Practice Makes Really Good!

The theme at this year’s Congress on Evangelism is the “Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations.” I spent yesterday in dynamic worship celebrations, attending workshops and lectures which focused on the first two of the five practices: Radical Hospitality and Passionate Worship. In each of these workshops, the main points were nearly identical…the church must strive for excellence (Makes sense, Christ gave his all for us, should we give any less for him?) if we are to succeed and we must practice if we are to succeed. Bishop Schnase even pointed out rationale for our practice. His illustration was that little league ball players practice the basics constantly: throwing, hitting, running, catching fly balls…then he referenced professional major league ball players who are at the top of their game and make millions of dollars, they practice constantly by throwing, hitting, running, catching fly balls. Some things we never get so good at that we don’t need to refine our methods. It’s the same for churches and the practices of hospitality, worship, faith development, mission and generosity. We may be good at one, or even a few, but we should never think we’re good enough that we don’t need to hone our talents. After all, as John Wesley proclaimed, we are on the road to perfection; we have not yet arrived.