"Perfectionism"
Excellence's opposite extreme is perfectionism. I believe this is an unhealthy obsession that crushes the spirit and rob people of joy. In my early years as a christian artist, I struggled with this a great deal! I criticized not only myself but all those around me in my heart every Sunday morning and went home in the afternoon and ripped the service apart as well. I replayed and agonized over every moment. The tempo was too slow on this tune, the drama fell flat, the announcements were too long the lights were not up on time blah blah blah!

My guess is, I'm not alone in this journey. Our pursuit of perfectionism often leads to excessive work hours, and distance from those around us. We reason that just little more time will help us achieve our goal to have every thing JUST RIGHT. Many of us end up being unbalanced in our relationships with our family, friends and neighbors. Whenever I would sing a song, instead of valuing the words or lyrical flow, I would tear apart the way I sang it and my vocal technique. I concentrated on the flaws. This spilled over into my home life as well. I would try to teach my kids to play the piano and we would both end up in tears. ugh! When would I learn? It wasn't until my kids were old enough to lead for themselves that I realized they were doing the same thing. Perfectionism is an infectious horrible bacterial bug that spreads to our offspring! I realized as I sat back and listened with intent to words my kids were singing and that it was from their soul that I was truly humbled by this disease of perfectionism. They sing from their heart... innocent and unmoved by the flaws. It is precious. It is amazing to listen and stand in awe. I have come a long way on this journey to health. God has graciously cooperated with my efforts to root out this misguided understanding of excellence. If we hope to move away from mediocrity or perfectionism... we need to remember that we have a magnificent Creator Who loves us and desires us to come before Him with pure and clean heart. He takes care of the rest. Integrity and quality can be balanced. Excellence and permeate the hearts of the people in our church with balance. At WCC it has become a way of life. It honors God and inspires people. Now, it is a very freeing experience to worship unencumbered by perfectionism.

Perfectionism? no room for it here anymore!