the decathlon:
10 Challenges to Get You and Your Small Group Out of a Rut
“We all need that extra push and the challenge of something to aim for to get us to do what we know we ought to do but can’t do on our own (Dawson Trotman).”
Book Studies are ineffective
Guys let’s be honest: Books don’t change us. We can read a electrifying book about spiritual discipline and yet still press snooze on the alarm to skip a quiet time. We can plod through a majestic account of the holiness of God and yet fidget like a toddler in the midst of Sunday worship. Transformation requires more than downloading the thoughts of an intelligent writer. Lasting change demands doing, not just just thinking, completing assignments, not just sitting relaxed in an armchair or listening to podcasts on the commute home.
Stop staring at a map and start walking down a trail
We have a choice: we can either sit back and observe the Christian life like a coach-potato watching an action film, or we can hop on the path of discipleship and get moving. The purpose of the decathlon is to jump-start hearts and get feet moving in the direction of spiritual growth. This 10 event, 40 week challenge, will get you and your band of brothers out of the rut of drinking coffee at Cracker Barrel and onto the daring road of following Christ.
Success will be measured by appetite. If at the end of this program you walk away with a painful hunger to know God and advance toward godliness, mission accomplished. We make no empty promises about ‘graduating spiritual leaders’ or ‘producing reproducers.’ The decathlon is for amateurs, not all-stars. 40 weeks might sound like a lot to some guys. It’s not. The most that can be accomplished in this time is to whet the appetite by enabling men to taste the kinds of long-term disciplines that condition lasting growth.
If you are a guy who hungers and thirsts to grow into a man of God, but who feels lost and confused about the way forward, this is for you.
“It is our duty and our privilege to exhaust our lives for Jesus. We are not to be living specimens of men in fine preservation, but living sacrifices, whose lot is to be consumed; we are to spend and to be spent (Spurgeon). ”
The Itinerary
Month 1 - memorize the greatest hymn ever written, ‘When I Survey’, by Isaac Watts
Month 2 - read John Bunyan’s classic road-map of the Christian life, Pilgrim’s Progress (in modern English)
Month 3 - learn how to study the Bible by studying Paul’s letter to the Philippians
Month 4 - get a taste for meditating on God’s Word by memorizing the first eight verses from the Navigator’s Topical Memory System
Month 5 - realign the trajectory of your life by drafting a Christian life plan
Month 6 - gain perspective on the modern world by reading Neil Postman’s prophetic book, Amusing Ourselves to Death
Month 7 - establish a simple routine of starting and ending your day in prayer
Month 8 - learn how to detach from life and enjoy quiet communion with God
Month 9 - build spiritual friendship by asking/answering tough questions
Month 10 - help another Christian get out of a spiritual rut
“Our salvation cost Christ blood; it will cost us sweat (Thomas Watson).”
Am I willing to make the commitment?
If you are interested in the decathlon, but wavering about whether or not to make the commitment, listen to this talk by Joe Barnard, ‘Do You Want to Be a Mighty Man of God?’
I’m in! Take me to Orientation.
Easy Is Ineffective