Practice Makes Perfect

TITLE: PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

SCRIPTURE: II PETER 1:5-10

Anyone who has ever achieved at a really high level knows that there is no substitute for practice. Sure, we've all heard stories of exceptionally gifted people who are able to master a subject or discipline on their first introduction to it. But those kinds of people are the exceptions and not the norm. For most, mastery takes hard work. The best writers and thinkers and players and workers and musicians are often referred to as those who put the most time in –

• "He was the first one in and the last one to leave"

• "Nobody worked harder than she did"

After he examined what makes successful people successful, Malcolm Gladwell suggested it takes roughly ten thousand hours to become an expert in your field.

• Ten thousand hours!

• Basically, five years of full-time work according to the American workweek

• In other words, Practice

• Doing the same thing over and over and over again

• That's how you get good

• That's how you grow

The question here is this -- does this translate to Christian discipleship and to the Christian life?

• Is it possible to get better at showing Mercy?

• To grow in Generosity?

• To become more Loving?

• To be a better Neighbor?

And, if yes, is growth in these areas related to practice? Put another way, is the Christian life like everything else in life? Is it a matter of putting in the hours or giving ourselves over and over and over again to the discipline of cultivating a virtuous life? Is it possible for us to say to someone who manifests an astonishing amount of generosity, "That's the most generous thing I've ever seen," only to hear from them, "You know, the more generous I am the more generous I become."

I believe the answer to these questions is Yes. The Apostle Peter certainly was very comfortable speaking about practice as tending toward growth in Christian discipleship. The more we give ourselves over to those things that are good and right and true and beautiful and lovely, the more they take root in us and shape us. In a strange way, we become them by doing them.

• The more we give ourselves over to the virtues of the Christian life

• The more we practice the ethics of the kingdom of God

• The more those virtues and ethics will take root in us

• The more they will shape us

• The more they make us into the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, the One who was perfect in every way

God has called us to add things to our faith, in some ways, like the TV Cooking Shows where bakers add flavors and textures to a basic recipe, to develop or enhance our lives of faith.

In this text this morning, we find the ingredients God wants us to add to our foundation of Christian faith. The recipients of the letter are described only in general terms. They are those who have received a faith as precious as ours. The faith we enjoy, is the same type of faith enjoyed by the Apostles. And look how Peter describes its source! –

• A “PRECIOUS FAITH”

• The word is rendered as “Precious” in the KJV and NIV

• The NASB renders it as a faith “of the same kind” as ours

• In a clear declaration of the deity of Jesus, Peter says our faith comes from our God and Savior - who is Jesus Christ

As Simon Peter neared the end of his physical life, false teachers were attempting to draw Christians away from the faith by promoting false doctrines. Now, because this is an age-old problem – false teaching - false teachers - false prophets - false doctrines - heresies and all – because it is a constant problem, in every age, then, God has had His spiritual consumer protection advocates. God has always had those men and women who are around for the purpose of speaking His truth – whether it be –

• A faithful mother who speaks truth to her children

• A faithful father who speaks truth to his family

• Whether it be a Prophet

• Whether it be a Priest

• Whether it be a King

• Whether it be a Judge

• Whether it be some significant person within the framework of Israel, an elder of the nation

• Whoever it might be

• Or whether it be an Apostle

• Or a New Testament Prophet

• Or a pastor, or a Teacher

• Or an Elder

• Or a Deacon

• Or whoever it might be

• There are always those whose calling seems to be to warn about the deceivers and their deception