their best to Him of despising His name and of looking with contempt upon the things of God. In verse 8 He asked, "If ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil?"

God said in verses 12 and 13 that such second-rate sacrifices are evil, and that He would not accept them. Then, He stated this grim warning in verse 14, "But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of Hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen." The truth is, those who would offer acceptable sacrifices to God must give their best, the most excellent thing they have to give.

That's the way it was in the far-gone days of the Levitical sacrifices, and that's the way it is in this current day when we "as lively stones are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Christ Jesus." (I Peter 2:5)

We who have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ are to present ourselves to God as sacrifices, not dead sacrifices, but "living sacrifices." Romans 12:1 says it clearly and specifically, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service." Day by day, our lives are to be yielded to Him to use as He sees fit.

Romans 6:13 says, "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."

Back in the days of the Levitical priesthood and now in the day of the priesthood of every believer, God wants the best we have to offer. He never has been willing to accept men's leftovers and castaways, and He still isn't. He still wants our best. True leaders get hold of that truth. They see themselves as living sacrifices unto God, and being the best they can be by His enabling grace becomes a lifestyle. Routine excellence becomes as much a part of their character as honesty, gratitude or moral purity.

Excellence: a routine

A spirit of excellence is not something good Christian leaders occasionally pretend. It's a spirit that's a true part of their character. They believe in their hearts that whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing right. It would be hard to spend much time in the Bible without seeing that God wants our best.

Surely that first chapter of Malachi states loudly and clearly the disgust and anger of God toward anyone who would offer anything inferior to Him. All sacrifice animals were to always be "without blemish" according to Exodus 12:5.

God says, "whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might," in Ecclesiastes 9:10.

Colossians 3:23 says, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men."

Throughout the Book slothfulness and negligence are condemned without exception. "The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute," in Proverbs 12:24.

"The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious," according to Proverbs 12:27.

"He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster," says Proverbs 18:9.

"The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labor," adds Proverbs 21:25.

Jesus condemned slothful servants in Matthew 25:26. One of the most sobering warnings against slack, slothful, negligence and sluffing off to do less than our best in life is found in Proverbs 24:30-34,

"I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man."

No wonder God exhorts us in Romans 12:11 to be "not slothful in business" but to be "fervent in spirit; serving the Lord." Listen to this great admonition of Hebrews 6:10-12,

"For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises."

Nobody who is giving God any less than the best of his life can take comfort. As feeble as it may be, He wants our best, always our best! I know our best is "altogether vanity," but God still wants it, not in our strength, but in His strength. Let no man who is sluggardly, careless and slack in what he does take any shelter in the idea that his best is really no good anyway. Sure, we are all just dust. Not one of us has anything of our own to offer God. Yet, when we render back to God the best we have of that which He has given us, that offering becomes precious in His sight.

As a child of God, He expects you to be the very best you can be. Maybe you can, at your best, be only 25% of what someone else is, but be 100% of your 25% capacity. The story of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 makes brilliantly clear that God doesn't measure you by the capacity of others, but He surely expects 100% of whatever your capacity is. Be the best dad you can be. Do your best as a mother. Teacher, God expects you to be all you're capable of being. Singer, you'd better not offer God only 75%. Preacher, every sermon and every pastoral work is to be offered to the best of your capacity, and if you have the capacity to improve (and who doesn't), you'd better not stop growing and become content with what and where you are. Woe be unto the singer who would offer a song unto the Lord (is there any other reason?) and who doesn't adequately rehearse, who drags up there, putting on a show flipping through pages, searching for books or communicating with the pianist when he could and should have been prepared and ready to turn attention to God instead of self.

Woe be unto the teacher who fails to give the time to study and working with his class, and who goes in with a cold, lifeless, shallow or boring lesson to a class that is about as organized as an anthill with its top just kicked off. Woe be unto the pastor who preaches with no more depth than he did five years ago! Woe be unto the pastor who can ignore unkept facilities, slackness in the operations of the Lord's church, and who is content with a church operation that is replete with negligence, carelessness and sloppiness.

God forbid that we ever become so meticulous that we cramp the work of God, yet many we never come to accept "any ole thing" offered in the name of God, however sloppy and inferior it may be! I Corinthians 14:33 says, "God is not the author of confusion," and I Corinthians 14:40 says, "Let all things be done decently and in order." No Christian, especially a leader, should ever sluff off, coast or cheat on himself by offering less than a wholehearted offering to God in whatever he does.

The key words in offering ourselves to God are "routine excellence." Yes, not just offering our best now and then, but routinely, at home, on the job, at church, in word and in deed. The person who does is the kind others want to follow. They naturally become leaders where sluggards can't buy a following. Note well: They do their best, not to impress nor attract people, but because it's right before God to do it. By doing their best, they're not trying to show off or impress anybody. They do it as unto the Lord, which means their driving force is the glory of God and what pleases Him, not the praise and pleasing of men. Thus, you can see the point of Colossians 3:23 which says, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men."

A while back myself and some of the men in my family were laying a septic field line at my dad's old home place in East Texas. We had to dig nearly three feet deep for more than 100 feet through wet soil full of roots. It was hard to get the field line the right depth at the right slope. I saw how easy it would be to cheat on the job. We could have laid that line too shallow and without sufficient drop, then covered it up. It would probably take several years before the septic tank refilled, and the fieldline eroded and began to cause backup problems in the commode and drain lines. At eighty-four years old, our parents would probably never live to learn we cheated on the job. But, I'd know it, my brother and my son would know it, and God would know it, so we took more time, cut out more roots, dug a deeper trench, and did it right. I'm so glad we did. We did it as "unto the Lord" and the great day of judgment will reveal that we gave it our best.

Wouldn't it be disillusioning to dig into some remote place which hasn't been touched in years and discover someone cheated on a job, then covered it up to hide their vice?

Excellence can't be hidden

Excellence or the lack thereof is an attitude that will show. It can't be long hidden. It will show in the pastor's sermons, in their depth, their variety and the manner and spirit in which they are preached. It will show in how much time the man of God spends in the Word and on his knees, and it will show in how much attention he gives to the welfare of the church and it's people. It will show up in the printed materials of the church, like Sunday bulletins, and in the church lawn and flower beds. It will show up in the clean and maintained buildings. Every church vehicle will be a tattle-tale on the church leadership's attitude toward excellence.

Where there's an attitude of excellence, people will be ready to sing when it's time, and it will be evident that they've spent time with God in preparing. The services will be well-ordered. The people on the instruments will know when to play, the ushers will know their jobs, and there won't be a lot of dead time, nor a "thrown together at the last minute" atmosphere.

You can pretty well look at how a pastor and his family dresses and see his attitude towards excellence. His shoes will tell you. His personal hygiene, his cleanliness and neatness, whether or not his car stays clean, regardless of its age, and the condition of his own residence are all reflections of his attitude. If a spirit of excellence prevails, he'll keep himself as clean and neat as possible, take care of his car or residence, however meager, and generally do the best he can with what he has. He'll insist that his family, those within his sphere of influence, do the same.

Excellence inspires excellence

A spirit of excellence inspires excellence in others. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 27:17, "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." Attitudes are contagious, bad ones as well as good ones. Thank God for the spiritually healthy, stimulating powers of excellence. Good, God-honoring singing touches hearts and causes others to want to join in and do better. Solid, soul-stirring preaching inspires people, and many times, is the tool of God to touch the hearts of young men to enter the ministry. Excellence in a good pastor causes many (not all) to want to follow him.

It's hard for those around to be indifferent to excellence. There's a little chameleon in all of us. Will Rogers once said, "I'm a little bit of everybody I ever met." Yes, people do influence us. It's hard to be totally unaffected by your environment, to avoid being caught up in what's going on. When there's a climate of excellence, people are impacted for the better. A spirit of excellence in a Godly church leader can, and usually will, slowly but surely build a spirit of excellence into a whole church. Heaven rejoices when it happens, because God always wants our best. No one person has more influence and impact on a church than the pastor. The people invariably begin to take on his values, attitudes and spirit. Hebrews 13:7 says that's the way it should be. "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation."

My what an awesome responsibility is on a pastor's shoulders, and what a position he is in! The attitudes and spirits of the people rise and fall with him. He can personally inspire them to great levels of excellence by his own spirit of excellence, or he can lock them into mediocrity or defeat by his attitude of half-heartedness or sluggardness. The whole church is impacted for the better or the worse by his spirit of excellence or lack thereof.

Surely those who would lead the Lord's people in his churches must not allow themselves to sluff off, and be anything less than the best they could be by the grace of God. The fact that some do and some don't is another factor that accounts for the prosperity of some of the Lord's churches while others are in spiritual poverty. A spirit of excellence: It is a very important ingredient in the success of any church, and it is one of the earmarks of true leaders.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"

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Leadership in The Lord's Churches: Marks of True Leaders by Dr. Lester Hutson Chapter 18 True Leaders Possess A Spirit of Excellence By Dr. Lester Hutson Romans 12:1, Malachi 1:12-14 "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." "But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the Lord is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible. Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord." This study deals with a quality important to all who would lead, but a quality that is especially important to those who would lead the Lord's churches. The really top leaders of the Lord's work all possess a spirit of excellence. In the churches where they serve, they tend to inspire a climate of excellence, a climate that is so important to the welfare of every true church. In the days of the Levitical priesthood, multitudes of sheep, goats, bullocks, pigeons and turtledoves were offered to God as sacrifices. Never once was a second-rate sacrifice to be offered. Every sacrifice was to be the best the worshipper had to offer. In Malachi 1:6-7, God accused those who offered less than their best to Him of despising His name and of looking with contempt upon the things of God. In verse 8 He asked, "If ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? And if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil?" God said in verses 12 and 13 that such second-rate sacrifices are evil, and that He would not accept them. Then, He stated this grim warning in verse 14, "But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of Hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen." The truth is, those who would offer acceptable sacrifices to God must give their best, the most excellent thing they have to give. That's the way it was in the far-gone days of the Levitical sacrifices, and that's the way it is in this current day when we "as lively stones are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Christ Jesus." (I Peter 2:5) We who have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ are to present ourselves to God as sacrifices, not dead sacrifices, but "living sacrifices." Romans 12:1 says it clearly and specifically, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service." Day by day, our lives are to be yielded to Him to use as He sees fit. Romans 6:13 says, "Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God." Back in the days of the Levitical priesthood and now in the day of the priesthood of every believer, God wants the best we have to offer. He never has been willing to accept men's leftovers and castaways, and He still isn't. He still wants our best. True leaders get hold of that truth. They see themselves as living sacrifices unto God, and being the best they can be by His enabling grace becomes a lifestyle. Routine excellence becomes as much a part of their character as honesty, gratitude or moral purity. Excellence: a routine A spirit of excellence is not something good Christian leaders occasionally pretend. It's a spirit that's a true part of their character. They believe in their hearts that whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing right. It would be hard to spend much time in the Bible without seeing that God wants our best. Surely that first chapter of Malachi states loudly and clearly the disgust and anger of God toward anyone who would offer anything inferior to Him. All sacrifice animals were to always be "without blemish" according to Exodus 12:5. God says, "whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might," in Ecclesiastes 9:10. Colossians 3:23 says, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." Throughout the Book slothfulness and negligence are condemned without exception. "The hand of the diligent shall bear rule: but the slothful shall be under tribute," in Proverbs 12:24. "The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious," according to Proverbs 12:27. "He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster," says Proverbs 18:9. "The desire of the slothful killeth him; for his hands refuse to labor," adds Proverbs 21:25. Jesus condemned slothful servants in Matthew 25:26. One of the most sobering warnings against slack, slothful, negligence and sluffing off to do less than our best in life is found in Proverbs 24:30-34, "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep: So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man." No wonder God exhorts us in Romans 12:11 to be "not slothful in business" but to be "fervent in spirit; serving the Lord." Listen to this great admonition of Hebrews 6:10-12, "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises." Nobody who is giving God any less than the best of his life can take comfort. As feeble as it may be, He wants our best, always our best! I know our best is "altogether vanity," but God still wants it, not in our strength, but in His strength. Let no man who is sluggardly, careless and slack in what he does take any shelter in the idea that his best is really no good anyway. Sure, we are all just dust. Not one of us has anything of our own to offer God. Yet, when we render back to God the best we have of that which He has given us, that offering becomes precious in His sight. As a child of God, He expects you to be the very best you can be. Maybe you can, at your best, be only 25% of what someone else is, but be 100% of your 25% capacity. The story of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 makes brilliantly clear that God doesn't measure you by the capacity of others, but He surely expects 100% of whatever your capacity is. Be the best dad you can be. Do your best as a mother. Teacher, God expects you to be all you're capable of being. Singer, you'd better not offer God only 75%. Preacher, every sermon and every pastoral work is to be offered to the best of your capacity, and if you have the capacity to improve (and who doesn't), you'd better not stop growing and become content with what and where you are. Woe be unto the singer who would offer a song unto the Lord (is there any other reason?) and who doesn't adequately rehearse, who drags up there, putting on a show flipping through pages, searching for books or communicating with the pianist when he could and should have been prepared and ready to turn attention to God instead of self. Woe be unto the teacher who fails to give the time to study and working with his class, and who goes in with a cold, lifeless, shallow or boring lesson to a class that is about as organized as an anthill with its top just kicked off. Woe be unto the pastor who preaches with no more depth than he did five years ago! Woe be unto the pastor who can ignore unkept facilities, slackness in the operations of the Lord's church, and who is content with a church operation that is replete with negligence, carelessness and sloppiness. God forbid that we ever become so meticulous that we cramp the work of God, yet many we never come to accept "any ole thing" offered in the name of God, however sloppy and inferior it may be! I Corinthians 14:33 says, "God is not the author of confusion," and I Corinthians 14:40 says, "Let all things be done decently and in order." No Christian, especially a leader, should ever sluff off, coast or cheat on himself by offering less than a wholehearted offering to God in whatever he does. The key words in offering ourselves to God are "routine excellence." Yes, not just offering our best now and then, but routinely, at home, on the job, at church, in word and in deed. The person who does is the kind others want to follow. They naturally become leaders where sluggards can't buy a following. Note well: They do their best, not to impress nor attract people, but because it's right before God to do it. By doing their best, they're not trying to show off or impress anybody. They do it as unto the Lord, which means their driving force is the glory of God and what pleases Him, not the praise and pleasing of men. Thus, you can see the point of Colossians 3:23 which says, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." A while back myself and some of the men in my family were laying a septic field line at my dad's old home place in East Texas. We had to dig nearly three feet deep for more than 100 feet through wet soil full of roots. It was hard to get the field line the right depth at the right slope. I saw how easy it would be to cheat on the job. We could have laid that line too shallow and without sufficient drop, then covered it up. It would probably take several years before the septic tank refilled, and the fieldline eroded and began to cause backup problems in the commode and drain lines. At eighty-four years old, our parents would probably never live to learn we cheated on the job. But, I'd know it, my brother and my son would know it, and God would know it, so we took more time, cut out more roots, dug a deeper trench, and did it right. I'm so glad we did. We did it as "unto the Lord" and the great day of judgment will reveal that we gave it our best. Wouldn't it be disillusioning to dig into some remote place which hasn't been touched in years and discover someone cheated on a job, then covered it up to hide their vice? Excellence can't be hidden Excellence or the lack thereof is an attitude that will show. It can't be long hidden. It will show in the pastor's sermons, in their depth, their variety and the manner and spirit in which they are preached. It will show in how much time the man of God spends in the Word and on his knees, and it will show in how much attention he gives to the welfare of the church and it's people. It will show up in the printed materials of the church, like Sunday bulletins, and in the church lawn and flower beds. It will show up in the clean and maintained buildings. Every church vehicle will be a tattle-tale on the church leadership's attitude toward excellence. Where there's an attitude of excellence, people will be ready to sing when it's time, and it will be evident that they've spent time with God in preparing. The services will be well-ordered. The people on the instruments will know when to play, the ushers will know their jobs, and there won't be a lot of dead time, nor a "thrown together at the last minute" atmosphere. You can pretty well look at how a pastor and his family dresses and see his attitude towards excellence. His shoes will tell you. His personal hygiene, his cleanliness and neatness, whether or not his car stays clean, regardless of its age, and the condition of his own residence are all reflections of his attitude. If a spirit of excellence prevails, he'll keep himself as clean and neat as possible, take care of his car or residence, however meager, and generally do the best he can with what he has. He'll insist that his family, those within his sphere of influence, do the same. Excellence inspires excellence A spirit of excellence inspires excellence in others. Solomon wrote in Proverbs 27:17, "Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend." Attitudes are contagious, bad ones as well as good ones. Thank God for the spiritually healthy, stimulating powers of excellence. Good, God-honoring singing touches hearts and causes others to want to join in and do better. Solid, soul-stirring preaching inspires people, and many times, is the tool of God to touch the hearts of young men to enter the ministry. Excellence in a good pastor causes many (not all) to want to follow him. It's hard for those around to be indifferent to excellence. There's a little chameleon in all of us. Will Rogers once said, "I'm a little bit of everybody I ever met." Yes, people do influence us. It's hard to be totally unaffected by your environment, to avoid being caught up in what's going on. When there's a climate of excellence, people are impacted for the better. A spirit of excellence in a Godly church leader can, and usually will, slowly but surely build a spirit of excellence into a whole church. Heaven rejoices when it happens, because God always wants our best. No one person has more influence and impact on a church than the pastor. The people invariably begin to take on his values, attitudes and spirit. Hebrews 13:7 says that's the way it should be. "Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation." My what an awesome responsibility is on a pastor's shoulders, and what a position he is in! The attitudes and spirits of the people rise and fall with him. He can personally inspire them to great levels of excellence by his own spirit of excellence, or he can lock them into mediocrity or defeat by his attitude of half-heartedness or sluggardness. The whole church is impacted for the better or the worse by his spirit of excellence or lack thereof. Surely those who would lead the Lord's people in his churches must not allow themselves to sluff off, and be anything less than the best they could be by the grace of God. The fact that some do and some don't is another factor that accounts for the prosperity of some of the Lord's churches while others are in spiritual poverty. A spirit of excellence: It is a very important ingredient in the success of any church, and it is one of the earmarks of true leaders. "It Does Make a Difference What You Believe" www.STEVEDAVIS.ORG FREE Podcast \| Constitution & Bylaws YOU need! \| Contact All images & content are subject to copyright SteveDavis.org TM	Home Your Tough Questions Answered Leadership Challenges, Skills & Tips Ministry & Church Government The Constitution & Bylaws You Need! Get Them Organizing & Functioning Leadership in The Lord's Churches Who is Dr. Steve Davis? Dr. Steve Davis in the News CDs, DVDs, eBooks & Merchandise FREE Podcast! Links