king inquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters that were in all his kingdom.” No doubt God gave them this ability, but these talents had to be accompanied by hard work to produce this level of excellence. This excellence served Daniel and his friends well as they served God in a foreign land. By similarly achieving a high academic level of understanding, a Christian university in the cornfields of Ohio can influence a nation that values intellectual ability. Daniel 6:3 continues, “Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him.” By pursuing excellence, we glorify God and encourage human flourishing. THROUGH THE EMPOWERING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT At times, I find this demand overwhelming. Excellence in everything? That’s a daunting task, but we know that our pursuit of excellence comes through the power of the Spirit living within us. As we commit to this pursuit and embrace the hard work required, we humbly acknowledge that we cannot do this in our own strength, and we don’t do it for our own glory. The Spirit working through the Word of God must transform our lives to reflect the character of God. In doing so, we can learn to enjoy our work, to appreciate attention to detail, and to find happiness in serving others with excellence. Over time, the Spirit changes our nature from pursuing self to pursuing God, from loving self to loving others, from a prideful nature rebelling against our Creator to a humble servant seeking our Savior. Spiritual maturity replaces the crippling pressure with genuine joy as we pursue excellence in all things. CEDARVILLE’S COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE For Cedarville, we believe in excellence so strongly that we put it in our mission statement and include it in our core values. Yet, our motivation like everything else on our campus flows from a biblical worldview. The pursuit of excellence has motivated us to be bold and innovative. From being one of the first Christian universities in the country to wire for internet access across campus to now being the only private Christian university certified by the National Security Agency as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Operations, Cedarville continues to be a technology leader. We hire faculty members who will maintain this high standard. We foster an environment of discipleship in student services that cares about students as image-bearers of God more than just numbers living in the residence halls. We have coaches who view athletes as brothers and sisters in Christ and not chess pieces to notch additional victories on a résumé. PRESSING FORWARD In all these things and so much more, we pursue excellence. We haven’t achieved our goal yet, and we never will —not in everything. But through relentless effort, we seek to reflect the character and nature of the God we serve. Every time we make a mistake, we learn from it, pick ourselves back up, and keep stumbling forward. As Paul writes in Philippians 3:13–14, “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Cedarville presses on in pursuit of excellence while standing for the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ. Thomas White is President of Cedarville University. He earned his Ph.D. in systematic theology from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Through relentless effort, we seek to reflect the character and nature of the God we serve. Cedarville Magazine | 5
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