Michael Phelps won his sixth gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics today. It’s a physical feat to be sure but it may be even more of a ‘mental tour de force’. Great athletes like Phelps, Michael Jordan, and Tiger Woods seem to rise to the challenge and they savour not just beating you physically, but dominating you mentally. They ‘whip’ opponents with nerves of steel and uber-performance under the most demanding situations.
It’s got me wondering, what is it that makes Michael Phelps and other 'Great Ones' so mentally tough?
What makes it so that the more intense the pressure the more likely it is that they’ll squeeze out the sweet wine of victory?
Is it innate or can it be learned? Were they simply gifted by God not only physically, but mentally? Or, are we all created equal they’ve just had the right mental conditioning coaches surrounding them to make them especially tough competitors.
As a Christ follower I’m intrigued as one who has not been very mentally tough at times and have often caved under pressure because of mental lapses – either forgetting the ‘big dream’ that would discipline my practice & performance or simply having a ‘brain fart’ that causes me to lapse into under-performance. The ‘Great Ones’ seem to rise higher the more intense the pressure, where, in embarrassingly dark contrast, I have often caved as the pressure mounts. So, I wanna know what I can learn from the ‘Great Ones’ about how to rise with the pressure – about how to get better the tougher it gets. I want to know how to max out success when the going gets tough. And, then more than just ‘knowing’ with my head I want to accomplish more with my actions via my head, heart & body. I want to rise with the ‘Great Ones’ of the faith like Paul, Peter, David, Enoch, and even, THE GREAT ONE—Jesus, the Christ!
If I can find some of the common denominators among ‘The Great Ones’ then perhaps I can emulate their success. Perhaps I can rise higher as the pressure builds and the heat rises…
So, I’m on a quest as I watch the 2008 Olympians—especially Michael Phelps. My quest, to become more like the ‘great ones.’
I’m pretty sure that most of us ‘mere mortals' have similar wishes as we watch ‘The Great Ones’ – we hope to rise higher in the future as we face the challenges of life.
We hope that when the boss offers us a chance for a new, more demanding position that we can rise to meet the challenge.
We pray that when the ‘Big Test Day’ comes that our heads will clear and we’ll see clearly which answer is the right one and we’ll ace that test and bag the prize.
We wonder if we can stand the pressure of mounting bills, rising energy costs, and larger grocery bills and wonder if we can rise to the challenge of simply paying the bills and keeping our homes.
We may struggle with an area of life that seems to strip us of the title of ‘Christ follower’ over and over again and wonder if we can ever take the gold in the struggle against a familiar sin-filled pattern that taunts us from atop the ‘winner’s podium’.
We may simply be trying to make life work and wonder if we’ll ever win. We wonder if we were simply born to lose, while ‘The Great Ones’ were simply born to win. We wonder if there’s some magic way to pray or some passage of Scripture committed to memory that would secure the victory.
From a pure genetic code/DNA standpoint we are separated from other humans by the tiniest of code changes. To the untrained observer the code changes might seem so tiny that we have a hard time justifying the variations in human performance. In our pure potential most of us are over 99% alike, but in our performance we are separated by the distance between a Gold Medallion wearer and a person who can’t swim at all. So, what gives…why the performance gap?
I believe that all of life is ‘spiritual’ and therefore, all success & failure have their origins in the spiritual (unseen) realm. Even more unseen that slight code changes in the molecules that comprise our DNA is the Spiritual Life Force granted to us by God. But, it’s this invisible force that allows some to rise while others fail. This ‘spiritual difference’ makes all the difference in the world.
And, now Spirituality is a matter of the heart – the ‘control center’ for our behavior. But, as humans, our hearts & our ‘heads’ (more specifically—our brains) are linked through a super-highway of spiritual connectedness. And, so the question becomes which is more important for a Christ follower to become one of the ‘Great Ones’? Does it begin with the heart or the head? How can we condition ourselves spiritually to be one of the ‘Great Ones’? It's both -- the heart & head in conjunction that connect with God so that we can also become a 'Great One'.
Let me start with Theology 101 to help answer the question and it begins way back in the early chapters of Genesis where God is established as the ‘SOURCE’ of life – all things were made by Him and nothing that was made was made without him. All of life finds its origin and sustenance in the will & breath of God. So, to begin our quest is to roll the clock back and return to our ‘source’ of life—to acknowledge that who we are is a gift from Him. It is He who made us and not we ourselves.
The second bit of theology to know is that ‘every good and perfect gift’ comes from above – from God. To know at a deep level that what we have is ‘given’ and not earned is the beginning of letting ourselves be loved as broken ones -- underachievers in the grand scheme of things, but loved wildly and with reckless abandon by the designer/Creator God.
Now, we can relax and know that it’s not just about our ‘performance’ and that we are not only loved because we ‘perform well’ but because we are ‘created ones’ born with a dream wired into us from the heart of God Himself. Now we can draw courage to live out of our best gifts and highest dreams and play with our whole hearts – knowing that we’re loved no matter what – Gold, Silver, Bronze or even failing to finish. The pressure is ‘off’ when we know that no matter what we’re still gonna be okay and we’re still gonna be loved in a magnificent way. Knowing that the sun will still rise and laughter will return no matter what -- we can face the challenge ahead with our pulse clicking along smoothly and our efforts put forth in a relaxed, yet impassioned, manner so as to win the prize, but not like ones racing alone, but like ones powered through the wake from the invisible gravitational forces of God Himself. So, as we realize that source & provision is LOVE – and remember that God IS ‘LOVE’—we can keep our hearts calmed down to compete under pressure that would squash those trying to race alone.
The ‘Great Ones’ have their brains filled to the overflow with ‘proper thinking’ and ‘visualization’ about the race set before them. They have practiced the race so many times that their bodies know what to do instinctively—they have learned with their whole body –not just with their head—what it takes to race their best race. They have marinated their minds and basted their brains with images of perfect races swam and flawless performances given. They have trained their brains by marinating them with visions, practice sessions, ‘game film’, proper coaching, and proper self-talk. They have ‘programmed’ their brain to win and to override the whining of their body so they can push past normal human quitting points—they press on to win the prize when others would quit.
They are mentally tough because they are spiritually conditioned.
I think the ‘great ones’ know the secret of ‘The Kabob’!
A great kabob has meat that has been been grilled to perfection – it outperforms other delicacies. But, it’s not just the ‘grilling’ when the heat rises and the ‘great ones’ rise to meet the challenge –it’s what happens to the meat prior to the grilling that prepares it for the heat. It’s the marinating of the meat – the soaking in spicy, savory seasonings that tenderizes it and allows it to grill up so good!
It’s what happens before the grill is ever turned on that makes a great kabob. It’s the succulent seasonings that fill the meat with juicy success that allows it to stand on the top tier of success.
It’s the ‘marinade’ AND time in the sauce that prepares the meat to meet the test of the flame and so it is with ‘The Great Ones’ – athletes and Christ followers – it’s the marinade. It’s what they’re immersing their brain and heart in that makes em ready for the heat. It’s what allows them to squeeze out the sweet wine of victory when they are squeezed.
It’s a lot like what Jesus said to His follower in John 15 about ‘abiding’ in HIM so that they could bear much fruit – aka, ‘WIN the GOLD’! (which, by the way, He said, was God’s will for the ‘abider’!) Hang onto the vine because it is ‘source’ and ‘sustainer’ and ‘provider’ of the life giving marinade that produces the sweet wine of victory.
Marinading our brains in scripture can help us abide better. Scripture, when used as a way to connect with God intimately is a vital ingredient that leads to succulent success in producing great & abundant fruits of righteousness.
Scripture intake through Bible Study, memorization, small group sessions, and big box worship experiences is all good when it’s seen as a pathway to intimacy with God. It looses it’s marinating effect and ability to produce the wine of success when it is treated like a stand-alone religious effort where we’re trying to get God to love us more or trying to pry success from His hands by meeting some concocted ‘religious formula’.
So, with that said, let’s build a marinade that will soak your brain and marinade your mind so that as the heat in your life rises you’ll rise to meet the challenge and the sweet wine of victory will flow through you to inspire those watching from the grand-stands of life.
The rule of using scripture properly in ‘brain training’ for a would be ‘High Performance Christ follower’ Is that it’s a tool to bring us into a full-on abiding abundant intimate connection with God. The moment the use of scripture misses the mark of moving us into intimacy with God we have lost it’s usefulness—the salt has lost it’s saltiness and becomes worthless at accomplishing it’s intended effect.
Psalm 119:11 sums it up – I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
Let me rephrase this in the present context….”I have marinading my mind and soaked my heart in what you’ve spoken through scripture so that I can live in a full-on connection with you.’ And, it’s in this full-on scripture aided connectivity that we enjoy the fruits of a victorious ‘Great One’ in the Kingdom of God. We move to the medal podium most of the time, often taking the ‘gold’ in the events that God has called us to participate in, because we shift from being self-powered to being ‘God-Powered’, from being self-controlled to being under His Command. We move from powering up to produce victory to abiding so that the sweet wine of success flows from our efforts.
Marinading our minds in the Word of God can be done in a lot of ways…we can brush on the marinade by hearing the Word of God or we can inject the marinade deep into our minds by memorizing scripture. We can immerse our hearts in the word by deep personal Bible study and we can learn from others in the context of a Life Transformation Group. (aka, ‘small group’) All of these ways of marinading our minds can lead to increased intimacy with God that leads to an ‘abiding’ that produces incredible fruit in the life of a Christ follower.
So, today, I’m wondering if we could all agree to be a lot more like a great kabob and marinade our hearts & minds so that when the heat is on we’ll succeed in accomplishing the task. We’ll win the race, take the prize and stand on the medal podium time after time.
Very practically I’m suggesting that you try one of the following for the next 21 days…. (this is a copy of some coaching notes from one of the worship experiences at Phos Hilaron Church in July 2008 done as part of the High Performance Living Series so where it says things about a ‘Life Transformation Group, LXG, just replace that with ‘Small Group Leader’ or ‘Sunday School Teacher’ etc depending on your personal context). In light of the idea of ‘marinating our minds’ with Scripture I’d especially ask you to consider doing either #1 or 2 or even both would be great.
10 Training Tools that will propel you toward your Spiritual Life Dream:
1. Audio Bible = download or purchase an ‘Illustrated’ Audio Bible – one that has cool sound effects and great narration and listen for at least 20 minutes a day.
2. Memorize the following 5 passages of Scripture from the book of Philippians: 1:6, 2:3-4, 2:5-11, 2:13-16, 3:10-14
3. Buy the new Chris Tomlin ‘Double Take’ CD and put it on your personal listening device and work out with that music 3 times a week.
4. Find a buddy and go do something fun, but take at least 30 minutes to discuss you spiritual life dreams & goals and then pray for each other.
5. Get with the Life Transformation Group leader from your Middle School Zone and discuss your spiritual life plan. (see Jeff for contact info about your leader)
6. Catch up with an old Spiritual Mentor and just chat about what you’re learning and ask them for what book they’d recommend you read or listen to—then do it!
7. Purchase ‘The Purpose Driven Life’ by Rick Warren and read a section a day.
8. Pick up a nice blank journal or keep a journal on your computer of your prayers and what God seems to be doing in relation to your prayers.
9. Notebook your way though a personal study of the Life of Jesus by ‘consuming ’ & ‘marinating your brain’ in the book of Mark.
10. Heavy Lifting = Read ‘Renovation of the Heart’ by Dallas Willard devotionally –that is, take it a bit at a time and make notes (journal/blog) about what you’re learning ‘OR’ do the same thing with a great book that’s not as tough by John Piper called ‘Desiring God’.
If you desire to be one of ‘The Great Ones’ with a fired up deeply intimate relationship with God who consistently rises to the challenge then I’d suggest you make like a good kabob and marinade your mind so you can produce the sweet wine of success when the heat is on! And, it won’t be the juice of memorized Bible verses that brings the wine of victory…rather it will be a by-product of scripture marination—the deep abiding presence of Christ Himself that produces the wine of victory!
You, too, can be one of the ‘Great Ones’ if you’ll marinade your mind as a tool for an abundant abiding relationship with God.
To learn more you might consider marinading your brain in John 15:1-8. In this powerful parable lies the crux of becoming a ‘world-class’ medal winner in the Olympics of Life.
Go baste your brain!
Jeff Fuson
p.s. I owe a debt of gratitude to David Nasser who I heard speak about the concept of ‘marination’ when he was doing his ‘Call to Die’ tour about 8 years ago. He wrote a powerful book with 40 days of meditations called ‘A call to Die’ that can serve as a great training tool for those ready to marinade their minds on the path to producing the sweet wine of victory—the by-product of abiding…. I think you may have to order the book directly from him at www.davidnasser.com
Jeff Fuson serves as Point Leader for Phos Hilaron Church near Louisville Kentucky. Jeff's # 1 passion is being a husband and daddy. A close second is seeing people grow spiritually. As a Professional Speaker Jeff also serves as a Keynote Speaker & Trainer crafting & delivering high impact keynote addresses & training events for Entrepreneurs, Banks, Credit Unions, and small to medium sized non-profit & for profit enterprises. He's got one incredible wife and 3 awesome children.
The Life Purpose Guy -- helping Entrepreneurial Christ Followers Bring Good Things to Life
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