As I scour the blogosphere for nuggets of truth and wisdom, I came across Scott Magdalein’s blog, ReadScott.com, the Worship Leader for The Fellowship @ Celebration Baptist Church in Jacksonville Florida and I loved this post because for many of us, we struggle with trying to obtain perfection, from ourseleves, and also from our reports, teams, and volunteers. Read it and ponder….
The Difference Between Excellence and Perfection
Posted by readscott
January 10, 2008
This concept, although given to me from my spiritual leader, is profitable and applicable to all leaders, both in churches and in business.
I was in a meeting with my pastor yesterday to go over the new designs and video bumper we’re using for the upcoming series. We both enjoy discussing ministry philosophy and church strategy and that’s where this conversation ended up heading. I’m not sure about any church leaders reading this, but I really enjoy having chats with my pastor. If you have a stuffy, unapproachable pastor, I feel bad for you. It builds tons of respect when your pastor comes to your office to sit down with you rather than being called to his office to be in his environment. Sorry for the digression. I’ll get back on track.
We were discussing something specific to my ministry in our church, worship, when he said something almost revolutionary for me and the way I lead worship and mentor my team. You may think it’s trivial and you’ve known it all along, but for me it was eye-opening.
He said, “Excellence and perfection aren’t the same thing. Perfection is not making any mistakes, playing flawlessly and without error. Excellence is letting the talents God gave you express themselves to their fullest potential.” This isn’t an exact quote, but you get the idea.
His implication was that the pursuit of perfection (a pursuit that I thought was synonymous with the pursuit of excellence) will lead to disappointment because perfection is unattainable. If I pursue excellence in worship, not only is it attainable, but God loves bringing bringing the best out of us. This concept also effects the entire team; as individuals and as a whole.
If I expect perfection out of my team, they’ll fail every time. It’ll kill morale and hurt their trust in me as their leader. If I expect excellence, my team will experience complete fulfillment in their own ministries as musicians. And, if this is going to remain a ministry and not transform into a traveling group (it’s not), then getting my team to a place of fulfillment in their ministry is the highest purpose.
In what areas do you need to seek excellence and not perfection?
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