Biola University - Biolan Yearbook (La Mirada, CA)

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EXCELLENCE: Should it just be a fad for Christians? Fads are a part of American culture — they come and go each year. They ' re a good source of interest for the people of this country, and a good source of money for those individuals creative enough to invent them. We ' ve seen it all when it comes to fads — everything from the hula-hoop and pet rock to the cabbage patch craze. Noth- ing should really come as a surprise any- more. But who would have thought that a word would become a fad? Such has become the case with the word ■ excellent. It is now in to be excellent. Fast-food chains, department stores, and large corpo- rations are all telling us how they are now striving for excellence. Lee laccoca appears on television saying that Chrysler has turned over a new leaf and is now building tough cars for the sake of excellence. Many best-sellers these days relate to the excellence craze also. How-to books show us ways to improve ourselves, so we can be and look excellent just like the peo- ple in Hollywood. In Search Of Excellence, a national best-seller, gives management principles from successful companies so that other organizations can be excellent too. Usually, we can take fads with a grain of salt, but this one is beginning to wear a little thin. Just once, it would be good to see in big bold letters the slogan Commitment To Mediocrity. Because, when you think about it, that ' s closer to the state of things than all of this excellence hype. The excellence movement does not seem to be a return to the work ethic. Rather, it seems to be simply a continuation of the profit motive. Madison Avenue will do anything for a buck, and after all, a product must be excellent if they say so. Right? Two definitions of excellence were made in the early I960 ' s that come closer to the mark. The first was made by John F. Kennedy, who said that excellence is the use of all your abilities to their utmost limits. Those who attain any excellence commonly spend life in one common pursuit; for excellence is not often gained upon easier terms. — Samuel Johnson If you do the best job that you can possibly do, that is excellence. When Al Davis, owner of the pro-foot- ball Los Angeles Raiders, took over the team in 1963, he coined the phrase com- mitment to excellence. Davis was before his time in the use of that slogan. To Davis, the phrase stood for a belief in what you ' re doing, and doing it with total control and confidence. Based on the Raiders ' success in the past 20 years, the words commit- ment to excellence are no mere catch- phrase, but a genuine philosophy that per- vade the organization. Success is by no means the only criteria for excellence. But many Christians seem to be falling far short of Kennedy ' s and Davis ' words these days. We ' re settling for medoicrity when we can have greatness instead. That is wrong. God has given everyone unique gifts and talents to utilize. Christians should be the best doctors, law- yers, plumbers, students, car wash atten- dants, or whatever because we have the power of the Holy Spirit within us. The army wants you to be all that you can be. So does God. So much so, that He will help us accomplish this through the power of prayer and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Like many fads the word excellent may lose its magic. With its overuse, the word is becoming less and less effective and may disappear from the ad campaigns altogether. They ' ll probably come up with a better way to sell hamburgers or automobiles. However, excellence must never fade out of the Christian life. We, as Chris- tians, must never compromise or undermine the excellence that God wants us to work for. ... whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (Cor. I0;3 1) God deserves our best. Christ was perfect and we are to be imitators of Christ. What other reason do we need to strive for excellence and perfection? — Glenn Whipp 14