The Path to True Excellence
In our better moments, we humans are capable to great things. We are gifted with that deep desire for excellence, and we desire to do our best. That desire is a spiritual hint to something greater!
Every time I hear the word “excellent,” I think of Mr. Burns from The Simpsons, and it makes me smile. Or, I can go back down memory lane to Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.”
Either way, that word triggers several nostalgic images in my head. But the word also conveys all my training in marketing and business. It seems we are constantly striving for “excellence.”
But what does it mean?
The word comes to us from ancient times, and it has always meant something or some situation that is exactly right for its purpose. It has always set a standard for behavior or results: achievement, attention to detail, and a deep commitment to quality and virtue.
Sounds Excellent, doesn’t it?
So, is there an excellence standard for faith?
And, more importantly, is there a wise path laid out for me that will allow me to be excellent in that foundational reality, which will affect and increase the chances of my being excellent in other areas of life?
Look at our lesson today in Philippians 1:8-14:
BRETHREN, God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruits of righteousness which come through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. I want you to know, brethren, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole praetorian guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ; and most of the brethren have been made confident in the Lord because of my imprisonment, and are much more bold to speak the word of God without fear.
St. Paul answers our question in this passage by giving us the prerequisites for excellence.
He tells us that before I can recognize excellence, I must embrace a life pattern that teaches me what is excellent and what isn’t! I have to be taught attentiveness and discernment!
He tells us I can recognize excellence if my love grows “with knowledge and discernment.” Fascinating! Paul insists that love grows through knowledge. In other words, love isn’t a feeling as much as a developed choice as my knowledge of God and His faith become a proactive reality in my life!
I’m meant to put shoe leather to my faith by actively growing my knowledge of the Faith. I won’t recognize true excellence if I remain ignorant of the truth preserved in the Church. I’ll miss what is truly excellent because of my lack of knowledge. That means an applied and active pursuit of knowing God is a prerequisite to growing in love. But that makes perfect sense. After all, to know Him is to love Him!
Please understand that the “knowledge” St. Paul talks about isn’t just the accumulation of information. It isn’t “knowing about” God. It is “knowing” God through purposeful and cultivated intimacy with Him in prayer, worship, discipline, and devotion. That’s how I “learn” to love God and my neighbor.
And my love will be able to grow as I become more discerning. This is such an ancient Christian notion!
To be able to discern is to see something, someone, or some situation as it really is!
Discernment is one of the chief spiritual disciplines that directly results from faithfulness and devotion. As I apply myself to my faith, to be diligent in prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, the grace of God gives me insight into my own heart and even into the hearts of others. There are too many stories to pick just one of the spiritual fathers and mothers in the Church who were so discerning that they could tell someone why they had come for a visit before the visitors even opened their mouths! Their purposeful, spiritual lives had so tuned them into the world's reality from God’s perspective that they could discern needs, motivations, and desires in themselves and others.
We remember St. Anastasia, Monastic Martyr of Rome, today. Her story graphically illustrates what happens in someone’s life when they pursue excellence in loving God above all things. Anastasia was orphaned at age three. She was raised by the leader of a woman’s monastery named Sophia. After seventeen years, Anastasia was regarded as a true spiritual leader and deeply devout disciple of Jesus Christ. During her lifetime in the 3rd Century, persecution against the Christians was widespread and ferocious at times. When the officials came to arrest Anastasia for being a Christian, the pious young woman stood in front of her tormentors with quiet peace. They first tried to flatter her into abandoning Christ and the monastic life. They said, “Why do you waste your youth deprived of pleasure?" and "What is to be gained by enduring tortures and death for the Crucified? Worship our gods, marry a handsome husband, and live with glory and honor.” But Anastasia, committed to excellence and an eternal perspective, replied, “My spouse, my riches, my life, and my happiness are my Lord Jesus Christ, and you cannot turn me away from Him by your deceit!” This hero was then tortured and beheaded, and her memory invites us to the path of excellence to this very day!
Today, are you committed to excellence in your business or career? Good! Are you committed to excellence in your home or your household chores? Wonderful! Are you committed to excellence in the education of your children and a focus on encouraging them to strive for excellence in their schoolwork and career choices? Fantastic! Now, with all these laudable goals, isn’t it time to focus at least as much on your spiritual lives and work toward excellence in your faith? It’s the only way to live a Normal Orthodox life!
P.S. Made most pure, O righteous one, with chaste virginity's waters, and washed in martyric blood, O Anastasia, you grant unto those in need the healing of every illness, and to those who come with love you grant salvation; for the well-spring of unfailing grace, even Christ God, bestows power on you.
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Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouragedTV
