There is No Shortcut for Becoming More Like Jesus

Brandon Payne learned the hard way that practice doesn’t always make perfect. Brandon was a skilled basketball player in high school who believed he was going to be a star player when he arrived at Wingate University. But Brandon ran into a problem.

 

When Brandon competed at a higher level, he discovered that his training was inadequate for real-game scenarios. He was a sharpshooter known for swishing free throws and draining three-pointers…unless he was guarded. 

 

He quickly washed out as a basketball player but pivoted to coaching and training individual players. He developed a practice routine that included both the monotony of the fundamentals along with passion for real-time performance. Although he couldn’t subtract the pain from drills, he found a way to add pleasure to the process. “I wanted to create a system to make sure no players would fall victim to what I created for myself,” Brandon reflects (Hidden Potential, 96). He found a way to build the scaffolding to help athletes reach their potential by harnessing their love of the game.

 

Adam Grant writes that Brandon set up a training center for basketball players in 2009. He crossed paths with a young NBA player who was told by scouts that he lacked the size, strength, and athleticism to play at a high level. In the first full season of Brandon’s training, this player set the NBA record for most three-pointers made. A few years later, he was named the NBA’s most valuable player in back-to-back seasons. His name is Stephen Curry (ibid., 97).

 

After I read that story, I started thinking about the Christian life. I practice spiritual disciplines of reading and meditating on Scripture, praying, and (sometimes) fasting. And yet, I often feel that I’m trapped in the rut of routine rather than thriving with a passion for following Jesus. 

 

How can we make our spiritual practices more like Brandon’s training program? How can we harness our love for Jesus with the fundamentals of spiritual growth? 

 

First, accept the fact that hard work is hard work. There is no shortcut to becoming an NBA great, and there is no shortcut to becoming more like Jesus. Brandon learned that you can’t stop practicing, but you can re-imagine how you practice. Think through your spiritual disciplines and re-imagine what they could look like. If you are a music lover, try including worship music while you’re reading your Bible. If you love nature or exercise, take walks while you pray. If you are a people person, have your devotional time at a coffee shop. Bring your passions and personality into the practice of your spiritual rhythms. But remember that spiritual growth is still hard work. The question is, How can you make your “heart” work more inspirational hard work?

 

Second, be consistent. My problem over the years is that I have the “start-stop syndrome.” I start a new practice, and then I stop. Then I start something else, and then I stop again. This can become an endless cycle leading to spiritual cement. It’s been said before that you are what you repeatedly do. Craig Groeschel once wrote, “Successful people do consistently what other people do occasionally.” 

 

Don’t turn your routine into a rut, but don’t stop routinely praying and reading your Bible because you’re afraid it will become a rut. My old professor, Dr. Bob Wetzel, used to say, “I kiss my wife every day, but it’s still not a boring routine.” 

 

Start small, go slow, and stay steady. And at the end of the day, you will be one step closer to growing “in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18).