April 24, 2023 - Why Practice?

This week I decided to talk about the importance of practice… which to basketball fans of yesteryear probably immediately brings memories of Allen Iverson being drilled in a press conference about missing practice… and immediately the naysayers were slamming him with their commands to “not forsake the assembling” of the team…

First in fairness to Iverson, he had apparently only missed one practice, while averaging over 43 minutes per game that year and playing with a broken hand… and averaged over 41 minutes per game for his career… so it was a bit of a rap on a very hard working player… he used the term practice 20 times in that conference as he was astonished that the reporters were keying on that… and I believe he had a right to be frustrated.

BUT he did make one remark that I would disagree with, when he asked a question of how he could make his teammates better by being at practice… and asked in a way to insinuate that he didn’t practice for that reason. I BELIEVE YOU ABSOLUTELY PRACTICE WITH THE INTENT OF MAKING YOUR TEAMMATES BETTER, NOT JUST YOU GETTING BETTER! PRACTICE IS ABSOLUTELY ABOUT THE TEAM!!!

All of that to say that I believe we spend way too much time viewing church only from the angle of if we, as individuals personally need it at the time… is it making ME stronger? Comforting ME more? Making ME feel better about MYSELF? Or maybe just going because it is commanded or expected of ME…

There’s a whole lot of views of practice/church that put an “I” in “Team”!

Now maybe you are thinking of the command in Hebrews 10:25 that tells us not to “forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some”… so maybe we go to practice/church BUT we ignore the purpose, which can be found surrounding that command to be at practice/church… pay attention to what we are supposed to be doing when we assemble…

24-25 And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, (Sounds like making teammates better!)… …but exhorting one another… (Sounds like making teammates better!)

It is time to stop viewing practice/church about ME but instead focus on WE!!!

It is time to stop patting ourselves on the back for going and instead start going to pat others on the back!!!