Christians should insist on excellence because their work is ultimately done for God and can be seen as an act of worship. An example from history of a Christian person who understood this is Brother Lawrence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Lawrence
The insistence for excellence, however, has to be tempered with humility
so that it never tips over into toxic arrogant perfectionism. That becomes the
sin of elevation of the self above God.
Biblical passages which exhibit this idea include Colossians
3:23-24, Proverbs 22:29, and Philippians 4:8.
The modern trend is to let things slide, to get by on less, on giving less
effort and personal involvement to a situation, not allowing a responsibility
to interfere too much with our personal interests. This is sometimes called quiet
quitting, doing just enough to not be unpleasantly noticed. This happens
even in our churches.
The cafeteria in the hospital where I worked before my retirement started
exhibiting a symptom of the times in which we live. Suddenly one day,
everything was gone: coffee creamer, sweeteners, salt, pepper, ketchup (catsup
if you insist), mayonnaise, and mustard.
The cafeteria said that customers could still have these items
but would have to specifically ask for them. Some of the “less
sophisticated” (patronizingly read “old” or “rural”) customers seemed to be
totally bewildered by this.
The hospital cafeteria is a contract service with a commercial restaurant chain which seems to have lost sight of the traditional service provider-customer relationship. Until recently, even though the cafeteria long ago quit washing dishes and began using only plastic plates and utensils, they still seemed to realize that the strict bottom line was ranked lower than providing quality customer service. Condiments, spices, sauces, and other items were understood to be included in the price of the food items being sold.
Yes, I saw some people abusing their customer rights and stuffing things like ketchup packages and napkins into their purses and pockets, but petty theft by an unscrupulous few isn’t enough justification to punish the many who play by the rules.
The only reason the cafeteria doesn’t suffer a customer backlash is that the client base is transient and, at the same time, captive. The choices are leave the hospital to get food, order from a delivery service, eat in the the cafeteria, or resort to the cracker and peanut machines.
At least plastic plates and cutlery are still provided. It would be really messy to eat spaghetti with your fingers.
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