"We make time for what we truly value. We build habits and routines around the things that really matter to us. This is an important principle to understand as we seek to build our lives around the gospel. Do you want a cross centered life? A cross centered life is made up of cross centered days." ~ C.J. Mahaney
“The first thing to remember is that we must never separate the benefits (regeneration, justification, sanctification) from the Benefactor (Jesus Christ).” ~ Sinclair Ferguson
Every January in the region where I live the Band Directors Association stages regional auditions for high school students. The students are expected to prepare and perform for the judges their musical scales and then sight read a piece of music they are unfamiliar with. The judges rate their performance and if they receive a good enough ranking for their age bracket and instrument the student has the opportunity to play in the regional band and maybe audition for the chance to be named to the All State band. For many high school students this is a mixed blessing, and this is true of my children. They dread the practice time required and they are nervous about performing and doing well, but if they do not play well or don’t make call backs they are disappointed.
Recently I took my son to the regional auditions and like most teenage boys we had to “encourage” him to practice with mixed results. The day of the audition came and he went in and performed his scales and played the piece. I could tell by the look on his face as he walked out the door that he was not pleased with the results. On the drive home he lamented on his performance and of course the parent in me could not resist using this as a “teaching moment”. I proceeded to tell him how in order to get good at any anything it requires practice, commitment and a certain level of personal discipline. We discussed that the things he excels at are those activities he has a passion about. Things that he devotes time and energy to are the things that he tends to master. He recently started to take Karate and he gladly picks up his nunchucks, or he tells me how he practices his kata in his mind to try and memorize the choreographed series of punches, kicks and blocks. He is passionate about Karate as compared to his baritone and the results clearly tell the story.
Mastering anything requires a certain level of passion, discipline and commitment, and these can be “dirty words” for most people, and this phenomenon is not unique or isolated to teenagers. I looked up on the internet how much time experts and researchers believe is required to “master” a skill. According to author, musician, neuro-scientist, Daniel Levitin in his book; "This is Your Brain on Music" (a New York Times best-seller, Plume Printing 2006), an expert or master of any craft is measured by that person practicing their craft for 10,000 hours. Here is how Levitin puts it...“The emerging scientific picture is that 10,000 hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert in anything. In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals, and what have you, this number comes up again and again. Now how long is ten thousand hours? It is equal to roughly 3 hours of practice a day, or twenty hours a week, of practice for ten years. Of course some people never reach mastery, which is not really explainable yet. But, no one has found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery.”
If we apply the concept of achieving true mastery to the spiritual realm how exactly are we doing? I am not implying that we can ever truly become “masters” of godliness or achieve spiritual perfection simply through sheer human will power, discipline, passion and personal commitment. But are we even putting forth a valiant effort? Or better put; are we relying on a once a week observance to achieve the desired result? Let’s do the math; if the average Christian attends a weekly worship service and the average sermon lasts for 30 minutes that equates to 1 hour of spiritual nourishment per week. Let’s give everyone the benefit of the doubt and say we are attending 50 weeks out of the year. Let’s even be generous and say that we are not mentally checking out of any of those fifty Sundays. That is 50 hours per year divided into ten thousand hours. On that pace it will take us 200 years to put in the time most experts agree it takes to be considered world-class at anything. Even if we doubled or tripled the time commitment we are still going to struggle to achieve anything by our sheer determination and power of our will.
A reoccurring thought in the New Testament is the command that we are to be content with what God has blessed us with, (see Luke 13:4, Phil 4:11, 1 Timothy 6:18 & Heb 13:5). But I am going to go out on a limb here and state that the Bible never calls us to be content with our spiritual growth or in what God has achieved in our life and sanctification. I have yet to meet someone who would articulate the thought that they are content or satisfied with where they are spiritually or in their relationship with God, but sadly it seems that sometimes our actions (or lack thereof) betray what is our heart attitude. I have yet to meet a spiritual prodigy or someone that just instantaneously is a spiritual giant. The bottom line is that the natural man cannot receive the things of God (I Cr 2:14) and in and of ourselves we cannot understand or seek after God, (Rom 3:11). But the questions I constantly need to ask myself are twofold; am I focused on things that really matter in life and what am I truly passionate about? My goals define what I value and if I truly want to grow in godliness then am I committed to my spiritual growth or putting in a half-hearted effort?
We live in an era of quick fixes and we are constantly looking for ways to cut corners to achieve our goals. We have a “sitcom mentality” that we want all of life’s issues and problems resolved and tied up in a neat little bow in 30 minutes or less. Sanctification through the “spiritual microwave” and voilà, presto change-o we are spiritual giants. Don’t ask us to work for it, apply any spiritual sweat or discipline. Give it to us now! Recently my Pastor stated; “Sanctification involves cooperation. Now that we are justified by his grace, we are called to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil. 2:12).” The question I have to continually ask myself is, “am I cooperating?” Am I working out my salvation? Have I grown complacent or content with my achievement, or am I hungering and thirsting after righteousness , (Matt 5:6), for His name’s sake and His honor and glory?
Our spiritual growth must be gospel driven. We need to focus on these words by Sinclair Ferguson; “The first thing to remember is that we must never separate the benefits (regeneration, justification, sanctification) from the Benefactor (Jesus Christ). The Christians who are most focused on their own spirituality may give the impression of being the most spiritual … but from the New Testament’s point of view, those who have almost forgotten about their own spirituality because their focus is so exclusively on their union with Jesus Christ and what He has accomplished are those who are growing and exhibiting fruitfulness. Historically speaking, whenever the piety of a particular group is focused on OUR spirituality that piety will eventually exhaust itself on its own resources. Only where our piety forgets about us and focuses on Jesus Christ will our piety nourished by the ongoing resources the Spirit brings to us from the source of all true piety, our Lord Jesus Christ.”
The Bible clearly states that we have been given everything we need for a life of godliness, yet we fail to take God up on His gracious offer. Recently I was reading I Peter 1:10-12 and I was struck by a couple of statements. The first is found in verse 10 when Peter talks about the Old Testament prophets who inquired and searched diligently into the grace they prophesized that WE would experience. And then in verse 12 when Peter points out that these are things that the angels long to look into. The thought struck me between the eyes; the O.T. prophets didn’t have the amazing benefit of the complete revelation of Jesus Christ or the total canon of scripture yet they searched diligently or anxiously. And the angels, created beings who cannot fully experience the mercy, grace and blessing of God long to look into these things which we can know! The word long in the Greek (epithymeō) means to covet, desire for, or lust after. Is that how we feel about seeking after God and growing in grace and truth?
Every teacher I have ever met and every parent that I know relishes an enthusiastic and devoted student. God is no different. He is a rewarder of those that will diligently seek Him. The God of all the universe wants to know you and I and be known. He longs to reward us. Don’t be content with the crumbs and come to the banquet table and feast!
“And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;” ~ Philippians 3:9-10
