Glory and Excellence
3 At harvest time Cain brought to the Lord a gift of his farm produce, 4 while Abel brought several choice lambs from the best of his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his offering, 5 but he did not accept Cain and his offering. This made Cain very angry and dejected.
6"Why are you so angry?" The Lord asked him. "Why do you look so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you respond in the right way. But if you refuse to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you, and you must subdue it."
Genesis 4: 3-7
From practically the beginning of time, God has sought our best. Cain killed Abel, because his own, half-hearted offering was rejected in favor of his brother's best.
Throughout the entirety of the Old Testament, we see strict parameters around what God will find acceptable as a sacrifice. CHOICE animals, with no flaws or sickness. The best of the crop. In Abraham's case, the thing he loved most in the world: his son.
I want you to bear this in mind, as we proceed.
With that premise, I want to ask a question. What, in your mind, do you think would be a greater gift? If I were to find a song, and dedicate it to my wife? Or if I were to actually write her a song?
How about if I were to buy her a bouquet of flowers, versus hand-picking an arrangement of flowers based on her personality, interests, and memories we've shared together?
The answer should be clear. Why? Because both of these examples reveal that it really is the thought that counts. Or, at the very least, that thought can "enhance" an already nice gesture.
When we set out to do something... it is almost always better when we can tailor it to the individual rather than buying something intended for the masses, and then attempting to pass it off as personal.
Sure, I can take a song that my wife loves, and tell her that those are my words to her. And she may love the lyrics, the instruments, and the voice of the singer. But, there is no doubt that she would appreciate a song that I actually wrote specifically for her, infinitely more. Even if it wasn't as catchy. Even if it was not as well-composed. Even if I didn't have as good of a voice. Why? Because it was meant for her.
It's kind of like the classic sitcom narrative where the dopey husband thinks it's a good idea to propose with a ring he got for another woman. Sure, for him, it might be convenient. But ultimately, it is also rooted in selfishness, pride, and laziness.
So... when it comes to our work... I think more often than not, we work hard on our own accord, and then offer the glory to God as an afterthought.
It is very common, at least within the Christian community, to hear people say "Glory to God".
In our humility (whether fake or authentic), whenever a Christian accomplishes something noteworthy, we do our best to point to God, and attempt to give Him the glory.
Make no mistake – human beings are capable of amazing things! We are creative and we are crafty. Given the right motivation, we can accomplish virtually anything on our own accord. God doesn't even have to enter the equation. I am sure there have been countless world-changing inventions and ideas that have come from atheists and non-Christians. So let's not fool ourselves into thinking that just because we're Christians, the work we do and the effort we exert, is for God or His glory. It is absolutely possible to be a Christian, and to do lots of things, for reasons that have nothing to do with God or His glory.
Now – don't misread me here. I'm not saying that God can't use anything for His glory. He can, does, and will. However... there is a subtle, but important difference between doing something with the intention of God getting the glory, versus doing something, then after the fact, saying it's for God's glory.
Knowing this, it begs the question: how much different would our work look, if we intentionally set out to do something with the objective that God might receive glory from it.
Not doing what WE want and saying it's for His glory. But rather... doing something, and asking ourselves "How can I do this in such a way, that people will look at it, and see Jesus in it?"
It's a big question. It's a hard question. And it's a convicting question.
Let me be clear here: I am NOT suggesting that we are to go out seeking opportunities to do favors for God. I'm not suggesting that we should all be putting our lives on hold so that we can focus our efforts towards some grand gesture that we do "for God". He doesn't need that from us. There is never any favor or gesture that we can do on our own accord, that makes any difference to God. He doesn't need our favors. What He wants is our obedience. To assume otherwise, is to dishonor God, and reveal pride and arrogance in yourself.
What I AM asking is, how can we approach whatever is already in front of us, with the mindset that God might receive glory from it?
Let me put it another way.
If you had a job as a writer, but were given no other parameters in your job description... technically sitting at a computer typing random words fills that description. The writing only has meaning, when it has an objective.
If you were given the task to write an instruction manual on how to set up a microwave, for example, the "goal" would inherently change how you approached your writing.
Afterwards, the quality of your writing would be judged on how successfully you have fulfilled the requirement. Can people unbox their new microwave, and get it set up, based on your instructions?
So let's go back. You don't have to go looking for things to bring glory to God in your own mind. You can start with whatever is right in front of you. Whether that is simple tasks like picking up the laundry, or sweeping the floor... or more involved tasks like running a company, or writing software. How would approaching it with the question "How can God get glory from the work I am about to do?" change how you approach the work, or the outcome of it?
Again – don't go for the most literal answer here. I'm not suggesting that if you're doing laundry, that the only way God can receive glory from it is to arrange the shirts on the clothesline so that the words on the shirt read as a passage of scripture, or that you sweep piles of dust into the shape of a cross.
Sometimes, it is as simple as a job well-done, not only without groaning or complaining, but with a smile on your face.
Almost every time, it should be done with the aim to do it to the absolute best of your ability, and never settling for "good enough". Indeed – that's where Cain failed. He thought his offering was "good enough".
23 Work hard and cheerfully at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. 24 Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and the Master you are serving is Christ. 25 But if you do what is wrong, you will be paid back for the wrong you have done. For God has no favorites who can get away with evil.
Colossians 3: 23-24
Throughout the days, weeks, months, and years of our lives, it is so easy to get caught up in the monotony of things. Our lives exist as predictable routines, typically filled with the same things day in and day out. And while I'm not suggesting that we should try to treat every day as though it is this exciting occasion, wrought with new possibilities and surprises – I DO believe we can commit to excellence every single day.
How many days have we let slip by, where we only put in the absolute minimum? How many opportunities have we lost, by doing less than we were capable of doing?
Listen – I get it. Great work requires great effort... and that's hard. We're all tired, busy, and stressed out.
However – the more I reflect on this, the more convinced I become that the reason we are all so tired, busy, and stressed out, is because we have filled our lives with unnecessary things that occupy our energy, attention, and effort.
Much like a cell phone that says it has 48 hour battery life. That might be true in ideal conditions... but once you start adding apps that use data in the background, and have 47 apps open, and spend 3 hours streaming music or podcasts, and use the phones flashlight for 20 minutes... suddenly that 48-hour battery life has been whittled down to a fraction of what it could be.
Is it not the same in our lives? God promises that he will provide for us exactly what we need. I think all of us would have the energy to do truly exceptional work, day in, and day out, if we would be willing to cut out all of the non-necessities that drain us, probably without us even realizing it.
I don't know what that looks like for you – but I have ideas, based on what it looks like for me.
I can tell you, unequivocally, that I have way too much "stuff". Stuff that requires maintenance, storage, and occupies both physical space and mental space.
I can tell you that an overabundance of poor-quality food leads to me being overweight, which puts unnecessary stress on my body, leading to feelings of sluggishness and fatigue.
I can tell you that social media and Amazon Prime has completely deteriorated my dopamine receptors, leading to constant distractions and feeling like I can't focus.
I suspect that many of you can relate in one way or another.
So – what can we do about it?
It would be easy for me to sit here on a pedestal, and tell you all that you need more discipline, and if you're failing in any (or all) of these areas, you're just too weak-willed. Furthermore, it would be easy for me to trivialize the amount of effort that it takes to change longstanding habits and routines in your life.
But, that's not reality.
The reality is – and what SO MANY self-help, motivational gurus miss, is that these things aren't mental issues. They are rooted in heart issues. At their core, laziness, seeking comfort from anything other than God, acquiring more "stuff"... they're all sin. And in matters of sin, there's really only one hope that we have to conquer it – and that's Jesus.
Before I wrap this up, I just want to spend a moment of time to talk about what that actually means and looks like.
I have often heard things like: "Jesus has broken the chains of sin, and that we are no longer slaves to it in our lives."
But how does that stop me from eating junk food? How does that spur me to doing my best work? How does that fix my addiction to social media?
I know I've been saved – but, all of those temptations are still present, and all of those things still have an allure. I don't suddenly find myself "craving" vegetables, nor do I suddenly hate Reese Cups. I don't suddenly feel more compelled to read the Bible than I do to scroll mindlessly through social media.
The answer is actually very plain. One single rule that God gives us, which if we were to follow, everything else would fall into place.
33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Matthew 6:33
That's it. Seek first the kingdom of God.
If we seek him first, and make that our main goal, priority, and obsession – everything else falls into place. It is a scale by which all other things can be measured.
If I am seeking God, I know that eating junk will not be honoring the temple of a body that He provided me.
If I am seeking God, I know that the work I do has more importance than checking social media.
If I am seeking God, I don't have to buy more "stuff" to fill a void that no earthly treasures will ever be able to fill.
So what is it to first seek God? Well – that might look a bit different for everybody, depending on where they're at in their journey. But, I can tell you this: it will almost start by spending time in prayer and God's word. I might even be so bold to say that if you ONLY did those two things, that would be sufficient.
It sounds simple – but there is great power in God's word, and prayer. So much so, that the enemy will do everything in his power to prevent you from doing these two things. He will throw up distractions. He will give you excuses. He will fill your brain with so much other stuff that the last thing you will want to do is to sit in silent prayer. Do it anyway. Indeed – it's the only hope we have!