I was watching a documentary about the early years of Saturday Night Live and Lorne Michaels, the show’s long-time producer, said the following…
I bet that statement resonates with every church pastor in the US. Sundays just seem to come so quickly!
In fact, I once heard Andy Stanley say that, to him, Sundays seem to come around every couple of days. That made me laugh because I could relate.
The Pressure of the Ever-Present Sunday
The pressure of always having a Sunday approaching can seem to be a little daunting at times. The truth is that with that kind of schedule perfection is near impossible. Try as we might, we’re just not going to be able to pull off a perfect service every seven days.
Excellence Not Perfection
At the same time, I think we can embrace the truth that we can bring our best (not perfection) to the table ever week with the faithful expectation that God will use it all, imperfections included, in ways beyond our imagination. In the end, that’s really what it’s all about. We bring our best to Him knowing that unless He does something miraculous it’s never going to meet the huge spiritual needs represented in our churches.
I think we should always endeavor to give God our best but also learn to embrace the imperfect nature of our offerings to Him.
Perfectionism ultimately kills joy and puts a huge burden on all involved. Excellence, giving our best whatever that may be, is instead a challenging but obtainable and satisfying goal.
The Difference Between a Service and a Performance
At my church we were very hard to make sure everything we do has a spirit of excellence attache to it. This is especially true in regards to our services. At the same time, I always remind myself that these are services and not performances.
Performances strive for perfection and can be ruined by even the smallest of glitches. Services, however, strive to be used by God to change lives and they don’t rely on any human perfection at all. Instead, they depend on His presence, His power, and, yes, His perfection to be displayed through imperfect earthen vessels.
Sunday’s Coming But…
Remember, Sunday’s on it’s way but that’s okay because the Lord is on His way too.
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