Excellence is the Harvest
When trying to deliver excellence in any endeavor, talent matters. But talent is rarely the deciding factor in whether or not people will achieve excellence in their field. What usually separates the competent from the truly capable is commitment to the right tools + the right structure + repetition + application. With regard to structure, to time and a well-defined regimen. This is huge. Why? The people who become good at anything master and maintain a regular review of the basics:
-
Musicians – A violinist, pianist, or horn player runs scales. Three different instruments. One common underlying routine. Scales are basic stuff. But they cannot be overlooked; a constant return to scales is required for the maintenance of skills and growth in a field where all of the art is built upon scales. The tools are the instrument and other supports for practice (tuner, metronome, piano/guitar/kazoo). The structure is in the scales, the time set aside to do them, and some way of gauging whether or not they are being performed correctly. The repetition is the routine practice of the scales. Finally, the application is seen in playing songs that use the scales. Eventually an earnest commitment to tools, structure, repetition, and application will yield the harvest of excellence
-
Athletes – A basketball player runs drills. That is, an indispensable part of their growth and sustained excellence focuses on being able to do basic things with the ball – dribbling, passing, and simple shots. High-flying theatrics are cool to see. But the ability to get near the basket demands dribbling and passing. And height-challenged players cannot be anything short of extraordinary with the basics; what they lack in height has to be compensated for in a mastery of ball handling. (Think about John Stockton.) The tools are a basketball, a place to practice, and set of drills. The structure is in the set of drills, the time set aside to do them, and someone to provide feedback. The repetition is in the routine practice of the drills or the adherence to the scheduled practices and required drills.
-
Hebrew Students – A student of Biblical Hebrew reviews paradigms: verb stems, strong verb forms, weak verb irregularities, pronominal suffixes. The alphabet was exciting at first and parsing felt like real progress. But real fluency is built in the daily return to charts that seem elementary. The qal perfect. The imperfect. The participle. Again and again. Not because the student has forgotten them. The student returns because Scripture is written on that scaffolding. A sermon insight, a theological nuance, a subtle wordplay in a Psalm — these all rest upon patterns internalized through repetition. The one who skips paradigms may read devotionally; the one who drills them reads with precision. What starts mechanical becomes musical. And the voice of God’s text becomes easier to unpack and explain with excellence.
-
Software Architects – A seasoned architect revisits patterns and clean code principles like dependency inversion, separation of concerns, cohesion, testability, and naming conventions. (On naming conventions see Roderick Notation.) At first, writing code is about making it work. Later, it becomes about making it clear. Then about making it durable, secure, and scalable. The fundamentals—design patterns, refactoring discipline, thoughtful abstractions—feel basic. But systems decay when fundamentals are neglected. A brilliant new framework cannot compensate for poor boundaries. An elegant UI cannot redeem chaotic domain modeling. The architect who regularly returns to foundational principles builds systems that scale and teams that flourish. What looks like creativity on the surface is usually craftsmanship underneath. And craftsmanship is built on disciplined repetition of design truths that never change.
In different domains excellence demands the same dedication to the basics. The fundamentals are not “beginner stuff.” They are the well you will keep drawing from as you grow and perform. This aligns strongly with what Anders Ericsson (deliberate practice researcher) discovered. Mastery is not repetition. It is structured, feedback-driven repetition of fundamentals (Ericsson, et al, 2016).
How does this apply to ministry? Scripture subtly affirms what has been previously presented. Paul says to Timothy:
“Give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.” (1 Tim 4:15 NKJV)
When there is a dedication to the fundamentals of the faith the progress is observable. It comes from immersion and discipline. Even spiritual gifts require:
-
Stirring up (2 Tim 1:6)
-
Training (Hebrews 5:14; Ezra 7:10)
-
Practice (Hebrews 12 imagery)
Talent is the seed given to us by God. By virtues of God-given talent some will find it easier to produce excellence when given the same amount of time and putting in the same effort. But time will still be required. Repetition is a non-negotiable. In the disciplined return to the basics and spending time doing reps is the cultivation of that seed. Excellence in application is the harvest.
References
Ericsson, A. K., & Pool, R. (2016). Peak: Secrets from the new science of expertise. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
