Every year all the Major League professional baseball-players arrive at “Spring Training.” At Spring Training they all play catch, field grounders and pop-ups, do wind-sprints and stretch, and take batting practice. They all do all the basic stuff. It doesn’t matter if it’s a guy’s rookie-season or if it’s a future hall-of-famer’s final season—everyone does all the basics. Because that’s what a professional does.
When Gordan Ramsay interviews a chef for one of his restaurants, he has them make… scrambled eggs. Not ratatouille. Scrambled eggs. Why? Because the skills necessary for reliably excellent scrambled eggs transfer to all sorts of other recipes and situations. Professionals respect the basics.
When you see someone trying to do super-difficult sports-tricks, you know that person is an amateur. When you see someone sweating through intense rehearsals of the basics, you know that person is a pro.
What separates a professional from an amateur? Professionals respect the fundamentals. Professionals are better at the basics. Amateurs don’t respect the basics—they’re tired of the boring stuff and want to have fun.
The final challenge Peter puts before us on our discipleship journey is to “practice these things.” In other words, once we understand discipleship and how to grow spiritually, what do we do? We enter the thing itself. We begin. We… practice.
What is… practice? Here are five attributes of quality practice:
Put it to use. Practice is the process of building more reliable responses to expected challenges—i.e. knees bent, eye on the ball, glove on the ground, ready to field a grounder. This is important so that when unexpected challenges appear—eg. The ball hits a stone and goes off-course—you’re ready. Regular ministry—at church or in the community—is critical to developing and maintaining the fundamentals of a disciple’s life.
It’s pretty common to see someone “take a break” from serving in church and then start “taking a break” from coming to church and then “take a break” from prayer, Bible reading, wise living, and righteousness. At the same time, I know for myself, and all the pastors I know attest to this too, it’s the grind of weekly church ministry that pushes me to honor the basics of discipleship. And that, in turn, keeps me growing.
Second, commit to the dullness of discipline. Practice, practice, practice; repeat, repeat, repeat. This is why most of us quit piano or trumpet or karate or whatever—it grew too dull. It became a discipline. The regular Christian life is a grind. It’s a series of basic disciplines. If we don’t commit to this, then the dullness and the difficulty will overwhelm our resolve. “Hey! I thought I was training for a marathon! How did I end up on the couch covered in Cheeto powder!?”
Three and four, two things that work together: be okay with mistakes, but get regular “coaching.” On the one hand, people who are committed to the discipline of practice know that they won’t always “get it right.” You just don’t. No one does. So to be committed to practicing is to be committed to sticking through screw-ups and frustrating mistakes. You want to quit, but you don’t. (What’s the key to success? Be the last person to quit.)
But this is only tolerable if you have a coach. A coach is someone who cares for you and for what you’re doing. A coach knows that you want to get better, to help the team, to be stronger and less-weak. So a coach may be tough on you, but always in love. A coach will help you see mistakes you’re trying to step past quickly, and will help you move past mistakes you’re fixated on.
If you don’t have a coach, you’ll think that “ministry success” is up to you. And the tendency is then to either go hard on yourself—“I’m no good, I quit”—or go easy on yourself—“I’m doing so great, how come all these jerks don’t see it?” Being coached presumes you are aware of your need to grow.
Maturing, growing, disciples respect practice. They commit to the basics and respect the fundamentals. They know that maturity means starting over, again and again. Practice and Improve—not to become “perfect,” but to become reliable and well-rounded. This is what discipleship looks like and feels like. It feels like practice, like dull, aching, daily, discipline.
Peter has given us a handful of “admonitions” in these short verses: “Make every effort” (5); Make these qualities “yours and increasing” (8); Don’t be “blind” and “forgetful” (9); “Be all the more diligent” (10). And now, lastly, “practice these things” (10b). Because that’s the fundamental fact of Christian growth. The most basic part of profound spiritual strength and wisdom is… the basics. The most fundamental aspects of a vibrant walk with the Spirit and awareness of Jesus are… the fundamentals.
Read your Bible. Pray daily and pray regularly. Be involved in your church. Tithe. Be hospitable. Seek out shepherding and care. And after you fall, get up again.
Some of us are busy with the basics. Some of us are laying on the couch. Here’s the great thing about Christian discipleship, this grand spiritual journey—it’s easy to start. Or, it's easy to start-up again. Start small. Take a step. Say a prayer, read a Psalm, call a friend.
Whether you’re a rookie or a future hall-of-famer, embrace the basics. Practice and improve. When great challenges come your way, or great opportunities, you’ll be strong, seasoned, and ready.
To Consider and Discuss:
What do you think about “spiritual practice”?
What “spiritual disciplines” are a regular part of your life?
Is it time to get off the couch and back into the game? Is it time to talk to a coach? Is it time to encourage a Cheeto-powder-covered friend?
Photo by Keith Johnston on Unsplash
