Excellence over Success

From John Johnstone's book, Christian Excellence:

Unfortunately, many Christians, including Pastors and other leaders, seek for success rather than excellence. But success focuses on the external rather than the internal, on the temporal rather than the eternal, and is measured by human standards rather than by divine. Desire for success comes from pride, whereas genuine desire for excellence comes from humility.

Success and excellence are competing ideals, and everything a believer does, whether consciously or not, is devoted to one of those ideals or the other. It is not that excellence in a believer precludes every form of outward success but that any success that comes from the pursuit of excellence is incidental. Success is not to be sought or to be glorified in if it is achieved.

Success is attaining cultural goals that elevate one's importance in the eyes of society and generally is marked by power, prestige, wealth, and privilege. Excellence, on the other hand, is the pursuit of the highest quality in one's work and effort, whether others recognize and approve it or not. Success is measured in relation to others, whereas excellence is measured by one's own God-given potential and calling. Success seeks to please men; excellence seeks to please God. Success rewards only a few, whereas excellence is available to any believer who is willing to pay the price. Success pertains to possessions and reputation, whereas excellence pertains to character. Success can be cheap, attained by shortcuts, lying, and stealing. The price of excellence is never discounted, never available for anything less than full price.

Philautos - Lovers of Self

As believers in Christ, loyal to Jesus Christ, are there still vestiges of these qualities remaining in our lives? Study this list from II Timothy 3:1-4 “But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God”

Let's look at one word at a time:

• lovers of self—translates the single Greek word [philautos] a compound of the verb [phileo] (to have great affection for) and the pronoun [autos] (self).
• lovers of money – covetous, materialistic
• boastful – [alazon] a "braggart", which Plato defined as a person who claims greatness that he does not possess. Boastful persons brag about their accomplishments, overstating the truth to the degree that it has no basis in reality. Face a fact of life: It is impossible not to boast! Therefore, don't let your boasting be misguided: Psalm 20:7; I Cor. 1:31; Gal.6:14
• arrogant- [huperephanos] has the literal meaning of placing above, hence the idea of superiority. Example: The Jewish religious leaders discussed in Luke 18:9, "And He (Jesus) told this parable to some people who trusted in themselves and viewed others with contempt." (see parable Luke 18:9-14)
• revilers – [blasphemos] from which we get the word blasphemous and carries the basic idea of being abusive and slanderous.
• disobedient to parents – the generic principle here is rebellion against God-appointed authority that has its roots in an early propensity to rebel against one’s first authorities. (See: II Thess.1:8; II Thess.3:14; Heb.13:17; I Thess.5:12,13; II Tim.3:10,11)
• ungrateful – Christians are characterized by thanksgiving to God through Christ.
• unholy – [anosias] gross indecency; recklessly gratifying one’s lusts and passions with no thought of the consequences.
• unloving – [astorgos] this word is a negative adjective form of the form of the verb [storge] which commonly was used of family, social and patriotic love.
• irreconcilable – those who refuse at all costs to forgive and be forgiven, and thus reestablish unity. (Herein lies the root problem for so many sad stories of church discipline.)
• malicious gossips – [diabolos] !!! PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO THIS GREEK WORD!!! even to the person unacquainted with Greek, this word is easily connected to the severity of this evil because from this word we derive our English word: “diabolical”. Diabolos literally means ”accuser” and is use 34 times in the NT as the title for SATAN!! Those who maliciously gossip are literally doing the work of Satan!
• without self-control – describes a person who recklessly follows fleshly, worldly desires with no inhibitions or shame. He is a slave to sin.
• brutal- refers to savagery, like that of wild beasts, whose nature it is to attack enemies and tear them to pieces.
• haters of good- hating what should be loved, and loving what should be hated. Isa.5:20 declares this person’s life cursed with a "woe” from the Lord God Himself!
• treacherous – disloyal to the Lord, His Word and His people. (Matt.10:21-22)
• reckless – careless, negligent and rash.
• conceited – [tuphoo] the root meaning of this word is to be surrounded by a smoke-screen of self occupation.
• lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God – “lovers of pleasure” translates the single Greek word [philedonos] a compound of [philos] (loving) and [hedone] (pleasure), from which we get our words, "hedonist" and "hedonism". This person is a pleasure-mad, hedonist.

Beauty is the Rocky Mountains

My daughter, Heidi, just wrote this descriptive essay on the Rocky Mountains for school. I just read it and graded it. It touched my heart as I share this same love for the majestic Rocky Mountains that God has draped across the Mountain West. Here is her writing. Enjoy!

Beauty is the Rocky Mountains

Imagine jagged, rocky peaks reaching upward to kiss an aqua blue sky. Picture peaceful cottony clouds drifting slowly by. Swaying fields of grass on rolling hills cause one to be mesmerized. These are the scenes of the gorgeous Rocky Mountains.
Often, while trekking up the steep slopes of the Rockies, rustles and crunches can be heard. Enormous- eared jackrabbits bob maladroitly by. Other times, a darling little cotton-tailed bunny will bound quickly from bush to bush hurrying out of sight. A rustling bush close by frequently signals the company of a gliding reptile causing one to hope that this reptile is the innocuous gardener rather than the fatal rattlesnake.
Gentle, sloping knolls are blessed with an abundance of crusted-wheat grass. Whispery wind blows softly across the knolls setting the grass to swaying like nimble dancers. During the mercilessly cold winters, the little dancers cease to waltz and tumble to the damp earth, yet as soon as spring comes, they begin their graceful swaying once again.
The Rockies are not known for their abundant vegetation; however, several examples of greenery dot the mountainside. A stick-like bush, pushed mercilessly here and there by the wind, is a common sighting. Repeatedly , the fresh, pungent smell of sagebrush will float up to the nostrils of a mountaineer. Knobbed, old trees stand like lonely, arthritic men on the little knolls of the Rockies.
Tipping the top of the mountains are majestic peaks. Their unbelievable height and the resplendent outcroppings of rounded and serrated boulders provide a breath-taking effect. Since the cold climate in the Rockies leads to precipitation, the peaks are often frosted liberally with snow. Stately, spectacular, and superb these mountains are truly something to behold.

By: Heidi J. Brannon, Age 17

October, 2010

Tropic, Utah