Grace meets you where you are, but doesn't intend to leave you there.
When I was in high school I played and lettered on the high school golf team. I was the 5th man of the 5 man rotation. Sometimes I got to play 4, but mostly I was a 5. I enjoyed playing golf a lot. That's probably due in some way to my natural aptitude. While I wasn't really ever a good golfer, I was a better golfer than just about anything else I was doing in my young life. I had some success at it, and that success boosted my self-esteem, and so I continued to play.
What I didn't do was work at it very hard.
When I had developed a certain level of skill I kind of plateaued. I played well enough to make the team, and that was good enough. I was offered a scholarship to play golf in college and I jumped at it. In college I worked at my game a little more, because the competition was greater, and I developed more skills. Still, I wasn't the hardest worker. Succeeding at a high level requires a high level of work, and I just couldn't force myself to stand on the range and hit golf balls for two hours every single day. I reached a peak and stayed about there.
The development of faith, a spiritual life, and biblical study skills require the same commitment and work that becoming an outstanding golfer require. For most of us though, we develop our faith and our spiritual disciplines to a certain level, and then we plateau and just live there. We get comfortable enough with the Bible. We go to church regularly enough. We find our comfort level, and there we stay until the day the Lord calls us home.
Finding one's faith, when one has become plateaued requires a commitment and some movement. First, we have to come to a decision that we are not satisfied with things as they currently are. Grace meets us where we are, but it doesn't intend to leave us there. That moment of deciding to practice faith in a deeper way could come through the mentoring of another person, through reading something that finally sends the water over the dam, by a difficult health moment. The decision to move is a big one. What to do next?
Second, we look for trusted sources to help us pursue our spiritual quest. Again, this could be a mentor, or a pastor, or a book. We look for trusted sources because in a world where everything is possible, there are every possible ways of looking at scripture, faith, and becoming the person God is calling us to be. We need, as Dr. Paul Jones of Transylvania University calls it, an accurate "crap detector." One way to work toward that, in my estimation, is to assume always that God tends towards creativity and love. If you are being taught otherwise, time to stop and look for a different source.
Third, we need to put in the work; the practice. We need to get ourselves out to the driving range of spiritual development and hit a bucket of balls every single day. Read the Bible. Read trusted sources. Meet with people who are looking to deepen their spiritual lives. Attend worship MORE REGULARLY. Practice. Practice. Practice.
Or you can just stay where you are. Remote control in hand. In the recliner. Comfortable with the faith you have, watching reruns.
Grace meets you where you are, but it doesn't intend to leave you there.
If you start the process of growth and skill development in faith and you have a little success, good! It will add a little wind to your sails, so keep going. Practice is what brings us closer to the Perfect.
Peace and Love,
Jerry
Excellent analogy. And I did't know you were a college golfer. All the best.
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