With their book Great by Choice, Jim Collins and Morten Hansen ask the question: Why do some companies thrive in times of uncertainty and chaos, while others don’t? They identified what they called “10x Companies,” which are companies that started from a position of vulnerability and rose to become great companies, even though the environment around them was chaotic and volatile. These companies beat their industry index by at least ten times.
Out of 20,000+ companies, they only identified seven 10x companies, one of which was Southwest Airlines. In an extremely uncertain industry, while their competitors were going bankrupt, Southwest managed to chart a course for extraordinary success. Had you invested $10,000 in Southwest stock in 1972, that stock would have been worth $12M in 2002. What is it that sets a company like Southwest apart?
Collins and Hansen call it fanatic discipline, which is defined as consistency of action, driven by self-control. The authors ask you to imagine setting out on foot from San Diego to Maine, and you decide to walk twenty miles every day. Even if the weather’s terrible, you tough it out and make it twenty miles. And even if conditions are ideal, you don’t overreach.
The 20-mile march is a two-sided challenge for companies, and for individuals who want to succeed: on the one hand, there are no excuses to settle for less, even when conditions are bad. On the other hand, when things are going great, and your competitors are out of control, going for 30-miles or 40-miles a day, you have the self-control to not get out over your skis.
When the Apostle Paul wrote his first letter to his young protege Timothy, he offered some sage advice on how to live faithfully in a world that’s out of control. With the kind of year we’re having, Paul’s advice should resonate with us.
“Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly…That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.”
1 Timothy 4:7-10
“Have nothing to do with profane myths and old wives’ tales…” “Profane” just means worldly, unholy. A “myth” is a story people tell each other to have shared experience and solidarity. What are the profane myths of our day? You can probably name a few, or if you’re struggling to come up with some, just check today’s headlines and you’re guaranteed to find some profane myths.
It would be easy to blame the media for perpetuating profane myths, but I blame us because we are the ones who click. We are the ones who watch. We are the ones who crave the next hit piece about the corrupt, filthy-rich opportunistic egomaniac who is running for president against the other corrupt, filthy-rich opportunistic egomaniac that you’re planning to vote for.
Our current culture a recipe for crazy-making, and we are going crazy. Profane myths and old wives’ tales have convinced us we’re not safe enough, young enough, successful enough, attractive enough, or rich enough…and in our insecurity we’re tempted to cave to every impulse – whatever makes us feel better about ourselves, we’ll chase it.
John Wesley, who founded the Methodist movement, once said, “When a man becomes a Christian, he becomes industrious, trustworthy, and prosperous.” Prosperity isn’t the goal of the Christian faith; it’s just what often happens when a person follows Jesus with dogged determination, consistency, and integrity. You wake up before the sun in the morning. You get on your knees and pray. You drink coffee and study the word. You tend to your family. You make a list of things you’re going to do today, people you’re going to bless, and then go do it.
And at the end of the day, when you’re done loving God and tending to your family and serving your church and blessing the city, you go to bed tired. You don’t have the strength to turn on the news. You don’t care what the president did today, or who the next president will be, because you’re bone tired from loving Jesus and his people.
So you call a friend or kiss your wife or play with your kids or read your Bible again, and when your head hits the pillow, you’re out cold, because you went to bed tired.
And then you get up the next day, and you do the exact same thing. And again the next. Even if you’re tired. Even if you have a head cold. Whether you’re a student, an executive, a stay-at-home mom, or even if you’re retired, there’s work to be done.
Paul told Timothy to train himself in godliness. Training for something takes time. Paul said “we toil and struggle.” It took John Wesley 60 years to launch the Methodist movement, and he did it one day at a time.
The author John Ortberg talks about the difference between training and trying. Anyone can try. I can try to play third base like Alex Bregman, but that doesn’t make me Alex Bregman. Do you have any idea how many hours Alex Bregman has spent training every day to become the all-star he is today?
Trying doesn’t get us very far, but training might. The Bible says Jesus began his training in childhood. He sat at the feet of scholars, and he grew in wisdom. Matthew 21:37 says, “Every day Jesus was teaching in the temple, and at night he would go out and spend the night on the Mount of Olives. All the people got up early in the morning to listen to him in the temple.” Jesus was consistent. Determined. Steady. 20 miles a day.
The Christian life is all about training. We’re not just trying to be like Jesus; we’re training to be like Him. We want to be as good at being like Jesus as Bregman is at playing third base. That’s why we get up early and get on our knees in prayer. That’s why we get dressed and come to worship on Sunday. That’s why we study the Bible. That’s why we serve the city. That’s why we work hard to make money so we can write checks that change the world.
That’s why we go to bed tired. Because nothing matters more to us than the whole world knowing Jesus. And the best way for the whole world to know Jesus is for those who bear his name to become more like him. As Paul told Timothy, “We toil and struggle because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people.” Don’t just try to be a good Christian; train to become like Jesus.
Twenty miles. Twenty miles a day. Even when times are tough, go twenty miles a day. Even when you don’t feel anything or hear anything from God when you pray, go twenty miles a day, and no less. Even when things are great, just go twenty miles. When it seems like you could lead every committee and teach every Bible study and coach every soccer team, just go twenty miles, and no more.
Our culture feeds on profane myths and old wives tales, but Jesus is the bread of life and his Gospel is living water. Stop wishing for the world to be different, and start training to be different. Be disciplined. Be diligent. Be steady. For our hope is set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially to those who believe.
