Excellence In The Workplace

Do you see a man who excels in his work?
He will stand before kings;
He will not stand before unknown men.

Proverbs 22:29

In recent years, numerous books have been written extolling the value of quality and excellence in the workplace. By and large, these studies have been based on the premise that quality work doesn’t just lead to higher profits—it is what makes a great business.

The emphasis on excellence has had major repercussions in the corporate world, where many managers and employees have embraced it as a new way of doing business. Yet the theme of excellence in work is as old as the Bible (Proverbs 22:29). In fact, quality is one of the keys to a biblical view of work:

• God does His work with excellence. When He created the world, the end result was “very good” (See Genesis 1:31).
• God equips people with specific skills and abilities that fit them for certain kinds of work (See Exodus 31:1–11; Psalm 33:15). He wants us to use our skills for their intended purposes, thereby serving Him with all our mind and might (See Matthew 22:37–38).
• Christians are to do their work as if Christ Himself were evaluating the effort—because He is (See Ephesians 6:5–8; Colossians 3:22–24).
• Christians are commanded to be “well pleasing in all things” in their work, because doing so makes the gospel of Christ attractive to coworkers and customers (See Titus 2:9–10).

In light of these principles, we need to ask ourselves what kind of quality and workmanship our we putting into our work. Would God be pleased with how we do our job? Would He be pleased with the end product or service? Are we proud of the way we do our job? If not, how could we make improvements?