“All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should.” (1 Corinthians 9:25-27)
A good friend of mine, an older lady named Mary, recently reported that she was visiting her son’s house and asked to borrow the newspaper. “C’mon, Ma!” he said, “We live in the 21st century now. We Google our news. Use my iPad.
Mary says, “That fly never knew what hit him!”
The right tool for swatting flies is probably a rolled-up newspaper, not a $500 tablet computer. As I chuckled over this story, I thought about the old adage, “the right tool for the right job.” Having a variety of tools and using the right tools makes any task easier.
I’ve learned this the hard way, trying to fix cars with a hammer, a screwdriver, and a pair of pliers. Those basic tools worked fine on the 1929 Model A Ford back at the farm… but I can’t even get started on my 2006 Kia Optima. (Anyone have a metric hammer I can borrow?)
Abraham Maslow said, “When all you have is a hammer, everything tends to look like a nail.”
A lot of Christians tend to be one-hammer folks. We don’t have a very full toolkit – just a few snippets of scripture, or a few trite phrases. And when we try to use those in the wrong situation, at the wrong place or time, they don’t get the job done.
Some folks love the call-and-response chant, “God is good! (All the time!) … All the time, (God is good!)” And while I agree wholeheartedly, that maybe isn’t the thing to say to someone right after they’ve lost their job.
Another pet phrase is, “I know God won’t give me more than I can handle.” People often follow this claim by muttering, “I just wish God didn’t think I could handle so much.” Truth is – there are things we can’t handle in our own limited human strength. Sometimes God gives us more than we can handle so that we must turn to God for strength.
And while John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, so that all who believe in him might not perish but have eternal life,” really is the gospel in miniature, it probably isn’t the most helpful thing to say to a single mom trying to feed her kids while working three part-time jobs.
Sometimes our tools are activities. We go to church two or three times a month, but never come to any events. Or maybe our relationship with God consists of an occasional casual prayer, and we never spend any time reading scripture. Some folks read the Bible and know it well, but haven’t spoken to God in years.
My point is this – if you want to live a well-rounded life and truly enjoy the fullness of peace and joy in Christian living, if you want the strength of God backing you up in times of trouble, then you need to have a well-rounded spiritual toolkit.
Athletes don’t make it to the Olympics with only one trick up their sleeve – say, doing push-ups really well. The best athletes have a well-rounded workout routine to prepare them for any possibility in their sport. Discipline your body and spirit to serve God like an Olympic athlete. Build up your strength for any challenge.
Involve yourself in worship at church and participate in a bible study or Sunday school class. Spend time in prayer, and pray in several different ways, so you are ready to pray at a family dinner or a hospital bedside. Read the bible regularly and learn enough scripture so you’ve got many treasured verses to strengthen yourself for any occasion.
Don’t go swatting bugs with an iPad, and don’t go boxing demons with trite sayings or tossed-off scriptural quotes. Build your toolkit, and build your faith.
Pastor Park