Does Excellence Mean Exclusive?
The distinguished journalist, Edward R. Murrow, travelled to the home of Carl Sandburg in the mountains of North Carolina for an interview with the famed poet. It was a stimulating conversation between two wordsmiths. The journalist concluded the interview with a provocative question: “Mr. Sandburg, what is the ugliest word in the English language?”
With characteristic playfulness and drama, the wise poet pondered the question at length, seemingly searching his vast vocabulary storehouse for the appropriate answer. With a quizzical expression on his face and stroking his chin, he mused, “The ugliest word? The ugliest word? Uh,uh? The ugliest word?” After what seemed an interminable period the poet concluded, “The ugliest word in the English language is exclusive!”
Well, Mr. Sandburg, we are not so sure that exclusive is an ugly word. We pride ourselves on driving exclusive cars, living in exclusive neighborhoods, eating at exclusive restaurants, belonging to exclusive organizations, shopping at exclusive stores, graduating from exclusive schools, holding exclusive positions, and even serving exclusive churches.
Whether exclusive is ugly or attractive depends on where we stand and the lens through which we see. If we stand on the inside, among the included, the word is appealing and alluring. It feels good to be within the favored circle, positioned among the remarkable, set apart from the average, included in the company of the advantaged, praised as exceptional, and selected as extraordinary.
However, if we are on the outside, among the excluded, the word is ugly and offensive. It is demoralizing to be excluded from the circle of the favored, labeled as common, relegated to the margins, judged as undistinguishable, pushed aside as mediocre, and ignored as unimportant. Exclusive hurts when we are among the excluded and demeaned!
Excellence and exclusive have much in common. Both convey a sense of being set apart, of being identified as exceptional. They grow out of our desire and perhaps our need to be identified with the best, however best is defined. And both can behave as ugly twins. When excellence and exclusive merge, the result is elitism with accompanying grandiosity of the few and degrading of the many. So, care in the use of excellence is warranted lest it become another word for exclusive.
The Apostle Paul helps us avoid excellence being coupled with exclusive. For him, excellence counters exclusivity. As he writes to the Corinthian church with its exclusive factions, “. . . I will show you a more excellent way.” This more excellent way is patient, kind, “not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful . . .”(1 Corinthians 12:31-13: 5). Such excellence encircles the excluded, reconciles the outsider, strengthens the weak, protects the vulnerable, and trusts that “God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world. . . so that no one might boast in the presence of God”(1Corinthians 1:27-29).
Paul linked excellence with character rather than with status. “. . . whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8-10). Such qualities emerge from grace, which includes rather than excludes.
Differences in gifts, capacities, and skills for ministry vary among us. Discerning the unique qualities of colleagues, supporting mutual gifts, and honoring shared contributions are marks of authentic excellence. Viewing such differences as signs of superiority and rationale for elitism collapses excellence into exclusive and renders both as ugly.
Calling forth and nurturing the highest and best in ourselves and others while preserving the dignity and worth of everyone requires humility birthed and formed in Grace -- the presence and power of God to heal, forgive, reconcile, and transform. This incorporates the wise and the unwise, the five-talented and one-talented, the acclaimed and the obscure, the highly praised and the frequently ignored. Excellence grounded in grace generously fosters the imago Dei in everyone.
Kenneth L. Carder is the Ruth W. and A. Morris Williams Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry 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.
