Practicing Christianity
When I was young I took piano lessons on and off for about three years. My parents finally gave up and stopped the lessons because I didn’t practice often enough to make it worthwhile. I wasn’t enjoying it. As I grew older I continued to play piano on occasion. Eventually I learned how to play what is known as Chord Piano. You don’t try to read the music that was written for the left hand. You play the melody with the right hand and chords with the left. It is an adequate substitution but it is way short of really being an accomplished pianist.
Given my somewhat negative experience with practice it is not surprising that I have mixed feelings when it comes to the phrase “practicing Christianity.” It connotes going through the motions but not “doing the real thing.” However, reflecting again on my piano example I can see some positive effects of practicing anything. Great performances don’t happen by accident. Concert pianists don’t practice less than amateurs. They practice more.
If you’re not a musician take sports as another example. Olympic athletes practice eight or ten hours a day for four years to compete for a few minutes of excellence. This is where we get close to the Bible when talking about practice. St. Paul compares the Christian life to runners in the arena.
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.” I Corinthians 9:24-25
Christianity, it is said, is more a relationship than a religion. We practice religious habits and rituals. We commune with God. However, it is the religious practices of daily prayer, Bible Study and meditation, weekly worship in church, tithing, serving, etc. that keep us in a frame of mind conducive to a positive relationship with God.
The pitfall of religious practice is the temptation to make it the ends instead of the means towards a relationship with God. On the other hand if we skip church, slack off in our Bible study, and only pray when we’re in trouble, our relationship with God will be as weak as a couch potato in front of a blank TV screen.
Our relationship with God takes as much or more practice as does our relationship with anyone else. John McDowell noted Youth Minister says teens spell love TIME. You can’t schedule meaningful communication it happens while you are spending time doing other things. The same is true with our relationship with God. He may burst into our lives in dramatic ways from time to time. However, if you want to have a real relationship with Him you have to be in the habit (practice) of regular communication (worship, prayer, service, study etc.)
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