Introduction
In January 2019, Russian pianist Elisey Mysin, dressed in a black tuxedo, strode onto the stage of a concert hall in Moscow, smiled confidently at the audience that had packed the hall, and sat down on the piano bench. He took a few moments to adjust it for height and distance to the instrument, rested his hands above the keys, and nodded to the conductor.
The orchestra began to play and soon Mysin was coaxing magic out of the grand piano, playing the challenging “Piano Concerto No. 3 in D Major” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who composed the three-movement concerto when he was only 11 years old.
Mysin played without music, typical of professional, classical pianists, and played, according to one critic, in a way that showcased “his incredible sense of style and interpretation.”
At the end of his performance, Mysin received a huge standing ovation, bouquets of flowers and demands for an encore. So he played another piece, and again received the adoration of the music-lovers who had crowded into the venue to see and hear the virtuoso.
He then walked off the stage, and into the arms of his mother, who took him home, where she read him a story and tucked him into bed. Mysin, at the time, was 8 years old.
But if you think that’s great, consider Anna Ji-Eun Lee, who had her debut as a violinist when she performed Paganini’s “Violin Concerto No. 1” with the Singapore Symphony Orchestra. She was 6 years old.
These are just two of many stories of child prodigies whose expertise and virtuosity astounds and amazes. But did you know it’s possible that you too could have this kind of success and achievement as well?
In his book “Outliers”, bestselling author Malcom Gladwell popularized the “10,000-hour rule” suggesting that expertise, world-class success and virtuosity can be achieved simply by practicing a specific task for 10,000 hours. That means if you spent 20 hours a week doing this, you could reach success after about 10 years, and make it to Carnegie Hall—or the like.
Now Gladwell does qualify this theory with certain caveats, explaining the 10,000-hour rule doesn’t always apply to every musician or athlete, confessing, “I could play chess for 100 years and I’ll never be a grandmaster. The point is simply that natural ability requires a huge investment of time in order to be made manifest.” The point Gladwell is emphasizing is about how natural ability, along with repetition, focus, intentionality, and sacrifice can bring about greater and greater success.
And while Malcom Gladwell has developed this theory in our modern day, the Apostle Paul knew this long ago, and we see this when Paul says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God— what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
Move 1
There is so much going on in this text, and the first among it all is Paul’s call for sacrifice. Now it’s important to know that for Paul’s original audience this call for sacrifice evokes what was then a well-known image: the shedding of blood on a particular altar, set aside for sacrificial purposes. The blood of a lamb, calf, or bull was shed for the atonement of sins. This practice was routine in the lives of the Hebrews for millennia. The ritual details are still available to us in the first five books of the Old Testament. Getting sins atoned for, was, literally, a bloody mess, and it customarily involved a death.
So Paul’s readers understood the point he was making was that followers of Jesus (who was regarded as the “Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world”) need to be “all-in”. But Paul doesn’t just say our lives should be an “all-in” sacrifice, where we bleed out on the altar of Christian service. Rather, he suggests, in a sort of oxymoronic way, that we present ourselves as living sacrifices, that is, sacrifices that do not die.
Child prodigies are examples of this. They are all in, and their lives are given entirely to their music, their sport, their craft. They do not surrender their lives; they offer their lives. They live for it. It is their life.
And so it is for Paul. And so it should be for Christians. We’re called to be “all-in” followers of Christ. To die— by being alive to what these verses call our “spiritual worship.” And the way we are “all-in” to our “spiritual worship” is, according to Paul, by not being conformed to this world, but rather be transformed by the renewing of our minds—which will lead us to discern; to figure out, what is the will of God for our lives. This is what Paul is calling for—an “all-in” Christianity where we sacrifice—we let go of— the ways and expectations of this world, and set our minds on what is God’s will. Because God’s will is always good, acceptable, and perfect, and it is always what the world needs.
Move 2
Paul’s words “the renewing of your minds” is enthralling to me because “mindfulness” and one’s “mindset” are very trendy topics right now in popular culture and self-help psychology. Again, Paul is way ahead of the class.
Stanford psychology professor Carol Dweck, speaking about these trendy topics, theorizes there are two types of mindful mindsets: 1. the growth mindset and 2. the fixed mindset. She says, “The growth-mindset thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of unintelligence but as a heartening springboard for growth and for stretching our existing abilities. A fixed-mindset assumes our character, intelligence, and creative ability are static givens which we can’t change in any meaningful way.
This theory might have some merit to it, but I would venture to add that the Apostle Paul suggests a third mindset: the transformative mindset. The transformative mindset is an attitude that has a passion for improvement, for radical metamorphosis, it has an unwillingness to accept old habits and status quo thinking. Paul’s transformative mindset is a turbo-charged version of Dweck’s growth-mindset. It understands that the purpose of growth is transformation.
For Paul, enacting and living our faith begins with our mindset—a mindset focused on the ways of Christ which becomes an extraordinary, unusual, unconventional and non-conformist way of life. For followers of Jesus, transformation is where it’s at, what it’s all about—the “it” being the abundant life to which Jesus has called us.
Paul— whose life would ultimately bleed out in Rome as an actual sacrifice, not just a metaphorical one— implores us to have the same “mind” that was in Christ Jesus. For when we have such—through all-in Christianity that includes self-denial, humility, serving others and seeking the success of others—this transformative mindset can turn the world upside down. And Paul was helping set-up and equip the group that would do this transformative work through an “all-in” transformative Christianity. And that group is called the Church.
Move 3
So how do we do this? How are we to be “all-in” Christians—how do we become an “all-in” church, with a transformative mindset?
Well how does a violinist or a pianist or anyone get to Carnegie Hall? Practice, of course. And some natural ability too. Both of which many of us would say we don’t have. We don’t have time to practice, we don’t have any natural ability. But we would be wrong to think such.
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Malcolm Gladwell concedes that natural ability is a factor in world-class success, however, Gladwell contends that what distinguishes many prodigies is not only their natural talent, but their ability to practice in the right way.
Pianists know when they need to practice left hand octave arpeggios; tennis players know when and how to work on their baseline topspin backhand strokes. Practice for prodigies is not haphazard—it is a joining of natural ability with practice.
And that is Paul’s all-in Christian strategy. “We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness” Paul is telling us, we have “natural” ability. We have the mind and nature of Christ already instilled in us.
Now natural ability, as Malcom Gladwell says, does require a huge investment of time in order to be made manifest. And that can be overwhelming in our already over booked lives. But what we need to remember is that the practice of all-in Christians is done every time we share compassion and kindness and love. It’s done every time we invite someone to church, even if it’s live streaming. It’s done every time we lifte another in prayer.
Those ways, and others we know and do, are how we are “all-in” Christians, an “all-in” church. Therefore, when we take this nature of Christ—that is already in us— put it into practice in our daily lives, this becomes the transformative mindset, the relentless practicing in the right way, our spiritual worship, our way of life.
Conclusion
The past six months have not been what any of us have wanted or expected. And we don’t know what the next six months will bring. But all of what has been, and all that will be, is nonetheless transformative. Nothing will ever be the same.
And though much is out of our control, we are still in control of the renewing of our minds, we are still in control of our spiritual worship; we are still the ones who get to choose how, and what, we will sacrifice. And most importantly, we are still in control of how we will be the church and all-in Christians.
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Today is Welcome Sunday—the beginning of a new year in the life of the church—and God only knows what will come. But what we do know is we are still the church, still followers of Christ.
So how will we bless the world? How will our “audience” be thrilled at the virtuosity of our transformative ministry? How will we serve Jesus in our church, our community, among our friends, neighbors, co-workers, the lost and needy, the lowly and downcast? How will we be church?
When we make our choices, when we choose to take control of what we can control, when we live an “all-in” Christianity, then we offer the transformation the world needs. It is a mindset, a practice, a sacrifice, a spiritual worship that is good, acceptable, and perfect. And it is how all-in Christians, and all-in churches, help make God’s will be done. May we make it so in this new year in the life of the church. Amen.
Pastoral Prayer, September 13, 2020 Welcome Sunday
Gracious God, your servant Paul knew what the world would need. He knew it in his day, and he knew it would be the same in our day. He knew the world would need people who were all-in followers of Jesus; people and churches that are all in for that which reconciles and connects people to you.
It is our prayer to be those kinds of people, to be that kind of church. It is our prayer to be those who are living sacrifices—willing to give up the ways of this world that too often is entrenched in greed and self-centeredness, and live as those who are counter to that way of life by living lives that put others above self, that serve others with our gifts and natural ability instilled in us by you. It is our prayer to be those people, and church, that is holy and acceptable to you, so that your will is made manifest in this world.
This is what we want to be, for you and for others. But we admit it is hard to make a reality—especially in light of all that is happening around us and within us.
So we pray you help us. Help us to believe your nature is within us already. Help us know there is time enough, even in our busy lives, to be all-in to you and your will. Help us be convinced this is our spiritual worship that can be lived out in each moment of everyday, and that when we do so, transformation comes. It comes to us, and others. And it makes the world a better place.
So on this Welcome Sunday, that steps us off into a new year in the life of the church that yes, this practice of being all-in and focusing on the right kind of practice and committing ourselves to this kind of service will be difficult. It will mean sacrifice; some sweat and blood may be involved. But that in doing so you make us into those people and church we want to be. That you make possible what we believe to be impossible.
In this new year, through our lives and through your church, may your will be done. Amen