I played soccer in college. Admittedly, it was not high quality college soccer. In fact, with the exception of my very good freshman year college team, I have a feeling my high school team could have beaten my college team every other year. Still, just about all of the players on that college team, all four years, had played soccer for a long time. I had been playing since 6th grade. I knew the basic skills of soccer, like trapping, passing, and even some ball control tricks. Some of the members of my college team were more advanced than me.
Yet, our coach started every practice with 15-30 minutes of fundamental ball control drills. Back and forth we would cross the field with a partner, heading the ball, trapping, passing, using our chest, thighs, and of course feet. Over and over and over we practiced. For players that had pretty much all been playing for years and had mastered those basic soccer skills, it would seem our coach was wasting time.
I think his approach was excellent. Even professionals do well to keep working on the basics. On the field flourishing requires lots of off the field practice. Same goes for our practice of faith. What is the work, the practice, that will help us experience the flourishing God desires for us?
There are the classic answers are “go to church and pray.” But what I have found is that we need to learn how to go to church, and we need to learn how to pray. There is a vast difference between attendance and participation. There is a vast difference between praying a brief to-do list for God and actually having a vibrant conversation with God.
Church attendance only, often results in a shallow faith. Praying only to-do lists for God often results in a shallow faith.
Church attendance is not much different from going to the movies or a show. Praying to-do lists is not much different than viewing God as your own ChatGPT.
Make a step toward something new. Break out of the mold. In my church, I encourage people to participate on the prison worship team, or help teach ESL with SEEDS. Show the love of Jesus to real live people.
But there are more ways we can practice toward transformation, knowing the God is at work, desiring us to experience flourishing.
Get counseling, therapy, see a spiritual director, meet with a spiritual mentor, an accountability partner. Confess your life to them. I don’t want to limit it to “confess your sins,” because our lives are so much more than sins. We need to confess everything to one another.
Remember how Paul wrote (see post here) that God wants to transform us complete, body, soul, and spirit. Who in your world knows you body, soul, and spirit? Your spouse? Maybe. Maybe not. And frankly, for some people, confessing that deeply to their spouse might not be the right next step. It might be. But it might not be. There is nothing wrong with confessing life to someone other than your spouse.
There is a practice called Rule of Life that you might consider. A workbook like this Crafting a Rule of Life, can help you not only understand what a rule of life is, but also how to make one. A rule of life is like a set of practices that can help you pursue holiness, knowing that God is at work in your throughout. I encourage you and your Bible study or small group to consider using this book as a guide.
Photo by Jonathan Ceballos on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 