Excellence
By Emily Somerville
What signifies excellence?
Years ago, I would have said a gold trophy on the shelf, a blue ribbon pinned to a project, or a green laurel wreath on a victor’s head.
Today, I am less sure. Life hasn’t turned out the way I thought it would. My pursuit of “success” in both my work and my personal relationships has not yielded the results I assumed it would. All the trophies and blue ribbons in the world can’t fix the fact that this world is broken, and they can’t protect against the suffering of this life. As I’ve started to come to terms with this reality, I have come to see that godly excellence is not the same as success, and success is not always a good sign of excellence.
But what does it mean to pursue excellence, then, if it does not mean striving for success?
This is a question I have wrestled with throughout my life. For me, the confusion often came from an underlying insecurity and fear. I feared that God would tire of my sin, tire of hearing about my problems, tire of me altogether, and walk away. To combat these fears, I worked. I performed. I achieved. I pursued what the world would recognize as excellence, not recognizing that God looks at us with different eyes. We don’t need to reach up to Him; He reaches down to us.
I was recently reminded of God’s pursuit of His people in a sermon about Peter walking on water (Matthew 14:22-33). Peter steps out of the boat and begins to walk on water. He’s so confident, so bold. He seems to be doing it himself. But then, almost immediately, he doubts. And as he doubts, he sinks. What does Jesus do? Does he throw up His hands in exasperation? No. He reaches down, takes Peter’s hand, and pulls him up.
In my life, I have so often tired myself out with striving for success, playing down my insecurities, trying to walk on water—doing it myself. I know what it feels like to sink.
God offers us a different way. In Him, we are offered the freedom to pursue Biblical excellence, spoken of in Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
The Greek word for excellence here is the noun aretē, meaning “moral excellence, virtue, praise.” It’s a word that comes up elsewhere. 1 Peter 2:9 states: “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies [aretē] of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” The excellencies of God are, in that sense, God’s character. His excellence is simply who He is. Which means that Biblical excellence, at its core, is a reflection of that character in the world, bearing witness to God’s holiness, purity, justice, and goodness. Because of our sin, that reflection is often dim or cloudy, but pursuing excellence means aligning our values, priorities, and actions with the Lord.
For that reason, excellence is not reserved for only a select few. I have thought about that a lot recently while studying God’s use of people with all different kinds of skills and abilities to build His temple (1 Kings 6). God specifically appointed Solomon to be in charge, granting him great wisdom, knowledge, and understanding (1 Kings 4:29). But even with his talents, Solomon could not do it alone. He had over 100,000 people completing jobs according to their various gifts and callings: transporters, stone cutters, chief officers, and metal workers. They all worked together, each pursuing excellence in their own trade or craft. Together, they did something mighty for the glory of the Lord. This is striving for excellence, joining together in our labors for the greater glory of God. As Colossians 3:23-24 reminds us: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
What does that look like for me? Over the years, God has slowly grown me through a lot of disappointment and struggle. Whatever successes I have known, I have started to let go of them as signs of my worth. Instead, I have started to hold onto Christ, who reaches out his hand. As he pulls me along, I am learning, by his grace, to pursue excellence instead.
In my line of work as an occupational therapist, that means extending a hand to others on a daily basis. I spend the majority of my time helping older adults re-learn how to complete everyday activities that have become difficult as the result of an acute or chronic health condition. I might help someone figure out how to manage their medications when they can barely see anymore, or re-learn to take a shower when half their body is paralyzed. In these situations, excellence looks a lot different than success. Sometimes it can mean spending extra time on the phone with the pharmacist to make sure the labels on the pill bottles really are large print so my client can read their medication dosing instructions. Sometimes it means taking time out of my family vacation to walk a contractor through exactly where grab bars need to be installed so my client can get in and out of the shower independently. Other times, it’s looked like using the influence afforded to me by my position at Wash U to pull some strings and get a client with no connections to see a doctor who will actually listen and address her concerns.
Recently, because of COVID, it’s looked like spending extra time with an older adult who has been isolated and alone for months, without a single visitor other than me. It’s meant bringing balloons and flowers to another older adult on her birthday because no one else is allowed to stop by. It’s also required spending extra time to gather and compile COVID vaccine resources into formats that are easily accessible to the medically underserved older adults I see on a regular basis.
Are any of these acts going to bring me worldly accolades or help me win an award? It’s unlikely. But when the driving force behind my actions is to pursue excellence by reflecting the excellence of God, that’s all the affirmation I should need. The excellence seen in our lives should draw the world’s eyes to God—to the worship and wonder of the One whose excellencies we reflect, however dimly day to day.
Emily Somerville is Instructor in Occupational Therapy and Neurology at Washington University in St. Louis and a Carver Faculty Fellow.