Excellence as Reflections of God’s Glory
(The following is adapted from a homily delivered by Bishop Carder at the Forum on Excellence in Ministry, held May 3-5 in Indianapolis )
Her shoulders slumped from weariness, her eyes weak from sleeplessness, her voice thin from fatigue, and her face hardened from conflict, the seasoned pastor asked, “Do we always have to authenticate our ministry? I'm tired of defending my calling and proving my competency.”
How much of the exhaustion and isolation felt by pastors results from conscious and unconscious attempts to establish and validate their own identity and ministry? The pursuit of excellence can be another means to personal and vocational validation. When seen principally as competency achieved through personal achievement, the quest for excellence is counter-productive, burdensome, and exhausting.
It is no new issue. The Apostle Paul was persistently compelled to defend his calling as an apostle of Jesus Christ and to prove his competency as a credible leader of the church. In his Second Letter to the Corinthian Church , his defense of his ministry shifts the focus from competence (excellence) as an achievement to its life-giving source —the glory, doxa, of God.
Paul could have pointed to his extraordinary resume of achievements. Impressive academic credentials, cross-cultural experiences and sensibilities, well-versed and articulate in Hebrew and Greek languages, dual citizenship, high-level judicatory experience—these are among the signs of competency and excellence to which Paul could have appealed. Based on our discussions of marks of excellence, we could add others—poetic, focused, visionary, imaginative, courageous, passionate, agile, effective fund raiser, mentor ...
But Paul didn't appeal to any of these as the source of his authority or the signs of his excellence. He pointed beyond himself as if to say, “This really isn’t about me at all. When we talk about calling and competence, it’s all about God—God’s presence, God’s power, God’s grace, God’s GLORY!
As if the weight of self-justification had been lifted, Paul declares: “Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of letter but of spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”(2 Corinthians 3:4-6)
To reinforce his conviction, Paul recalls Moses and his encounter with God’s glory on Mt. Sinai. Moses descended from the mountain carrying in his hands the law chiseled in stone. His countenance, however, glowed from having been in the presence of the awe-inspiring, Universe-Creating, People-Liberating, Manna-Giving, Idol-Shattering, Mysterious GOD. The law borne in Moses’ hands was enlivened by the divine glory emanating from his face. And the validation of Moses’ call and competence was the radiance of God’s glory that shined through his own veiled face.
A life transformed by persistent encounter with the Mysterium Tremendum, the beauty, the holiness, the splendor, the love of God—that is Paul’s image and source of competence, excellence! Excellence is being captured, formed, transformed, and empowered by God’s doxa, God’s glory.
The setting of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Great Stone Face is a valley nestled amongst “a family of mountains.” Formed on the side of a mountain of immense rocks was an image. When viewed at a proper distance, the image bore the features of human likeness. The mammoth formation of Nature was known as The Great Stone Face. “[All] the features were noble, and the expression was at once grand and sweet, as if it were the glow of a vast, warm heart, that embraced all [mankind] in its affections, and had room for more.”
The people believed that one day a person who had been born in the village would achieve greatness and bear the image of The Great Stone Face. Ernest learned from his mother the story of The Great Stone Face. From his little cottage in the valley, he daily gazed reverently and longingly at the majestic and inviting figure on the distant mountain. As he fixed his eyes on the majestic figure, he discovered new traits with each glance and saw new attributes with each shifting of the sun and clouds. In reverence and awe, he contemplated The Great Stone Face, “until he began to imagine that those vast features recognized him, and gave him a smile of kindness and encouragement, responsive to his own look of veneration.”
During his lifetime, several people were rumored to be the one to bear the image of the Great Stone Face. Ernest eagerly searched the features of every rumored bearer of the majestic image who entered the village. Though some bore similarities, they all fell short of the image of The Great Stone Face that dominated the mountain heights. As Ernest advanced in years, he became known for his wisdom and kindness. People came from near and far to converse with him and share his gracious hospitality.
Finally, a poet whose poems and songs gave expression to the beauty and dignity of the natural world and the human experience made his way to the village of his birth. Ernest knew his poems and thought that perhaps he would be The Great Stone Face. At sunset, as was his custom, Ernest escorted the poet to the small nook among the hills that had become a gathering place for those whose lives were blessed by Ernest’s wise words and magnanimous presence.
Ernest ascended the little mound and spoke what was in his heart and mind. “His words had power, because they accorded with his thoughts; and his thoughts had reality and depth, because they harmonized with the life which he had always lived.”
As Ernest spoke, “At a distance, but distinctly to be seen, high up in the golden light of the setting sun, appeared the Great Stone Face, with hoary mists around it, like the white hairs around the brow of Ernest. Its look of grand beneficence seemed to embrace the world.” Then the poet saw it! Ernest bore the likeness of the Great Stone Face.
Ernest had come to reflect the splendor and character of that which had consumed his passions and dreams. “But Ernest…took the poet’s arm, and walked slowly homeward, still hoping that some wiser and better [man] than himself would by and by appear, bearing the resemblance of the GREAT STONE FACE.”
Perhaps weary from repeated attempts to defend his calling and prove his competence, Paul writes to critics and colleagues. He lifts the focus beyond himself to the source of all Christian ministry—the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. With confidence he declares, “And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Kenneth L. Carder is director of Pulpit & Pew: The Duke Center for Excellence in Ministry and professor of the practice of pastoral formation at Duke Divinity School. He was bishop of the Mississippi Area of the United Methodist Church from 2000 to 2004 and the Nashville Area of the UMC from 1992 to 2000.
