Just Do It!

Remember that good ol’ Nike byline “Just Do It!” Through the years this encouragement has probably entered our sub-conscious mind many times over as we sit in our easy chairs and watch whatever sporting event that happens to be on. Sadly, few of us take the challenge! This week Singapore is hosting the Asian Youth Games 2009 which is in reality a warm-up to it hosting the Youth Olympics next year. I was at the airport to meet Gwen when the China contingency arrived. Watching these young athletes walk by a few feet away, it was easy to see that they had accepted the challenge. They were all in incredible shape. I am sure that they will do well in these games since China does provide an environment which fosters the best getting better, and has a goal of producing world class athletes on an ongoing basis. Maybe we will catch a few of the events; I guess they will be televised. I wonder if Nike will be sponsoring this time, encouraging us to “Just Do It!”

One thing I have been able to “just do” lately is listen to audio books while riding bike or working around the house. With Gwen gone last week I listened a bit more than usual. In a completely random series of choices – from my initial perspective at least – I found myself listening to Yancy’s “The Jesus I Never Knew,” followed by Bonhoeffer’s “Life Together,” then a series of lectures “The Modern Scholar; Judaism, Christianity & Islam” by a Professor Frank E. Peters. And now I am just about halfway through “Outliers” by Malcolm Gladwell.

The thread of thought forming in my mind from these books and from my encounter with the China athletes takes me down an interesting but troubling pathway. I am first of all reminded of the extremely important fact that I can have a personal relationship with a personal God who made the supreme effort of coming to earth to live and die as a perfect man. Jesus Christ claimed to be God, there is no disputing that fact, but He was and is a real person with whom I can have a real relationship. But that relationship is not meant to be in isolation from the world around me – not in a cloister or cocoon, but in a community. There are some responsibilities that I have in regards to that relationship and community, but if I am not careful I can see those responsibilities manipulating my efforts into self-righteous religion instead of grace-empowered response.

The broad sweep of history in regards to monotheism and the development of religion based on the worship of the one true God shows over and over that man will always get it wrong when we try to institutionalize relationship and when we try to solve relationship problems with structural and organizational development. And God knew that would be a problem for us, He deals with it over and over in His Word. We have the resources – the tools – that we need to become the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ that He wants us to be. What we sadly lack as a whole is the discipline and the discipling that is called for to follow Him.

In “Outliers” Gladwell takes us deep into the reality of what makes people successful. Over and over again he points out the very clear patterns that emerge when we look into the histories of successful people. There are many elements that we may have no control over, but one specific criteria for being successful is a choice for us today even if we have never chosen it before. There is clear indication that people cannot be successful without putting in the time and effort. Gladwell and the researchers he quotes have settled on the number of 10,000 hours of practice which seems to be the baseline for success in fields such as sports, music, computer programming, science, law, and on the list goes.

Hopefully you see where this path is heading. We have the choice to focus on developing a closer relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, responding to His love and grace, in community with other believers – not because we have to or because this will earn us points toward salvation, but because we want to out of love for our Lord Jesus Christ. This takes effort and discipline and if we desire to be “successful” followers of Christ we will have to be disciplined in our own “practice” of following Him, and put in the time and effort needed to be what He wants us to be. It is not going to be easy or automatic. It is going to be hard. But as a result of this discipline there will be a quiet harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

We talk a lot about living balanced lives, we are concerned about being “whole persons” who benefit from “Sabbath life-styles.” Being disciplined and focused and practicing discipleship isn’t incompatible with these important values. It is possible, and the challenge hangs in the air, “just do it!”