How can Christians be known for their Excellence - Randy Skeete Q&A SESSION
Christians can be known for their excellence by integrating their faith with their actions, both in personal conduct and in their professional and communal lives. Here are some ways Christians can exemplify excellence:
Pursuing Excellence in Work:
Work Ethic: Demonstrate a strong work ethic by being diligent, responsible, and punctual.
Quality of Work: Aim for high standards in the quality of work produced, whether in a professional, academic, or volunteer setting.
Integrity: Maintain honesty and integrity in all dealings, avoiding shortcuts and unethical behavior.
Exemplifying Christ-like Character:
Love and Compassion: Show love and compassion to others, being kind and understanding in all interactions.
Humility: Display humility, acknowledging the contributions of others and giving credit where it's due.
Patience and Forgiveness: Practice patience and be quick to forgive others, reflecting the grace received from God.
Continual Growth and Learning:
Lifelong Learning: Commit to continual personal and professional development through learning and skill improvement.
Spiritual Growth: Invest in spiritual growth through regular prayer, Bible study, and fellowship with other believers.
Serving Others:
Community Involvement: Engage in community service and volunteerism, helping those in need and making a positive impact.
Mentorship: Mentor and support others in their personal and professional journeys, sharing knowledge and wisdom.
Leadership and Influence:
Positive Influence: Be a positive influence in workplaces, communities, and social circles by setting a good example.
Servant Leadership: Lead by serving others, prioritizing their needs and well-being over personal gain.
Maintaining Ethical Standards:
Fairness and Justice: Promote and practice fairness and justice in all areas of life.
Transparency: Be transparent and open in actions and decisions, building trust with others.
Balancing Excellence and Rest:
Healthy Balance: Recognize the importance of rest and self-care, balancing work and personal life to prevent burnout.
Sabbath: Honor the principle of Sabbath by setting aside regular time for rest and spiritual rejuvenation.
Witnessing Through Actions:
Consistency: Ensure that actions consistently reflect Christian values, reinforcing faith through deeds as well as words.
Evangelism: Share faith naturally through relationships and by being a living testimony of God’s love and excellence.
By integrating these principles into their daily lives, Christians can stand out for their excellence, positively influencing those around them and bringing glory to God.
Christians can be known for their excellence by integrating their faith with their actions, both in personal conduct and in their professional and communal lives. Here are some ways Christians can exemplify excellence:
Pursuing Excellence in Work:
Work Ethic: Demonstrate a strong work ethic by being diligent, responsible, and punctual.
Quality of Work: Aim for high standards in the quality of work produced, whether in a professional, academic, or volunteer setting.
Integrity: Maintain honesty and integrity in all dealings, avoiding shortcuts and unethical behavior.
Exemplifying Christ-like Character:
Love and Compassion: Show love and compassion to others, being kind and understanding in all interactions.
Humility: Display humility, acknowledging the contributions of others and giving credit where it's due.
Patience and Forgiveness: Practice patience and be quick to forgive others, reflecting the grace received from God.
Continual Growth and Learning:
Lifelong Learning: Commit to continual personal and professional development through learning and skill improvement.
Spiritual Growth: Invest in spiritual growth through regular prayer, Bible study, and fellowship with other believers.
Serving Others:
Community Involvement: Engage in community service and volunteerism, helping those in need and making a positive impact.
Mentorship: Mentor and support others in their personal and professional journeys, sharing knowledge and wisdom.
Leadership and Influence:
Positive Influence: Be a positive influence in workplaces, communities, and social circles by setting a good example.
Servant Leadership: Lead by serving others, prioritizing their needs and well-being over personal gain.
Maintaining Ethical Standards:
Fairness and Justice: Promote and practice fairness and justice in all areas of life.
Transparency: Be transparent and open in actions and decisions, building trust with others.
Balancing Excellence and Rest:
Healthy Balance: Recognize the importance of rest and self-care, balancing work and personal life to prevent burnout.
Sabbath: Honor the principle of Sabbath by setting aside regular time for rest and spiritual rejuvenation.
Witnessing Through Actions:
Consistency: Ensure that actions consistently reflect Christian values, reinforcing faith through deeds as well as words.
Evangelism: Share faith naturally through relationships and by being a living testimony of God’s love and excellence.
By integrating these principles into their daily lives, Christians can stand out for their excellence, positively influencing those around them and bringing glory to God.
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LearningTranscript
00:00Right now I'll ask my question, here we go.
00:06I had the privilege of knowing Pastor Skeed when I was a student at Andrews University
00:12and on the weekends I just happened to room with the program director for campus ministries
00:19and it was Israel and so he said, hey, come on out on the weekends, you can help teach
00:22some missionaries.
00:23And there was a double wide mobile home there outside of Ann Arbor, two of them, and on
00:31Sabbath we would eat rice and beans, I remember that.
00:37And anyways, there was a certain culture of a statement like higher than the highest.
00:47Do you remember that?
00:48I remember one year the mantra was higher than the highest after the book education,
00:53higher than the highest human thought can reach is God's ideal for his children.
00:57And I think that one of the things that I drew from every talk or being around you,
01:05praise the Lord, is that there is this element of excellence that exudes.
01:15You mentioned in your talk earlier that Christians should be known for their excellence.
01:22And there's almost this mentality sometimes that you can be a Christian and slovenly and
01:27late, lack of attention to detail, sloppy work, and so forth.
01:35Could you talk a little bit more about being ambitious for the Master's glory, excellence,
01:44higher than the highest human thought can reach, and how that can be incorporated into
01:49the Christian life, not for our own glory, but for God's glory?
01:52Surely.
01:53Ella White makes a very interesting comment in the book, The Desire of Ages, page 72,
01:59paragraph 4, speaking about Jesus Christ.
02:02She said, he was not willing to be defective even in the use of tools.
02:08He was as perfect a workman as he was in character.
02:13Now pause and think of what she just said.
02:16What she's saying is that when Jesus Christ, who by training and trade was a carpenter,
02:22when he applied himself to the making of a chair or a table or whatever, he applied it
02:28with the same care with which he took care of his personal character, which we know to
02:34have been sinless.
02:35And so she said, he was as perfect a workman as he was in character.
02:43The Desire of Ages, page 72, paragraph 4.
02:46This is an astonishing statement.
02:48It is all the more astonishing when we realize the life of Christ in human form is an example
02:55for us.
02:57Not most of the life, the very life he lived in human flesh is an example for you and for
03:04me.
03:05But of course, we have to believe that.
03:07The Bible says, seest thou a man diligent in his business, Proverbs 22, verse 29.
03:14He shall stand before kings.
03:16He shall not stand before mean men.
03:19If you study Daniel 6, when Darius chose Daniel to be the head of the princes or the governors,
03:27he chose him because an excellent spirit was in him.
03:31That's what the Bible says.
03:33And so Darius dismissed the fact that Daniel was from another ethnic group.
03:38What he saw was the excellence in Daniel.
03:43God cannot put a rubber stamp on sloppiness and mediocrity.
03:47He cannot do that.
03:49And so that's why I said a bit it was yesterday or whenever it was.
03:53Excellence is Christian behavior because ultimately we are representing God.
04:00And so when God made the world, as I said, Genesis 131, and God saw everything that he
04:05had made and behold, it was very good.
04:08Many years ago, I went to Barbados to see my sister.
04:11And she lives in a little house and there's a little front yard and someone mowed the
04:17front yard.
04:18I hesitated to use the word mow because there was no lawnmower.
04:22When I saw it, I said to her, who did this yard?
04:26Because the grass was cut round between rocks that could not be pulled up.
04:30And I was just astonished, who did this?
04:33That was my first response.
04:34And then she told me who it was, a brother from her local church.
04:38And I said to myself, the impression it made on me, the thoroughness with which he did
04:44that job would have drawn me to his church more than any argument he possibly could have
04:48made.
04:49Of course, he's already one of us.
04:50And so what I'm saying to you, my young friends and my not so young friends, excellence is
04:56required of God's people.
04:58As a matter of fact, God requires more excellence from you than he does from the unbeliever.
05:05Because you and I have the benefit of contact with Christ and the unbeliever does not.
05:10The same way, ours is personal, his is more general because God so loved the world.
05:16Our connection with Christ is personal.
05:18Consequently, we should feel the duty to be excellent in whatever we do.
05:26If we were to do that, we would be the most prized employees in any work environment.
05:32We would be the best students in any classroom setting.
05:35We'd be the best neighbors in any residential setting.
05:39Excellence in all that we do is required of us by God because this is part of the image
05:45of God.
05:46There is and was and never will be any mediocrity in God.
05:51And it should not be seen in God's people.
05:53Now, let me say quickly because this is an academic environment, does that mean you get
05:56all A's in your classes?
05:58No.
05:59It simply means that when you've done your work, you've done the very best you can do.
06:03Now, if that's a B, fine.
06:05But you know in your...
06:06You see, Sabbath keeping is connected to weekly excellence.
06:11You say to yourself or to me, what do you mean?
06:14Listen to verse 31 of Genesis 1.
06:17Let me pray.
06:18Fathers, I speak to your people.
06:20Tell me what to tell them, I pray, please.
06:22In Jesus' name, amen.
06:24And God saw everything that he had made and behold, it was very good.
06:29Then he rested.
06:30He rested from a week of excellent work.
06:34When you and I do sloppy work during the week, we know it's been sloppy.
06:39Then we really can't keep the Sabbath, what are you resting from?
06:43Are you with me?
06:44You can't rest from sloppiness.
06:45You can't rest from that.
06:46What are you resting from?
06:48You see, the rest must be physical and mental.
06:50In other words, you must be able to say, look, I looked at my week of duties, I have done
06:54all I could.
06:55Only God could have done more.
06:57You rest.
06:59Your conscience isn't bothered.
07:01You did not shortcut your employer or your teacher or your parents.
07:04I have done all that I could when the woman anointed the feet of Christ and the disciples
07:09rebuked, he said, leave her alone.
07:11She has done what she could and all she did was wash his feet.
07:16She has done what she could and so all I'm saying to you is, in all that you put your
07:20hand to do and I, make a conscious effort to do the very best, particularly in the spiritual
07:29area of the life.
07:30But if you and I do it in the educational, the social, the environmental, it will spill
07:36over into the spiritual.
07:38The most important of all, we serve a savior who demonstrated excellence.
07:45We must regard excellence not simply as something we do, but something we are.