Hard Work & the Amateur Christian

Note, another talk prep post, another long one, bits in red are reminders for me when I actually do the talk, or maybe links, you'll just have to see...

Image by Ian W Scott via Flickr

Colossians 4:12-13 - Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, greets you, always struggling on your behalf in his prayers, that you may stand mature and fully assured in all the will of God.  For I bear him witness that he has worked hard for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.

The people at Light of Life Church in Ormesby have been looking at Colossians for a while so I won't go into detail about the book itself, except to say that I found reading through it this week an encouragement to my faith.  It's a nice length for reading in one go, even if it has some of  Paul's usual slightly hard to follow sentence style!

I haven't been given any particular verses to speak on.  Instead the instruction was, "Talk about whatever you find interesting in Colossians.  If someone else said it last week that's fine!"

Thematically I'd sum Colossians up as being amazing christology; applied spiritual outworkings of the christology; and good practical instructions about how to be, but the people I'm talking too have probably figured that out already after hearing ten talks on this book!  So, I read through trying to listen for what God might want to particularly highlight to me and maybe the people at Light of Life too.  Here's what I meandered into...

Any Given Human
Before getting into anything else, it's worth reminding ourselves of something: the people we read about in Colossians are just everyday people like you and I.  The church wasn't made up of superheroes, and Paul wasn't some imposing giant of a man living in the lap of luxury.  They had problems, pressures, weaknesses and insecurities just like you and I do, so whatever they managed to do we can also do.  Our modern life doesn't excuse or remove us from facing up to challenging things, or from being transformed.  Paul and co were, on average, just as ugly and stupid and inept and focussed and beautiful and clever and talented and distracted as we are.

Is something within you wanting to disagree here?  Do you find yourself thinking of all the 'yes, buts' that you might use to refute that?  [How about some example 'yes, buts' here?] For instance, maybe we'd like to think the Road to Damascas call that Paul received set him apart from the rest of us?  Well, no, and I refer you to my previous entry on weakness here for why not.  So, no whinging or weasling from anyone as we go forward alright?

Tidal Patterns
As I read through Colossians I noticed a current of prayer weaving in and around the general thematic structure of book.  There's a flow of prayer back and forth between Paul and his co-workers and the church at Colossae.  It begins in the third verse, where Paul begins to tell the Colossians how he prays for them, and  as usual he cannot contain himself so just writing about his history of praying for them leads him off into praise of God and further prayer.  This is one of the things I like about Paul by the way, he always seems to me to be someone who gets so enthusiastic about what he's saying that he just can't help himself so he ends up off on tangents before remembering that he was trying to make a point here somewhere!

The next explicit mention of prayer comes in the last chapter of the book, where Paul instructs the Colossians to 'devote [them]selves to prayer, being watchful and thankful'.  In the next couple of verses he asks that they pray for him and his co-workers as they continue to speak about the Gospel to all around them.

The final mention comes in verse 12, when Paul writes about Epaphras.  Epaphras was the person who first preached the Gospel in Colossae (1:7), and probably founded the church there.  Paul tells them that Epaphras prays for them, a lot.

All of this is there to encourage the Colossians.  They are not in this alone, they have the committed support of many others, and they have direct access to God through prayer.  I think there's an example and implication here for all believers though.  This flow back and forth of prayer that Paul describes is a pattern that should be the norm for all of us, but I suspect our current experience doesn't quite match up.
[For instance, how much have we been praying for, and encouraging, Christians of Our Lady of Deliverance in Iraq?  Or closer to home, how much do you pray for the person sitting next to you during the week?]

Hard Work and Struggle, the Believers' Blues

Image via Wikipedia

Personally, I am rubbish at prayer.  I don't do it 'often enough', and when I do I'm easily distracted and don't spend long enough.  I always forget to pray for people, even when there's pretty significant stuff going on for them.  If you're my friend I should probably apologise for praying for you so little!

Somewhere along the line I think I've formed the impression that prayer should be easy.  I think I've decided that if it's not easy, then probably I'm not 'gifted' in it, and maybe it'd be better to leave it to the people who are.  I tend to think of 'those people' as being little old ladies who somehow get the 'prayer gift' on reaching 70!  So, when prayer needs to be done my best plan is, "Quick, find a little old lady!"

Again, apologies if you are a little old lady.

Generally I think it's better and more effective for me to do things I'm good at and excited by, and to encourage others to do the same.  For instance, I don't attempt to do detailed admin tasks at NYFC, because Fliss and Becca are both much better, and actually get excited by that stuff!  I'm pretty convinced by things like Strengthsfinder, and I'm positive that as an organisation we'll do the best work if I create a space for people to be passionate, creative and inventive in their pursuit of our goal.

There's a problem here though.  Epaphras is 'always wrestling in prayer', and Paul vouches for him 'that he is working hard'. That hard work is the prayer.  As an aside, notice in the light of this that Paul is talking about prayer in chapter two as well, when he writes of 'contending' for the Colossians.

It doesn't sound like Paul or Epaphras find praying to be something easy, like falling off a log.  It sounds like it actually requires continuing commitment and effort to keep praying for the church at Colossae.  That can't be right can it?  I mean, if they had to put effort, struggle and hard work into praying in it would mean there was no excuse for us!

Inspiration is for Amateurs
Here's a quote from American artist, Chuck Close:

Image by Mike McCaffrey via Flickr

 '"Inspiration is for amateurs. The rest of us just show up and get to work in the belief that things will grow out of the activity itself and that you will, through work, bump into other possibilities and kick open other doors that you would never dream up if you were just sitting around looking for a great art idea."'

Or, to paraphrase, 'Inspiration is for amateurs, professionals get to work.'

I've been rolling this around my head over the last week or so after hearing it a couple of times in relation to photography (most recently on The Photography Podcast with Ted Forbes and Wade Griffith, check it out).  Chuck Close is a photographer and artist. He is steeped in creativity so maybe at first it seems odd to hear him talking about being professional.  Don't people become artists because they're gifted?  Isn't some like Chuck just born with that creativity?  Shouldn't a 'proper artist' wait for the inspiration and then ride that wave of creativity to it's glorious conclusion?

Chuck doesn't think so.  Chuck thinks sitting around waiting for inspiration to happen is a ticket to mediocrity.  Chuck seems to think that if you're going to call yourself an artist (or let others use that term about you) you better get on with it and work hard, put in effort and commitment.  That can't be right can it?  I mean, if he has to put effort, struggle and hard work into doing good art it would mean there was no excuse for...

Chuck reckons that the way to get better at something is to do it, not to wait to be better at it.

Practice - Art, Skill & Discipline
I wonder if we've lost the idea of practice somewhere?  I was chatting to someone about their son the other day, and the conversation was along the lines of, "He could have done a music degree, but he knew he wouldn't practice enough."  The chap in question is undeniably talented, but even he knows he lacks the discipline of practice that he'd need to complete a music degree.

Perhaps the problem is that we live in such an instant world.  For example, the other day I did in less than five minutes something that would have taken weeks before - I bought Daft Punk's soundtrack for Tron Legacy.  Why would it have taken weeks before?  Well, I bought it on the recommendation of someone I know and like but hardly ever see.  Back in the day if she wanted to recommend that album to me she'd have had to either write or wait until she saw me, but now she tweeted (to the world, not just me) how good it was, I read that a minute later, went (virtually) to a popular online merchant and purchased the mp3 download (for £3.99, bargain), and was listening to the album two minutes later!  Side note - on first play it's not quite as good as I'd hoped for...

Almost everything that I like to purchase can be done that way these days.  The times when I have to actually wait for something are few and far between, and they're mostly for things I know I have to get but am less keen on anyway - things like shoes, necessary but I don't get excited about them.

So, in most of life if I want something to be mine I don't have to put in effort, or patience, I just click and it's done.  That makes me averse to those things which do take time, effort or patience.  It's just such a hassle, so much so that I'll decide to be a content amateur rather than put in the graft most of the time.

The problem is that doesn't work for Christianity, or at least not for healthy Christianity.  Sure, we can just get saved and then slack off, but that's not what Jesus talks about, it's not what Paul talks about, and it's not what brings transformation to the world around us.

Think about one of Paul's most famous metaphors for the Christian life:

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.  Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.  No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Paul compares our life of faith to a marathon, not a sprint.  It's a hard slog of a race which takes hard slogging in training, and the thing for Paul is it's not really about running against others, it's about pushing through to completion.  His competition is against himself.  The picture is not about instant gratification, it's about continuing struggle and effort.  I've been persuaded or inspired or something to take part in a team triathlon this Summer (so look out for sponsorship forms coming your way soon!), which I think means I get to do a 40k cycle ride.  I do not expect to waltz up on the day and just hop on a bike.  I expect that being able to put in that effort on the day is going to require an awful lot of effort before then...

We do live in a world of instant supply, but we can't let that infect our understanding and practice of God's Kingdom.

Anything Worth Having...
... is worth fighting for.

So, atheletes train to win, musicians practice to play beautiful music, artists get up and go to work to produce inspired works.  What about Christians?  What is it that's worth fighting for for us?  What is it that could motivate us to put in the sheer effort I'm talking about?

Well, in the most tangible sense, we can be different.  When I became a Christian I realised that swearing wasn't compatible with what I believed in, so I stopped.  It was pretty hard work to train myself out of that ingrained pattern of behaviour, but I did it by constant effort and having a little conversation with God everytime I caught myself doing it.  Now that's a pretty trivial example, but I think it works for other things too.  How different could we each be if we just put in the effort?  Those areas where we're not so proud of ourselves don't always have to be that way you know.

We can be better than we are.  There was a time when I was a pretty good bass player, whereas now I'm distinctly average (at best).  Back in the day my fingers could do things which would be completely beyond me now, and the difference is not that I've become less musical, or that old age has set in and made my joints not work (hopefully that's a few years off yet!).  The difference is that back then I was doing it a lot, now I don't.  It's the practice.

On the other hand, I was speaking at a camp in the Summer and one of the volunteers said they couldn't imagine being able to stand up in front of a bunch of young people and speak confidently to them.  I'm not phased by doing this anymore, but I was when I hadn't done it much.  What made the difference?  It's the practice.

But to focus back on prayer, Paul and Epaphras prayed, and wanted the church at Colossae to pray, because they knew it was effective.  P&E were encouraged by what they heard about Colossae, and they wanted to do what they could to encourage and help them.  They knew the most effective tool they had, the best 'bang for buck', was prayer.

At this point you might be saying, "Yes, but how?  How do I get from where I am now, to having the capacity to pray like those guys did?"

Well, first remember that we're not talking about mythical beings here, these are ordinary people 'contending' in this way.

Luke 11 is also helpful here I think.  I know the Lord's prayer is often taught as a great outline and systematic structure for prayer, but to be honest I'm not convinced that's really what Jesus did here.  To me it reads more like the disciples asking for prayer instruction because they figure there must be some trick or technique that explains how Jesus is able to pray so much, and how He can do all the other stuff He does.  Jesus' response kind of says, 'no tricks, shortcuts or formulae, there is just these simple truths and the getting on with it.'

So, really, this isn't a talk full of easy and convenient news for you!  That's ok though, because a life of faith isn't supposed to be easy and convenient!  This is a talk that says when it comes down to it being an 'amateur' Christian isn't enough and 'inspiration is for amateurs, professionals get up and get to work'.