Excited about Excellence
Our Mission
To present Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord to business and professional men and to develop Christian business and professional men to carry out the Great Commission.
Matthew 11.20 records, Jesus began to criticize openly the cities in which he had done many of His miracles, because they did not repent. When God came to earth He did much good. God fed people, thousands of people. God healed people, lots of people. God raised people from the dead returning children to brokenhearted parents.
All that God did when He lived among us as one of us in Jesus the Savior was good but He didn’t come to do good works for our temporary benefit.
God in Jesus came to give us the opportunity to live eternally with Him and all those who will come to Him for reconciliation. The good works of God were to draw us to the good heart of God so that we will humble ourselves before Him and seek His forgiveness for ignoring and disobeying Him.
While God did much good He was not satisfied that people should be pleased with Him for helping them. The goal of His good works was for people to see the goodness of God, their brokenness from God and seek reconciliation with God through repentance from disobedience.
Many want to do good works today. However, the focus of their good works is the good feeling they receive from doing good or the temporary benefit the recipient receives from their generosity of time, talent or treasure. The goal of our good works should be the restoration of humanity to God through Jesus the Savior. The goal of our good works is to create praise for the One True God in the hearts of people.
We are not to be the beneficiaries of our good works, God is. The recipient of our good works is not to be the beneficiary, God is. Always in everything God is to receive the glory, praise and honor for we give and do as a result of His grace and mercy given to us. People receive our good works again as a result of God’s goodness working through us.
We do not do good because we are good. We do good because God is good and His goodness works through us even as it works in us always focused on His glory on earth as it is in heaven. Let us do all the good we can so that we lead all the people we can to the goodness of God in Jesus the Savior of all.
His Opportunities
- Tuesday, July 19th at the City Rescue Mission from noon until 1pm is your next CBMC Rescue Luncheon. This is your opportunity to serve lunch to the men and women who depend upon the Mission for their meal. Commit Here
CBMC needs your help to continue its ministry to men in the marketplace. Please support CBMC today. DONATE
CBMC Central Michigan 6011 W. St. Joseph Ste. 401 Lansing 48917 / 517 481 5996 www.lansing.cbmc.com
MONDAY MANNA
A service to the business community
A Publication of CBMC International
July 4, 2016
Excited about Excellence
by Robert J. Tamasy
One of the enjoyable things in life is being the beneficiary of work well done. Recently we have had several craftsmen engaged in improvement projects at our home. These included a bathroom tile specialist, a carpenter, painters, a tree cutting service, and a tree stump grinder. In nearly every case their work was excellent, and I would not hesitate to hire them again if needed.
These workers shared several common characteristics: They took pride in their work, doing it at a very high-quality level. They were meticulous, attending to important details. They were prompt in arriving for the job. They were friendly. And they made a point to clean up after performing their work, even if the project extended into the next day. They left the scene as clean and orderly as when they arrived.
I think we all appreciate and admire such diligence. However, too many people, it would appear, are content with “good enough,” doing the bare minimum to technically fulfill their assignments or commitments. Pride in workmanship has become increasingly rare. Which is probably why it seems noteworthy when it is displayed in the workplace.
From the beginning of creation, excellence has been a hallmark, an attribute of God that has been passed on to all who have been made “in His image.” After each day of creation, recounted in Genesis 1, we are told, “God saw that it was good.” In a similar way, despite our human imperfections, we should be able to look back at our own work and “see that it was good.” Here are some practical observations from the Bible about the quality of our work:
We are equipped for good work. When confronted with a challenging job, we face the temptation to offer the excuse, “I can’t” or “I am not up to that task.” However, the Scriptures teach God will not ask us to do something He has not made us capable of performing – with His strength. “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).
Good work will be recognized. The satisfaction of doing work with excellence should be a reward in itself, but we can also have confidence that our diligence and quality work will not go unnoticed. “Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve before kings; he will not serve before obscure men” (Proverbs 22:29).
Good work increases our value. As a friend of mine often says, “To earn more, you have to be worth more.” Excellence and devotion to performing good work makes us more valuable to our companies, current and future employers, and our customers. While unmotivated, uncaring workers complain about not getting pay increases and promotions, excellent work will usually propel us to positions of greater responsibility, more authority, and greater compensation. “Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor” (Proverbs 12:24).
Good work should be constant. Being known as a worker of excellence should be a 24/7 pursuit. “Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well”
(Ecclesiastes 11:6)
Click here for the PDF:
