So here’s the deal, I want our worship services to be excellent. Shocking right? Every cue should be on time, every light should be the right intensity and every video should impact the gathered crowd. I’m a perfectionist when it comes to this.

I doubt this surprises anyone that knows or works with me.

But I don’t seek excellence as a value in itself. I seek excellence because of what it means. [EDIT: I'm defining excellence as "doing the best you can with what you have."] Here’s what happens when you’re excellent:

1. There are no distractions. The quickest way to disrupt a worship experience is to throw a little feedback in the mix.

Or have a video that doesn’t play.
Or have the wrong lyrics on screen.
Or have no audio when the pastor starts preaching in a video venue (learned this one the hard way).

All of these things make people focus on what you’re doing (or not doing), rather than what you’re trying to communicate. And never forget, it’s the content that really counts. Distractions will kill anything you try to do.

2. You give people the best chance to connect to what you’re doing. This is similar to what I said above, but takes it a little further.

You can do a drama without any errors and it still not be excellent.
You can mix a worship set without any distractions and it still not be excellent.
You can give a sermon and say exactly what you want to say and it still not be excellent.

But when you are excellent…
When the notes of your solo are perfect…
When you’re clearly worshipping God with all of your heart, soul, and mind…

People listen.

3. You glorify God. This one is harder. God is glorified through non-excellent endeavors as well as excellent endeavors, but I think He is more glorified when we are excellent.

Look at the worship service as a whole, complete offering to God. Give it to Him as an offering each week. How does that change your attitude?

I don’t think mistakes always tarnish that offering, but they might if the mistakes are because of lack of preparation. Or lack of leadership. Or lack of focus.

It becomes a question of effort.

Did we make a mistake because I didn’t plan far enough ahead?
Did we make a mistake because I didn’t plan through the service well enough?
Did we make a mistake because I didn’t hold volunteers accountable for their actions when I should have?

If the answer is yes, then I believe I’ve tarnished the offering.
If the answer is no, then we need to figure out what happened and fix it for next time…because next time the answer will be yes.

God will use anything He chooses to use, whether it’s excellent or not. He will show up when we’re good or when we’re bad…that’s what I’m trying to discuss here. What I’m getting at is our responsibility in the equation. I want our worship services to be perfect. I want our worship services to be spotless. I want to offer up our worship services to God each week as a spotless lamb, knowing I did everything I could to make them as good as they could be. If I didn’t, I’m not trying hard enough. And that’s just not okay.

What do you think? Does excellence matter?