We Are What We Repeatedly Do (Bot9 #298)
Baptism is one of those events which sends you into reflection. Whether you are being baptized, in the crowd witnessing the baptism, or taking the person under and back up out of the water, the act causes one to reflect. We were blessed with the opportunity to baptize a number of our young people on the baseball field this past week. Having done this with our players a few times now, I found myself reflecting on this one a little differently.
People often misattribute a quote to Aristotle which says, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” It turns out that this thought actually came from 20th-century author Will Durant who was bringing two separate thoughts from Aristotle together to create this oft-used quote. One of those two thoughts from Aristotle was this:
“As it is not one swallow or a fine day that makes a spring, so it is not one day or a short time that makes a man blessed and happy.” — Aristotle
Being able to participate in the baptism of another person is one of the great honors of my life. In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus tells His followers to, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” When you have the opportunity to live this out, to bring other people into the same joy you’ve experienced through baptism and a life of following Jesus, the reflection becomes a culmination like Aristotle references.
It’s not a single conversation that leads a person to Christ. It’s not a single practice. It’s not a single game. It’s not a single moment in time. So many people today believe they’ll be happy once they achieve a certain thing. They’ll be happy once they get their college scholarship. They’ll be happy once they get paid to play sports. They’ll be happy once they get their dream job. But it’s not. It’s an environment and an atmosphere. It’s the day to day and being the same from day to day. It’s the relationships built over time, specifically with Jesus and also with other people which leads one’s heart to claim Christ as their Lord through baptism.
If we are called to “make disciples of all nations,” ask yourself about the environment and atmosphere you are creating in the relationships with the people nearest to you. These might be your family relationships and your work relationships for the adults, and the relationships with your teammates and friends for young athletes. How do people react to you? Are they drawn to something inside of you that points them to Jesus dwelling in you? I think when we can start answering “yes” to that question, we’ll see more people choose to follow Christ in our midst. He is the only one worth following and we need Him dwelling in us to create an atmosphere that might lead someone to baptism. Only then will we be able to help people understand eternal blessing and happiness.