Practicing the Fundamentals

Little League Baseball.

Several thoughts and images just went through your mind. Little boys and girls playing in the dirt. Running to third base instead of first base after hitting the ball. Eight kids running to the ball in the outfield when someone hits it, and the one who gets it jumps up and yells, "I got it!" 

Here’s one thing: little league kids need to have regular practice in the fundamentals of the game.

If they don’t, they throw the ball all over the field, swing at bad pitches, and forget what to do with the ball if it is hit to them. Good plays are more by accident than not.

It’s not just for little league that the most basic fundamentals are vital.

The great Iowa wrestling coach Dan Gable used to have his (college-aged) wrestlers tie their shoes, in addition to practicing the most basic wrestling moves--moves they learned several years prior.

The fundamentals. Without them it’s tough to grow and develop. The fundamentals are necessary to play the game well. 

So it is with discipleship to Jesus. Jesus' disciples spent a lot of time with Jesus, yet Jesus often found himself reminding them of the fundamentals. 

We might think of the fundamentals of belief--Jesus died for sin; he was raised from the dead, etc. 

But what about fundamentals of practice? What are the fundamentals for practicing daily discipleship? How do you practice the fundamentals in your home? 

Here are four:

• Connecting. Sometimes we think that the life of faith is solitary. “It’s between me and God.” I'm afraid such an idea is unBiblical. Yes, faith is personal--between us and God. I'm not denying this. But it’s never just this, and it's always more than this. The life of faith is triangular. It’s between God, me, and others in my life. Always. All but four books of the Bible were written to communities. Those written to individuals presume that faith is worked out in relationship with others. We can't be a light to the world on our own. Daily discipleship requires connecting--learning, sharing, and growing in faith with others who are close to us.

• Prayer. Prayer is important, no question. It must be a daily activity. Prayer is the language of intimate faith. It's where we stop and listen, when we find rest. Prayer also should be “connecting prayer.” Prayer that gets at the fundamentals of the life of faith is prayer with others. Saying, “I’ll pray for you” is good, but better is, “let’s pray together.” When we practice the fundamental of prayer with others, the orientation of our lives shifts from ourselves to God. 

• Scripture. Christians are a people of the book. The book is not God or the gospel. The book points us to God and the gospel. It's not an answer book or a quick fix to problems and questions. It demands our time and reflection. It tells our story and gives us our history. It's what grounds us in God's story so that we don’t just make God in our own image, or make the gospel into something that just makes our broken human lives more comfortable. Daily reading and reflection keeps our minds and lives in the right story.

•  Picking up the towel and basin. One of the clear themes in the New Testament, if we’re talking about the fundamentals of the life of faith in Christ, is what Jesus did in John 13. He picked up the towel of the slave and the basin of water and bent down to wash his disciples’ feet. Many of you might be thinking, “Oh, he’s talking about servanthood.” Yes. But “servanthood” is overused and it's too vague. He made the point in a very tangible way, rather than just saying "be servants to each other." What he did turned the disciples’ perspective on its head. Jesus put himself in a position where he could go no lower. And then he said a disciple is never greater than the master. If there is one fundamental practice that defines Jesus, it's this. This is the fundamental practice that ties the other three together.

There may be other fundamentals of faith. I am pretty convinced, however, that the bare bones must include these.

The thing with these is that in order for them to have their effect, you and those in your home need to put them into practice. This takes intentionality and time. Doing it in your home might take reordering priorities. Once these become part of your daily practices, however, life and freedom follow.