Excellence... That's a big word that packs an equally big punch. It's a quality that all desire. Naturally, we all want to excel in the various areas of our lives. But excellence doesn't happen just because we want it to happen. Excellence results only when we work to achieve it.

Yesterday, I wrote about the heart of worship. If our hearts are motivated by the wrong things, our worship, no matter how well-conceived or elaborately executed, will not be acceptable to God. Unfortunately, however, there are many who distort this truth to excuse the total lack of excellence in their worship. There are pastors who fail to give anyone a meaningful word on Sundays because they haven't prepared. There are musicians and vocalists who completely flub lyrics and music because they aren't ready. Their ineptitude, or outright laziness, is often written off with the single statement, "Well, it came from the heart." A false sense of "sincerity" allows them to sleep at night.

Let me be the first to say that I'm exhausted by that attitude. Excellence is not the enemy of sincerity. They are allies. Yes, by all means, worship begins in the sincerity of the heart. But our God deserves our best efforts. His gospel is so precious that every opportunity we have to convey it demands excellence. That gospel cost Christ His life. What kind of ingrate am I if I don't present it with power, conviction, and excellence? That power, conviction, and commitment to excellence begins in and extends from the sincere heart.

The heart of worship demands excellence. It accepts nothing less, because the God who loves us gave no less than His own Son for it's sake. Therefore, "whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him" (Colossians 3:17). Let sincerity and excellence transform your worship today.