Trying vs. Training

Last night as I was shuttling my kids back and forth across town, I happened to catch John Ortberg on the radio talking about his book, The Life You’ve Always Wanted. I’ve read the book at least three times and would definitely recommend it.

Last night Ortberg stressed the difference between trying and training--the single most helpful principle he knows in developing your spiritual life. Think of it this way: most of us could not go out and run a marathon this weekend just by trying. No matter how motivated and no matter how hard we try, most of us simply don’t have the capacity right now to run the 26+ miles of a marathon. However, the great majority of us could develop the capacity to run a marathon if we began to train, starting with short jogs and building up our stamina bit by bit.

For Ortberg, understanding the difference between trying and training turned the notion of becoming more like Jesus from a pretty much unattainable goal to a concrete, tangible possibility. He realized he needed to take small steps. Faithfully practiced, these small steps would help him ultimately achieve what he could not yet do by his own direct efforts.

Training is what we are doing when we practice our February habits. These habits are not rules written out in the Bible that we must follow. Nor are they the end goal or the finish line of the Christian faith. They are just helpful devices to increase our capacity to speak to and hear from God. Most of us say we want to feel closer to God or to be more Christ-like, just like we say we want to run a marathon (or at least have enough energy to get off the couch and run around the block). The catch is, most of us need to go into training to achieve these goals.

Ironically, as I was listening to Ortberg talk about training last night I was picking up my daughter from play practice and running my son over to lacrosse practice. Wednesday nights are easy—on Thursdays I pick my daughter up from play practice, take her directly to basketball practice and then race home to take my son to hockey practice. (And in between all these activities we sandwich another kind of practice—homework.) Why do parents make themselves crazy with practices? We do it to help our kids develop the capacity to excel at—or at least enjoy--particular sports and arts. Think about the dangers of a bunch of 10-year-old boys running around with hockey or lacrosse sticks and no training whatsoever. Even worse, think about the agony of watching a bunch of preteens put on a play for which they have not practiced!

Without the frequent training in small doses that these practices represent, kids are directionless on the field and on the stage. They have little chance of scoring a goal, defending against opponents or giving a star performance. Similarly, without establishing some sort of practice or training routine, you and I have little chance of developing further our capacities for a richer and more abundant spiritual life, for defending against the enemy or shining like stars in the universe as Philippians 2:15 claims we can do.

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. 1 Corinthians 9:25