I was at tennis practice and had just begun to warm up one afternoon after school during my senior year. My coach was standing in his usual spot, just outside the fence, watching us as we got started. Back and forth we hit the ball, slow at first to loosen up our muscles and then picking the pace up a little more. A few balls were hit outside the lines and a couple over the fence, as usual. I had just retrieved a couple of balls from the back court, when my friend John slammed a practice serve at me. I walked casually over to the return shot and hit the ball after it bounced a couple of times. In tennis, one of the most common rules is to hit the ball only on the first bounce. After a second bounce, the point goes to the opponent in a match. But it was just practice, right? No big deal. Or so I thought."Kampe!", yelled my coach in his bellowing voice. I turned around quickly, wondering what I did wrong. "What, Coach?", I responded. He quickly shot back, "What the Hell are you doing!?" I remember being a little agitated because I was embarrassed for being yelled at, especially not knowing what I did wrong. "Coach, what did I do!", I said, raising my voice a little now. "What do you mean, Kampe! Do you need to go back to junior varsity!? Do we need to review the basic rules of tennis?", he yelled, voice still bellowing across the courts. I dropped my racket, raised my hands and shoulders up and then put my hands on my hips. "What, coach! What did I do!", I yelled back mimicking his same bellowing tone. Did I mention that I was a junior John McEnroe when I was in high school and was kicked off more than a few tennis courts for yelling? In fact, I think I was kicked off the tennis team 3 times in one season.
"You hit the ball after two bounces, Kampe!", he responded. What an idiot, I thought! We're warming up, genius! So, I responded in my signature sarcastic voice, "It's just practice, coach!" I picked up my racket. He lowered his voice in a condescending manner, "Oh, I see. It's just practice. And practice makes perfect, right?" "Yeah, coach!", I said. What's your point, I thought. "No!", he yelled, continuing with his bellowing voice with everyone now watching and listening. "PERFECT practice makes perfect! If you make stupid mistakes in practice, you'll make them in a match!" I got the point, but thought he was an idiot.
What does this have to do with facilitating a Life Group? Well, in Matthew 5:48, Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." What does it mean to be perfect? And how are we supposed to accomplish perfection when so much of the Bible tells us that we will never be perfect? I think that in many ways, this life that we journey through is practice for the big match. Knowing full well that on this side of Heaven we will never be perfect (See Romans 3:10, James 3:2, 1 John 1:8 & Philippians 3:12), I think Christ's words are geared more toward our attempts at perfection, rather than perfection itself.
As you begin wrapping up your 8 weeks as a new Life Group, remember these words and focus on finishing strong. Maybe this blog would have been more appropriate in the beginning, but I hope that you looked at your Life Group as not just practice for the "real thing", but saw this time as an opportunity to be the best you can. You took a step of faith in becoming a facilitator, and I can imagine that it would have been easy to hit a few balls on the second or third bounce. Whether you are facilitating a new Life Group or washing dishes, strive for perfection. And for all you do in this life, may all your practices in this imperfect world be an attempt at perfection!
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