The Olympics inspire me to discipline in my own life and the lack of discipline reminds me of something I wrote about a month ago. I said I’d get back to it “in a few days.” Sorry about that!

A friend of mine, disciple-maker Mike who now lives in Missouri, called me recently to bemoan the fact that he had five men, leaders in his church, that he was trying to help, and none of them could find the time for a short daily time with God. It’s an example of complacency winning over intention. I’m going to revisit this problem in a few days. Stay tuned. – From Intention? Or Complacency? July 28, 2024

Here are some of the things I shared with Mike:

• “Maybe you’ve got the wrong guys.” Mike had asked the pastor to give him “hungry guys,” but these guys don’t appear hungry.

One who is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet. (Proverbs 27.7 ESV)

If, say, an elite swimming coach told an athlete how many laps to do and at what speed, and the athlete balked, the coach might rightfully conclude, “I don’t have someone who wants to be an elite swimmer.”

The Parable of the Sower clearly speaks to different “soils,” only the last of which bears fruit. (See Mark 4.1 – 20.)

• Maybe the guys haven’t yet gotten past the “drudgery” stage. All disciplines go through “drudgery, discipline, delight.” When we start something, like, for example, an exercise program, it’s sheer drudgery. It hurts. But if we stay with it long enough, we can get to “discipline.” I’ll practice it as a discipline, and I can see the benefits. If we stay with it long enough, we’ll get to “delight.” We wouldn’t want to live without it. Encourage them. Tell them…

You won’t want to do something unless you first did it when you didn’t want to.

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. (Hebrews 12.11, ESV)

There’s more. Stay tuned.