Pursuing Excellence

When you think of excellence, what images come to mind? Perhaps you see in your mind's eye medals and trophies, or a musical virtuoso playing before a large crowd. Perhaps the idea of excellence conjures up visions of someone intimidatingly good in the area in which you feel yourself the least skilled. Or perhaps to you, excellence is some far-off and maybe impossible goal toward which you press, unsure if you will ever attain it.

A look at a modern dictionary will give us synonyms like "perfect", "preeminence", "superiority", and "supremacy". These descriptions can make the quest for excellence seem to be a daunting matter, indeed! Yet at the same time, the very fact that one does not somehow "arrive" at excellence suddenly or by accident is part of its charm. After all, the pursuit of excellence is a pathway one follows, not a destination one reaches.

Excellence isn't all about external accomplishments, either. It takes internal excellence to achieve external excellence. For the Christian, excellence in any external endeavor is completely dependent upon spiritual excellence within.

I have been thinking about this a lot recently, as writing has begun to morph into more than just a hobby. A while back, I came across a quote by William Wordsworth which says

"Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart".

This quote captivated me, and the more I thought about it, the more true it seemed. Writing is essentially the "breathings" of one's heart on paper. This brings to the Christian author a grave responsibility: if I am writing out of what is in my heart, I must make sure my heart is filled with Christlikeness. If my heart reflects Christ, so will my writings. To reflect Christ is, after all, my primary goal as a writer.

This brings me back to the thought of internal excellence. According to Scripture, Daniel was a man of "an excellent spirit". In fact, twice he was called so in the book which bears his name.

In reading through the first six chapters of Daniel which form the narrative section of the book, it is interesting to note just how many accomplishments Daniel is said to have had. He was known for wisdom and knowledge, he was known to have understanding, he was even said to have been ten times wiser than all the king's wise men, of whom he ended up the chief.

These all are aspects of outward excellence, but the source of Daniel's outward success can be found in Daniel 1:8, where we see him purposing in his heart to obey God rather than the pagan king. This resolve of righteousness is a hallmark of inward excellence, and can be seen again and again throughout the book of Daniel as he speaks boldly to the rulers he serves, telling them of the one true God to whose graciousness those same rulers owed everything they had. This boldness before the most powerful men in the land was rooted in that initial decision to serve God first of all.

This same resolve can be seen in Daniel 6, when he again stood firm in the face of pressure, this time praying to his God openly, though he knew it  meant endangering his life. I had never noticed before, but there is no record of Daniel trying to defend himself or convince the king of his loyalty or that the law had been unjust. He apparently just took his death sentence calmly. --I don't think he likely had any idea of God stopping the mouths of the lions. He probably thought he would be torn to pieces before he hit the bottom of the pit, as his enemies were later on.

Yet through all this, Daniel remained steadfast and faithful, wise, never sacrificing righteousness for expediency or even personal safety.

What a challenge to us, for we live in a day of far less social pressure and persecution. If Daniel could stay strong in the face of certain and very painful death, can we not remain strong for Christ in the face of angry words or disapproval?

The key is the heart. Daniel had a heart whose greatest desire --even greater than that of personal safety or even of life itself-- was to please God. That is what I want my heart to be, for then when I write, I can indeed fill my paper with the breathings of my heart, and know that those breathings will bring glory to God.