Articles
Just Do It
The well-known Nike slogan has been around awhile, and we have all likely heard it or seen it a hundred or thousand times, but it's a concept that existed long before that company started using it to sell their products. And, as the slogan suggests, there is more benefit in actually doing something than just talking about it or preparing for it. There comes a time when all the talk and preparation must be put to the test and one must get into the arena of life and just do what needs to be done.
For example, a soldier prepares for his particular place in the battle, and may do so for years before actually seeing action; an engineer who monitors a nuclear power plant goes through regular 'practice sessions' of what to do if there should be an equipment failure, possibly for years, without ever having to implement those procedures; a professional athlete practices and exercises and follows a restrictive diet to be able to be in shape and to be mentally and physically ready for the next game, race, or challenge; and, for some who may be reading this, a Christian studies God's word to know how he or she is to live, and to be firmly convicted of the truth and able to teach others.
But all the study in the world does us no good unless and until we implement it. Just as all the batting practice does no good until the batter gets in the box and faces the pitch, all the study in the world does us no good until we apply what we learn to our lives or until we actually get out in the world and start teaching what we have learned. Someone who reads every book there is on the subject of basketball may have lots of knowledge, but he won't change the score of the game simply by knowing everything about the sport. An individual who goes to school for four or six years and gets a degree in education is not a teacher until he or she gets into the classroom and has students who are learning from that individual. A disciple who is diligent in study will make little or no impact on others unless and until he or she gets out and starts sharing that knowledge with others.
But this is true about many aspects of our spiritual life. Words without action are seldom, if ever, the mark of an influential person, and it is no less true in spiritual matters. For today, let us consider some things relating to our spiritual lives where we must go beyond talk, beyond study, and beyond learning, and we must become people of action.
Becoming A Christian. Many people will never become a Christian, and for various reasons; some never get around to acting on what they know, others deny the existence of God and a final Judgment or such things as heaven and hell, and others will simply follow what they have been taught all their lives, in spite of what they read within the Scriptures. Some hesitate, thinking they cannot ever become a Christian because they don't think they can live a perfect life afterwards.
Well, welcome to humanity! None of us have and none of us ever will! Becoming a Christian is not a matter of living a perfect life, but a matter of living a life where, when we fail, we seek — and obtain — forgiveness. Those who refuse to believe in Christ will die in their sins (cf. John 8:24), and since waiting until you think you can live a sinless life really isn't going to change anything, don't put off what you know you need to do. Just do it!
Becoming A Better Disciple. The aim of every disciple should be to become more like Christ every day (cf. Eph. 4:13-15), and we've all got a long way to go before we measure up to Him! Sometimes, that lack of attaining to His example and, sometimes, the failure on our part to answer every temptation is discouraging to the point we think about giving up, or at least consider scaling back our expectations and lowering the goal, so to speak. Sometimes, it seems like "we've tried that before" and failed or the goal looks beyond our reach, so we do what we sometimes do when we want to go on a diet to lose weight: we never start.
Delaying the start will not help us achieve that goal, and I'm sure you already know that. But we keep putting it off. Ironically, we keep putting off putting off “[our] former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts,” so we can “be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and…put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:22-24), so we never seem to make any progress, all the while telling ourselves it's just not possible.
Friends and brethren, just because we will never measure up to Christ [that's already a given, since we have all sinned, Rom. 3:23] doesn't mean we don't have Him as our constant goal. If you haven't started to do the things you need to do to make that happen, now is the time. Just do it!
Teaching The Lost. As we may know, a servant of the Lord [i.e., a Christian] is to be “able to teach” so he or she might teach and correct “those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will” (2 Tim. 2:24-26). Now, you might argue, "I don't know how," or, "I don't know what to do," and that may truly be the case if you're a recent convert yourself; but if you've been a Christian for more than a year and you still don't know how or what to do, may I ask: "What are you doing about it?" You can only use that excuse for so long and only so many times before it becomes just that: an excuse. What are you doing about it?
Since this is an inherent responsibility of every disciple, churches should be equipping the saints for this important work [again, Eph. 4:11-16 addresses this] and, if the church is not doing that, then that needs to be corrected, too. Elders, teachers, and preachers should be providing the information and instruction to help every disciple become a teacher of the lost, and every disciple must acknowledge it as their responsibility. If you never learn, you will never do it, and what will you say to the Lord on Judgment Day?
And there comes a time, too, when you have learned enough to go out and do it, but more excuses arise as to why we "can't" when, in reality, we are really saying, "I don't want to." This is where we need to learn how to get used to hearing "No" and accept the reality that not all will be saved or even want to be saved, but that is not our job; our job is to teach, so just do it!
Loving The Unlovable. One of the most difficult commands for disciples must be that of the Lord when He said, “love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matt. 5:44), but, after all our excuses and all our hemming and hawing, it's still right there in our Bibles. It's not going away, either.
Instead of playing the part of a toddler and excusing ourselves by saying, "Well, he did this or that!" and never ever finding a way to love them, bless them, do good to them, or to pray for them, we need to just stop, take a deep breath, and just do what Jesus said we must, so the world will see Christ living in us and glorify God.
Just do it! — Steven Harper
