If we truly love people, we will desire for them far more than it is within our power to give them, and this will lead us to prayer.
Richard Foster, Prayer, p. 191
We do not know enough, and our desires are not perfect enough for us safely to be given everything we want and ask for. It is as simple as that.
Dallas Willard, Divine Conspiracy, p. 239
Prayer is never just asking, nor is it merely a matter of asking for what I want. God is not a cosmic butler or fix-it man, and the aim of the universe is not to fulfill my desires and needs. On the other hand, I am to pray for what concerns me, and many people have found prayer impossible because they thought they should only pray for wonderful but remote needs they actually had little or no interest in or even knowledge of.
Prayer simply dies from efforts to pray about “good things” that honestly do not matter to us. The way to get to meaningful prayer for those good things is to start by praying for what we are truly interested in. The circle of our interests will inevitably grow in the largeness of God’s love.
Willard, p. 242
. . . the most adequate description of prayer is simply, “Talking to God about what we are doing together.”
Only a vivid assurance of God’s greatness and goodness can lay a foundation for the life of prayer, and such an assurance will certainly express itself in praise.
Thanksgiving too is an inevitable accompaniment of vital prayer. The purpose is not to manipulate God into thinking we are grateful and that he should therefore give us more.
Willard, p. 243
Now what we see here (Exodus 32:10-14; 2 Kings 19:8-37) is a God who can be prevailed upon by those who faithfully stand before him. . . There is no silver bullet in prayer. Requests may be granted. Or they may not. Either way, it will be for a good reason. That is how relationships between persons are, or should be.
God is great enough that he can conduct his affairs in this way. His nature, identity, and overarching purposes are no doubt unchanging. But his intentions with regard to many particular matters that concern individual human beings are not. This does not diminish him. Far from it. He would be a lesser God if he could not change his intentions when he thinks it is appropriate. And if he chooses to deal with humanity in such a way that he will occasionally think it appropriate, that is just fine.
Willard, p. 246
Sometimes we wait for God to do as we ask because the answer involves changes in other people, or even ourselves, and that kind of change always takes time.
Willard, p. 251
There is no greater intimacy with another than that which is built through holding him or her up in prayer.
. . . Before we begin to pray, we may know that the love of the One who is actively concerned in awakening each life to its true center is already lapping at the shores of that life. We do not do it at all.
Such prayer is only cooperation with God’s active love in besieging the life or new areas of the life of another, or of a situation. If you pray for something other than what is in keeping with that cooperation, you go against the grain, and if you remain in prayer and are sensitive, you will realize this and be drawn to revise it. As in all petitional prayer, the one who really prays must be ready to yield.
Douglas Steere in Devotional Classics edited
by Richard Foster & James Bryan Smith, p.
88-89.
Praying men are the one commanding need of this day, as of all other days, in which God is to have or make a showing. Men who pray are, in reality, the only religious men, and it takes a full-measured man to pray. Men of prayer are the only men who do or can represent God in this world. No cold, irreligious, prayerless man can claim this right. They misrepresent God in all His work and all His plans. Praying men are the only men who have influence with God, the only kind of men to whom God commits Himself and His gospel. Praying men are the only men in which the Holy Spirit dwells, for the Holy Spirit and prayer go hand-in-hand. The Holy Spirit never descends upon prayerless men. He never fills them, He never empowers them. There is nothing whatever in common between the Spirit of God and men who do not pray. The Spirit dwells only in a prayer atmosphere.
In doing God’s work there is no substitute for praying. The men of prayer cannot be displaced with other kinds of men. Men of financial skill, men of education, men of worldly influence – none of these can possibly be put in substitution for the men of prayer. The life, the vigor, the motive power of God’s work is formed by praying men. A vitally diseased heart is not a more fearful symptom of approaching death than non-praying men are of spiritual atrophy.
Jesus was the divinely appointed leader of God’s people, and no one thing in His life proves His eminent fitness for that office so fully as His habit of prayer. Nothing is more suggestive of thought than Christ’s continual praying, and nothing is more conspicuous about Him than prayer. His campaigns were arranged, His victories gained, in the struggles and communion of His all-night praying. His praying rent the heavens. Moses and Elijah and the transfiguration glory waited on His praying. His miracles and His teaching had their force from the same source. Gethsemane’s praying crimsoned Calvary with serenity and glory. His prayer makes the history and hastens the triumphs of His church. What an inspiration and command to prayer is Christ’s life! What a comment on its worth! How He shames our lives by His praying!
Like all of His followers who have drawn God nearer to the world and lifted the world nearer to God, Jesus was the man of prayer, made of God a leader and commander to His people. His leadership was one of prayer. A great leader He was, because He was great in prayer. All great leaders for God have fashioned their leadership in the wrestlings of their closets. Many great men have led and molded the church who have not been great in prayer, but they were great only in their plans, great for their opinions, great for their organization, great by natural gifts, by the force of genius or of character. However, they were not great for God. But Jesus Christ was a great leader for God. His was the great leadership of great praying. God was in His leadership greatly because prayer was in it greatly. We might just well express the wish that we be taught by Him to pray, and to pray more and more.
E.M. Bounds in The Best of E.M. Bounds
on Prayer, p. 147-149
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Our Need for Admonishment
Sounds great, doesn’t it? Who needs admonishment? Not me!
Are you sure?
Most of us try to obey God most of the time. Our percentage would probably be in the 90’s. That’s in the A range, isn’t it? An “A” is defined as ‘above average’ or ‘excellent.’ That’s doing pretty well, don’t you think?
Well, it doesn’t matter what I think; it matters what God thinks. He expects 100% obedience. He doesn’t settle for less. Can you imagine during a wedding if the vows went like this, “Do you promise to love, honor and support this woman?” Groom: “At least 90% of the time – yes.” Would that count as a ‘Yes?’
Let’s look at it another way. 10% of the time you are disobedient, and more than likely, those places of disobedience have been there a long time. You could call them places of habitual disobedience. In that 10%, you (and I) have been habitually disobedient. We have no plans to change because we lean on the 90% obedience and believe that’s enough. ‘It’s better than most.’ But it is does not fulfill God’s standard.
That’s where admonishment comes in. Admonish is defined as “to set right, correct, warn, lay on the heart of someone.” It often involves confrontation, challenge and correction. In the places of disobedience (which is sin), we need to be admonished. We need people to correct, challenge, and confront us on our sin.
“What I become depends on how my Christian friends respond to me when I’m at my worst.” (Sittser, Love One Another, p. 162).
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom . . .”
Colossians 3:16
It is so easy to turn the other way isn’t it? When we see someone choosing to sin, we can easily just rationalize, “it’s none of my business.” Or we like to have this tidbit of information to use against the person in sin. We gossip, judge, belittle – all in an attempt to make us feel better about ourselves. ‘At least, I’m not as bad as __________ who is struggling with the sin of ____________.’
We admonish John daily. We correct his behavior. “John, you can’t hit other people.” “John, you can’t take a toy away from another child.” “John, you can’t talk to your mother that way.” We correct. We challenge. We confront. We do it because we love John and we know he needs to learn how to act appropriately.
Does John like being confronted? No. Does he like it when we correct him? No. Does he respond well to us when we confront or correct? Often, no. Should that change our behavior with him? Should we not correct or confront because he doesn’t like it? No.
The Bible says that this is an important way we love each other. When we see someone choosing to sin, we are called as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to confront that behavior IN LOVE. The goal is always restoration. The goal is always looking out for the best interests of the one who is stuck in sin. It is in their best interests to get unstuck from their sin, and we show love to each other when we help each other get unstuck.
Your habitual disobedience is hindering you from experiencing the life God has for you. You can’t do it on your own. You haven’t yet. So even though it is hard to admit your failure in front of another – especially when being confronted by them – it is an important way that God grows us and helps us to move away from our places of habitual sin.
If we let John get away with inappropriate behavior, we would not be loving him as we should. If we turn our backs to a friend’s adultery, lying, cheating, gossiping, coveting, unhealthy anger, self-righteousness, etc., it would be because we are more concerned with keeping the peace and not being seen as judgmental, then it would be because we love that person.
Let’s really love one another.
Are you sure?
Most of us try to obey God most of the time. Our percentage would probably be in the 90’s. That’s in the A range, isn’t it? An “A” is defined as ‘above average’ or ‘excellent.’ That’s doing pretty well, don’t you think?
Well, it doesn’t matter what I think; it matters what God thinks. He expects 100% obedience. He doesn’t settle for less. Can you imagine during a wedding if the vows went like this, “Do you promise to love, honor and support this woman?” Groom: “At least 90% of the time – yes.” Would that count as a ‘Yes?’
Let’s look at it another way. 10% of the time you are disobedient, and more than likely, those places of disobedience have been there a long time. You could call them places of habitual disobedience. In that 10%, you (and I) have been habitually disobedient. We have no plans to change because we lean on the 90% obedience and believe that’s enough. ‘It’s better than most.’ But it is does not fulfill God’s standard.
That’s where admonishment comes in. Admonish is defined as “to set right, correct, warn, lay on the heart of someone.” It often involves confrontation, challenge and correction. In the places of disobedience (which is sin), we need to be admonished. We need people to correct, challenge, and confront us on our sin.
“What I become depends on how my Christian friends respond to me when I’m at my worst.” (Sittser, Love One Another, p. 162).
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom . . .”
Colossians 3:16
It is so easy to turn the other way isn’t it? When we see someone choosing to sin, we can easily just rationalize, “it’s none of my business.” Or we like to have this tidbit of information to use against the person in sin. We gossip, judge, belittle – all in an attempt to make us feel better about ourselves. ‘At least, I’m not as bad as __________ who is struggling with the sin of ____________.’
We admonish John daily. We correct his behavior. “John, you can’t hit other people.” “John, you can’t take a toy away from another child.” “John, you can’t talk to your mother that way.” We correct. We challenge. We confront. We do it because we love John and we know he needs to learn how to act appropriately.
Does John like being confronted? No. Does he like it when we correct him? No. Does he respond well to us when we confront or correct? Often, no. Should that change our behavior with him? Should we not correct or confront because he doesn’t like it? No.
The Bible says that this is an important way we love each other. When we see someone choosing to sin, we are called as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to confront that behavior IN LOVE. The goal is always restoration. The goal is always looking out for the best interests of the one who is stuck in sin. It is in their best interests to get unstuck from their sin, and we show love to each other when we help each other get unstuck.
Your habitual disobedience is hindering you from experiencing the life God has for you. You can’t do it on your own. You haven’t yet. So even though it is hard to admit your failure in front of another – especially when being confronted by them – it is an important way that God grows us and helps us to move away from our places of habitual sin.
If we let John get away with inappropriate behavior, we would not be loving him as we should. If we turn our backs to a friend’s adultery, lying, cheating, gossiping, coveting, unhealthy anger, self-righteousness, etc., it would be because we are more concerned with keeping the peace and not being seen as judgmental, then it would be because we love that person.
Let’s really love one another.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Shake It Up
One of my quirks that some have noticed is my shaking legs. Alisa is well aware of this “irritating” habit. When I sit down, I often bounce my legs. I do it without noticing and it is often the result of a pressure point that causes the muscles in my legs to shake. It can shake the table I’m sitting by. It can shake the pew I’m sitting in. I can easily shake the floor to the point that other people “feel” the shaking my legs are causing.
“Hi. My name is Chip and my legs often shake when I’m sitting down.”
I hope my life shakes you up. I hope my life shakes up the lives of those around me. I hope it won’t only be because of my legs, but because of my life.
Our lives are a lot like a snow globe. If left to ourselves, we become dormant. Snow globes exist to be shaken because in being shaken, they fulfill their purpose. They are seen in the way they’ve been created to be seen.
Each of us has the tendency to find a groove that works for us and stay in it. It happens in all facets of our lives. We find a comfortable place in our marriage and we stay there. We find a comfortable place in our job and stay there. We find friends that “work” for us, a church that works for us and even a lifestyle which we enjoy and doesn’t ask too much of us. It’s normal and natural for us to live in this way. But it’s too easy to become dormant then. Our values become comfort, convenience, and leisure. We value people and experiences which help us stay in this groove.
God has a different plan. He wants to shake us up. And His plan includes ‘shaking’ as a value we embrace. Many of us have been shaken up at times in our lives. Whether through difficult circumstances or transitions in our lives, we’ve experienced what it is to be shaken. It is definitely not always fun. We’re uncomfortable, vulnerable, and often dependent on others in the midst of this challenge. But I also bet that it’s in these places where the most growth has taken place – when you are being shaken.
Hebrews 10:24-25 says it a little differently,
And let us consider how to stir one another on toward love and good deeds.
Stir – shake – provoke would all be appropriate words to describe this process. And note that it says we are to do this with one another. We are to stir/shake/provoke each other with a definite purpose in mind – toward love and good deeds.
There is something contagious about being with people who are shaking out of their love for Jesus. They act different. They talk different. They love different. There is something about them which draws us to them. But it is not comfortable being around them, because they challenge us both in the words they say but also in the lives they live. They shake us up. We cannot remain the same if we spend much time around them.
That’s it! That is not only the kind of people we need to look for in our lives, it is the kind of people we are called to be. The only way a person shakes/stirs/provokes in the way described in Hebrews 10, is if they truly seek after Jesus.
Who is shaking you up? How are you stirring the lives of others? How does your life encourage others to invest themselves in the love of Jesus and living that love out throughout their lives?
One other thing: Often we are tempted to rely on others to shake us up. We go to church and get stirred. We attend a conference and get shaken up. We go on a mission trip and our lives are provoked. These are good, but too often in the between times, our globes return to dormancy. We are stirred for a short period of time and then everything settles back to the way it was before. If we are to be His followers, our globes need to spend more time being shaken than standing dormant. We can’t simply rely on “church/religious” activities. We need to live a life of self-denial, risk-taking, and trusting in the One who is the One. This will lead to a life in motion.
Stirring one another up is what love does. Allowing one another to remain dormant is not love.
“Hi. My name is Chip and my legs often shake when I’m sitting down.”
I hope my life shakes you up. I hope my life shakes up the lives of those around me. I hope it won’t only be because of my legs, but because of my life.
Our lives are a lot like a snow globe. If left to ourselves, we become dormant. Snow globes exist to be shaken because in being shaken, they fulfill their purpose. They are seen in the way they’ve been created to be seen.
Each of us has the tendency to find a groove that works for us and stay in it. It happens in all facets of our lives. We find a comfortable place in our marriage and we stay there. We find a comfortable place in our job and stay there. We find friends that “work” for us, a church that works for us and even a lifestyle which we enjoy and doesn’t ask too much of us. It’s normal and natural for us to live in this way. But it’s too easy to become dormant then. Our values become comfort, convenience, and leisure. We value people and experiences which help us stay in this groove.
God has a different plan. He wants to shake us up. And His plan includes ‘shaking’ as a value we embrace. Many of us have been shaken up at times in our lives. Whether through difficult circumstances or transitions in our lives, we’ve experienced what it is to be shaken. It is definitely not always fun. We’re uncomfortable, vulnerable, and often dependent on others in the midst of this challenge. But I also bet that it’s in these places where the most growth has taken place – when you are being shaken.
Hebrews 10:24-25 says it a little differently,
And let us consider how to stir one another on toward love and good deeds.
Stir – shake – provoke would all be appropriate words to describe this process. And note that it says we are to do this with one another. We are to stir/shake/provoke each other with a definite purpose in mind – toward love and good deeds.
There is something contagious about being with people who are shaking out of their love for Jesus. They act different. They talk different. They love different. There is something about them which draws us to them. But it is not comfortable being around them, because they challenge us both in the words they say but also in the lives they live. They shake us up. We cannot remain the same if we spend much time around them.
That’s it! That is not only the kind of people we need to look for in our lives, it is the kind of people we are called to be. The only way a person shakes/stirs/provokes in the way described in Hebrews 10, is if they truly seek after Jesus.
Who is shaking you up? How are you stirring the lives of others? How does your life encourage others to invest themselves in the love of Jesus and living that love out throughout their lives?
One other thing: Often we are tempted to rely on others to shake us up. We go to church and get stirred. We attend a conference and get shaken up. We go on a mission trip and our lives are provoked. These are good, but too often in the between times, our globes return to dormancy. We are stirred for a short period of time and then everything settles back to the way it was before. If we are to be His followers, our globes need to spend more time being shaken than standing dormant. We can’t simply rely on “church/religious” activities. We need to live a life of self-denial, risk-taking, and trusting in the One who is the One. This will lead to a life in motion.
Stirring one another up is what love does. Allowing one another to remain dormant is not love.
Stir One Another Up - Sittser
The following are quotes from Gerald Sittser’s book, Love One Another.
Jesus called it the narrow way and warned us of its cost. He said that in the Christian life death precedes life, losing comes before gaining, renouncing the world precedes eternal life.
Jesus looks for intent and desire more than capability and success. What matters is that we want to measure up to the full stature of Christ, however far we fall short.
Christians don’t always want to become like Christ. Christians don’t always want to pursue the highest and best to which he calls us. In these circumstances the Bible commands us to “stir up” and “admonish” one another.
(147)
Faith and obedience come hard because of doubt, struggle, temptation, exhaustion, and busyness. Yet in my mind these difficulties are not the greatest obstacle in the Christian life, however prevalent they are. The greatest obstacle is more subtle, which is why the Bible warns us against it so strongly. Scripture calls this problem “lukewarmness.” I call it inertia.
Inertia in the Christian life is dangerous because it seems so natural and justifiable. It’s like water that flows to the lowest elevation possible, where it can rest after cascading down mountainsides. People have a natural inclination to seek that same state of rest and ease. We like things to be convenient and controllable, stable and predictable. We want “givens” because they provide security. Consequently, we fall into predictable behavioral patters – in private life, in relationships and in society. Inevitably free choices become necessities, spontaneous activities become habits, innovations become traditions. Bold action sooner or later turns into “the same old thing.” We like to settle into a routine. Rushing rivers always empty into placid lakes. We tend toward inertia.
Yet stability and predictability cost us something. The cost is sameness, blandness, boredom and sometimes injustice. There is nothing wrong with following a set schedule from day to day. But what happens when that schedule keeps us from enlarging our world with new experiences or challenges? There is nothing wrong with fulfilling different marital roles. Yet those roles might be unfair when children come, the husband goes back to school or the wife gets a new job. There is nothing wrong with policies that make institutions run more efficiently. Yet sometimes rules made for the sake of efficiency and productivity stifle creativity; rules made to give the most experienced people authority may gave way to an “old-boy network” that keeps new blood from rising to the top.
(150-151)
Comfort zone Christianity appeals powerfully to certain legitimate impulses within us. But it is still dangerous. It can lead to laziness of spirit, deadness of faith, a routine that gives the appearance of religion without cultivating a heart for God. It makes us nice, decent, and respectable. It can also lead to dead worship, exclusive churches, lifeless devotions, token service, easy giving, superficial knowledge of the Bible. It is, as the Bible calls it, lukewarmness, which is more perilous than open rebellion (Revelation 3).
(152)
What is true for churches is also true for individuals. Quiet and sensitive people don’t have to become noisy and aggressive; activists don’t have to become contemplatives; scholars don’t have to become popularizers. Stirring up means we become all God meant us to be. It’s not helpful or possible to stir up people to something they are not and can’t be. It’s not right to stir up a church to change so much that it becomes unfamiliar with the church it once was. Stirring up preserves the best of what we already are, the best of the tradition our church embodies. Continuity and change are partners, not enemies.
The secret of stirring up is balance – to push people, churches and Christian institutions beyond the comfort zone without breaking continuity with the past. Balance requires us to expand our vision of discipleship, not change it entirely; to enlarge our capacity to know and obey God, not swing periodically from one extreme to the other.
(159)
Jesus called it the narrow way and warned us of its cost. He said that in the Christian life death precedes life, losing comes before gaining, renouncing the world precedes eternal life.
Jesus looks for intent and desire more than capability and success. What matters is that we want to measure up to the full stature of Christ, however far we fall short.
Christians don’t always want to become like Christ. Christians don’t always want to pursue the highest and best to which he calls us. In these circumstances the Bible commands us to “stir up” and “admonish” one another.
(147)
Faith and obedience come hard because of doubt, struggle, temptation, exhaustion, and busyness. Yet in my mind these difficulties are not the greatest obstacle in the Christian life, however prevalent they are. The greatest obstacle is more subtle, which is why the Bible warns us against it so strongly. Scripture calls this problem “lukewarmness.” I call it inertia.
Inertia in the Christian life is dangerous because it seems so natural and justifiable. It’s like water that flows to the lowest elevation possible, where it can rest after cascading down mountainsides. People have a natural inclination to seek that same state of rest and ease. We like things to be convenient and controllable, stable and predictable. We want “givens” because they provide security. Consequently, we fall into predictable behavioral patters – in private life, in relationships and in society. Inevitably free choices become necessities, spontaneous activities become habits, innovations become traditions. Bold action sooner or later turns into “the same old thing.” We like to settle into a routine. Rushing rivers always empty into placid lakes. We tend toward inertia.
Yet stability and predictability cost us something. The cost is sameness, blandness, boredom and sometimes injustice. There is nothing wrong with following a set schedule from day to day. But what happens when that schedule keeps us from enlarging our world with new experiences or challenges? There is nothing wrong with fulfilling different marital roles. Yet those roles might be unfair when children come, the husband goes back to school or the wife gets a new job. There is nothing wrong with policies that make institutions run more efficiently. Yet sometimes rules made for the sake of efficiency and productivity stifle creativity; rules made to give the most experienced people authority may gave way to an “old-boy network” that keeps new blood from rising to the top.
(150-151)
Comfort zone Christianity appeals powerfully to certain legitimate impulses within us. But it is still dangerous. It can lead to laziness of spirit, deadness of faith, a routine that gives the appearance of religion without cultivating a heart for God. It makes us nice, decent, and respectable. It can also lead to dead worship, exclusive churches, lifeless devotions, token service, easy giving, superficial knowledge of the Bible. It is, as the Bible calls it, lukewarmness, which is more perilous than open rebellion (Revelation 3).
(152)
What is true for churches is also true for individuals. Quiet and sensitive people don’t have to become noisy and aggressive; activists don’t have to become contemplatives; scholars don’t have to become popularizers. Stirring up means we become all God meant us to be. It’s not helpful or possible to stir up people to something they are not and can’t be. It’s not right to stir up a church to change so much that it becomes unfamiliar with the church it once was. Stirring up preserves the best of what we already are, the best of the tradition our church embodies. Continuity and change are partners, not enemies.
The secret of stirring up is balance – to push people, churches and Christian institutions beyond the comfort zone without breaking continuity with the past. Balance requires us to expand our vision of discipleship, not change it entirely; to enlarge our capacity to know and obey God, not swing periodically from one extreme to the other.
(159)
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Practice, practice, practice
John wants to play golf with his dad. Last fall, he received a set of kid’s clubs. So last fall, we started hitting balls together. I thought it would involve lots of instruction as I helped John learn to hit a golf ball. I learned there would be no instruction. He just wanted to hit the balls. He was not interested in any instruction. It was (and is) very hard for me not to try and help him. I want to teach him how to align his feet, hold the club, keep his head down, etc. He just wants me to be present and quiet. Well, not just quiet, because when he hits a good shot, he wants me to affirm him in hitting a good shot.
Now that spring is arriving, John doesn’t just want to hit balls, he wants to play golf. This presents a dilemma because few courses (if any) allow a child his age on the course to play. But it also raises the internal challenge in me because John doesn’t know how to play. He doesn’t know all there is to know about playing golf. Who does, by the way? I anticipate a very frustrating experience for me as I “golf” with him. Will he receive instruction? Will he obey the rules? Will we play so slow that we’ll get kicked off the course anyway? Can he last 9 holes?
It reminds me of how we learn something. John wants to play golf, so he thinks the best way to learn is to play golf. He doesn’t want instruction. He wants a club and a ball and a course and his dad to take him.
So often we see learning as what happens in the classroom. We sit and listen to someone who knows what they are talking about. They impart information to us. We learn. We acquire the information and it becomes ours. It is often what happens on Sunday mornings. The preacher preaches and the people learn something new.
But learning is incomplete if it just involves the acquisition of information. We have to apply what we’ve learned. Whether it’s using the multiplication tables we’ve memorized to figure out how much it will cost to buy mulch or putting the letters of the alphabet together to form and pronounce words or keeping my head down when I actually swing the club, we have to apply what we’ve gained in our minds to the actions we take.
I’m learning that learning is often a process with three important components – information, practice, reflect.
Let’s use John and golf as an example. We tell John how to hold and swing the club to hit the ball. He acquires new information. Has he learned how to hit the ball? Yes, he knows how in his mind. He could repeat back the information. Then he practices. He actually grabs the club, swings it, and attempts to hit the ball. He actually practices the information he’s acquired. Then he reflects. Did he hit the ball? Did it go very far? What did he learn in actually doing what he was told to do? Repeat. He receives more instruction (information) about aligning his feet and keeping his head down. He practices holding the club, swinging, after aligning his feet and keeping his head down. Now he reflects. Did I hit the ball? How far did it go? Did I improve on what I did last time? Why did I improve? Repeat. On and on the process of learning goes. We don’t think through this process; it’s just natural.
But somewhere along the way, the church has lost sight of the need for practice and reflection. We are good at telling each other what to do, but whether or not there is any practice or reflection, we don’t know.
You can hear thousands of sermons. You can read thousands of books. You can have all the information and know how to do anything. But it means almost nothing if it’s not put into practice. Do you know how to pray and why we pray? Does that matter if you don’t pray? Do you know the Bible and could quote chapter and verse? Does that matter if you don’t put it into practice? Do you know how to love your spouse? Do you put it into practice?
You see one of the issues which hold us back from practice is that we expect mastery immediately. Or because we’re not very good at it, we stop trying. That’s what practice is for! John will not master golf – ever, but he can grow and learn and enjoy the game of golf. Another reason we hesitate is because we care too much what people think. If I practice and don’t look good, what will people think?
We all need practice. None of us have mastery in following Jesus Christ. But we cannot be content because we know what to do. We have to live into His life. We have to try. We have to do what He tells us to do. We have to practice and reflect as we learn. Because isn’t it true that John is not going to learn golf because I tell him how to do it? He is going to learn to golf by playing – by practicing – by growing through the experience.
Are you putting into practice what you know? It is time for practice. Practice, practice, practice.
Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act – they will be blessed in their doing. James 1:22-25
Now that spring is arriving, John doesn’t just want to hit balls, he wants to play golf. This presents a dilemma because few courses (if any) allow a child his age on the course to play. But it also raises the internal challenge in me because John doesn’t know how to play. He doesn’t know all there is to know about playing golf. Who does, by the way? I anticipate a very frustrating experience for me as I “golf” with him. Will he receive instruction? Will he obey the rules? Will we play so slow that we’ll get kicked off the course anyway? Can he last 9 holes?
It reminds me of how we learn something. John wants to play golf, so he thinks the best way to learn is to play golf. He doesn’t want instruction. He wants a club and a ball and a course and his dad to take him.
So often we see learning as what happens in the classroom. We sit and listen to someone who knows what they are talking about. They impart information to us. We learn. We acquire the information and it becomes ours. It is often what happens on Sunday mornings. The preacher preaches and the people learn something new.
But learning is incomplete if it just involves the acquisition of information. We have to apply what we’ve learned. Whether it’s using the multiplication tables we’ve memorized to figure out how much it will cost to buy mulch or putting the letters of the alphabet together to form and pronounce words or keeping my head down when I actually swing the club, we have to apply what we’ve gained in our minds to the actions we take.
I’m learning that learning is often a process with three important components – information, practice, reflect.
Let’s use John and golf as an example. We tell John how to hold and swing the club to hit the ball. He acquires new information. Has he learned how to hit the ball? Yes, he knows how in his mind. He could repeat back the information. Then he practices. He actually grabs the club, swings it, and attempts to hit the ball. He actually practices the information he’s acquired. Then he reflects. Did he hit the ball? Did it go very far? What did he learn in actually doing what he was told to do? Repeat. He receives more instruction (information) about aligning his feet and keeping his head down. He practices holding the club, swinging, after aligning his feet and keeping his head down. Now he reflects. Did I hit the ball? How far did it go? Did I improve on what I did last time? Why did I improve? Repeat. On and on the process of learning goes. We don’t think through this process; it’s just natural.
But somewhere along the way, the church has lost sight of the need for practice and reflection. We are good at telling each other what to do, but whether or not there is any practice or reflection, we don’t know.
You can hear thousands of sermons. You can read thousands of books. You can have all the information and know how to do anything. But it means almost nothing if it’s not put into practice. Do you know how to pray and why we pray? Does that matter if you don’t pray? Do you know the Bible and could quote chapter and verse? Does that matter if you don’t put it into practice? Do you know how to love your spouse? Do you put it into practice?
You see one of the issues which hold us back from practice is that we expect mastery immediately. Or because we’re not very good at it, we stop trying. That’s what practice is for! John will not master golf – ever, but he can grow and learn and enjoy the game of golf. Another reason we hesitate is because we care too much what people think. If I practice and don’t look good, what will people think?
We all need practice. None of us have mastery in following Jesus Christ. But we cannot be content because we know what to do. We have to live into His life. We have to try. We have to do what He tells us to do. We have to practice and reflect as we learn. Because isn’t it true that John is not going to learn golf because I tell him how to do it? He is going to learn to golf by playing – by practicing – by growing through the experience.
Are you putting into practice what you know? It is time for practice. Practice, practice, practice.
Be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves. For if any are hearers of the word and not doers, they are like those who look at themselves in a mirror; for they look at themselves and, on going away, immediately forget what they were like. But those who look into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and persevere, being not hearers who forget but doers who act – they will be blessed in their doing. James 1:22-25
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