Sticky Faith

Most of you that know me, know march madness is my favorite time of the year.  I enjoy watching basketball at any level and particularly following a player or team throughout a season.  One of the things I have always believed, no matter what level, is that a player should go out of a program better than he/she came into it.  And while much of that responsibility is given to coaches to make the player better, the individual must have the discipline, desire and strong work ethic to obtain improvement as well.

John Wesley, the founder of Methodism preached often  about going toward perfection.  Vince Lombardi, a great football coach, once said "perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence along the way."  Once again, while others may support and encourage you on this path to perfection, ultimately you have to make it happen.

When we think about @sticky faith, I believe the same principles hold true in spirituality as athletics.  I firmly believe after significant milestones such as baptism, receiving Bibles, confirmation, graduation, that a Christian should leave that program with a greater faith foundation than when they came in.  And while the church can guide this development and parents can and should  nurture a child, the responsibility for increasing in wisdom and love is on the student.  A disciplined prayer life, faithful participation, cheerful giving, sacrificial service and  living out loud in a way that witnesses to your faith is mandatory.  It is not optional regardless how many excuses you might offer to God.  If you want a faith that sticks beyond any program, you must be willing to practice.  The season of lent is about spiritual discipline.  March madness is about discipline. My favorite definition of discipline is "doing what you don't want to do now, so you can do what you want to do later. ". You have to work at your basketball skills or your spiritual tools now, so later they will be solid fundamentally.

So enjoy tournament time and look for those athletes who have finally achieved their one shining moment.  In addition, pay attention everyone.    Are you leaving this program, this worship, this place, this community, more spirit-filled than when you came in?  Do you practice your vows daily?  Do you seek perfection, in order to experience excellence? Are you waiting on someone else to make faith happen or will you work at it yourself.  It's not rocket science.  You know what you need to do, so just do it!