257: Eric McKelvie - Exhortation: 1% Marginal Gains

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1. 0:13

   Welcome to good Chris Selfian talks. I’m Levi. And I’m Chris. And I’m Brian. Thank you for joining us this week on this podcast. We select one talk a week to help us get the Bible in our Daily News feed. We post a new episode at the start of each week. With a short intro beforehand to kind of set the stage for the talk you’re about to listen to. And now, let’s talk more about this week’s talk. Welcome to the good Chris Adelphian Talks Podcast. This is Brother Brian.

2. 0:55

   This week’s talk is an exhortation by brother Eric Mckelvey. Which was given last month at the Moorestown ecclesia here in New Jersey. His ex are was entitled 1% marginal gains. And it borrows from the true story of the British National Cycling team, which I guess was like the laughingstock of the bicycle world, and how they hired a coach who implemented this 1% rule. In order to improve every facet or every overlooked advantage that they could possibly try.

3. 1:31

   They’ve evidently won numerous Olympics and Tour de France awards in recent years, and the the true story is incredible. And Brother Eric suggests taking this method and applying it to our spiritual lives, recognizing first that yes. No, we cannot earn our salvation by works. It’s a gift of grace. But that we would greatly benefit from thinking about God as our coach and a coach who wants us to succeed, and then following the example of Christ, our true champion, looking at his accomplishments from a spiritual strategy of consistent improvement and recognizing that for ourselves this is not possible.

4. 2:21

   In these massive, unattainable leaps and bounds, like, I’m just not overnight going to be able to get rid of some of the things that plague me, but I can start implementing these tiny little habits that over time will add up. So the idea is mastering any tiny advantage you can on a week by week basis to improve just ever so slightly the mastering of these spiritual habits. Is what will better prepare ourselves to be workers and builders for our God and His Kingdom. The 1% gains methodology and the true story behind it was very memorable and it translates so well to our daily walk that we recognized it’s not a Sprint, it’s a marathon and our Heavenly Father knows we will stumble and we’re going to have setbacks. But if we implement this rule, it’s these points of repeatable structure that will help us to gain control of a pace that will keep us at the front of the pack, seeking to fill our time and fill our minds with the good works of our Lord. So as always, we hope this strengthens your faith and brightens your day, Brother Eric Mckelvey. 1% marginal gains. Good morning.

5. 3:54

   How are you? It’s kind of a funny question to ask to a group of people you don’t expect a response from. But we are commanded to examine yourselves when you come before the the bread in the wine. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the wine.

6. 4:10

   So how are you thinking of myself? I know that I need improvement. There are plenty of areas in my life which I am lacking in. I can be covetous, materialistic. I know I need to control my tongue as I can say foolish things at time times. I spend too much time with worldly activities that lead me away from God and 100 other areas of fault.

7. 4:42

   Often times when we when we. Look at where we are and how much we need to improve. It can be intimidating. For instance, if you want to improve yourself by learning a language, it can seem like a mountain of work to take on. This can scare people away and deter them from even starting.

8. 5:05

   There is, however, a concept called the 1% marginal gains rule, and this is the concept of aiming to improve yourself. By only 1% each day, and these tiny changes will compound and generate massive growth over time. It might not seem like much in the beginning, but each day these improvements start to compound on each other and gradually you will see the effect that these changes have on your life, even if you only learn a couple new words in this language each day. Over time this would add up.

9. 5:43

   If one improves just 1% each day, then after a year they would be 37 times more proficient at the task or goal which they were performing. So in the spirit of the Tour de France which just finished up, I’d like to tell the story of the British Cycling team. And this story was highlighted in the in the book Atomic Habits, which some of you may have heard, heard of, or read, and in this book the author.

10. 6:11

    Writes that in 2003 the British Cycling team hired a coach named Dave Brailsford and at the time, professional cyclists in Great Britain had endured nearly 100 years of mediocrity. Since 1908, British riders had won just a single gold medal at the Olympic Games and they had fared even worse in the cycling’s biggest race, the Tour de France.

11. 6:39

    In 110 years, no British cyclist had ever won the event. In fact, the performance of the British team had been so underwhelming that one of the top bike manufacturers in Europe refused to sell bikes to them because they were afraid that it would hurt their image and hurt their sales if other professionals saw the Brits using their gear.

12. 7:01

    So this guy Brailsford had been hired to the British team to put them on a new trajectory. And what made him different from previous coaches was his relentless commitment to a strategy called the aggregation of marginal gains, or the marginal gains rule, which was the philosophy of searching for mighty, mighty, tiny margins of improvement in everything that you do. And he said that the whole principle came from the idea that if you break everything down, everything that goes into riding a bike and then improve it by 1%. You will get significant increase when you put them all together, so Brailsford and his coaches began making these small adjustments that you might expect from a professional cycling team.

13. 7:51

    They redesigned the bike seats to make them more comfortable, and they rubbed alcohol in the tires for better grip. They asked riders to wear electrically heated shorts to maintain ideal muscle temperature while riding.

14. 8:07

    They tested various fabrics in a wind tunnel and had their outdoor riders switched to indoor racing suits, which proved to be lighter and more aerodynamic.

15. 8:19

    But they also continue to find 1% improvements in overlooked and unexpected areas. They tested different types of massage gels to see which one led to the fastest muscle recovery. They hired a surgeon to teach each rider how to properly wash their hands. To reduce the chances of catching a cold, they determined the type of pillow and mattress that led to the best night’s sleep for each rider. And they even painted the inside of the the team’s truck white, which helped them spot little little bits of dust that would normally slip unnoticed but could degrade the performance of the finely tuned bikes over time. So as these hundreds of small changes and improvements accumulated, the results came faster than anyone could have imagined.

16. 9:10

    Just five years after Brailsford took over, the British Cycling team dominated the road and track cycling events at 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, where they won 60% of the gold medals. And four years later the Olympic Games came to London. The Brits raised the bar as they set 9 Olympic records and seven world records. That same year this guy, Bradley Wiggins, became the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France. And then next year his teammate won the race and would go on to win again in 2015, sixteen and 17, giving the British Team 5 Tour de France victories in six years. So this is clearly a pretty good powerful method of self improvement and it’s easy enough to take on as the changes which are asked of you are minor if they need to be consistent and continual.

17. 10:09

    While you may find a serious benefit through this method in your your work or your school performance, the real value to us as believers. Lies in its application to our spiritual lives. We realize that no matter how much we improve ourselves in something like controlling or suppressing covetousness, we cannot earn salvation. There’s no winning the Tour de France of covetousness.

18. 10:38

    No matter how little we covet or how well we control our tongues, we cannot earn a place in God’s Kingdom. It is a gift by God’s grace that he will bestow upon his Saints. Roman 6 tells us from our reading this morning. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. So all we can earn in our lives is death, but Ephesians 2 tells us.

19. 11:10

    But God, who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith you loved us. Even when we were dead and sins hath quickened us together with Christ by grace you are saved. So we’ll keep that in mind that we cannot earn salvation. But that does not mean that we should stop improving ourselves.

20. 11:32

    Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound, God forbid. So how do we apply this technique to improve ourselves before God? And I think it only makes sense that we look to the only man to to live this ideal. If we copied the ways in which Christ dealt with temptation, the ways in which he dealt with opposition and malice from those around him, we would benefit our own characters greatly.

21. 12:06

    So the biggest thing which the British Cycling team did was to hire a new coach. This new coach required these changes of them. Changes which pushed them to to change how they lived and change how they prepared and recovered from races. And likewise, in looking at Christ’s life we see that he had a coach in his Heavenly Father.

22. 12:31

    Christ followed every word which his Father instructed him from a youth. He was always about his Father’s business. God trained him up from a boy, and Jesus did not depart from his way. Jesus, as it says in Luke chapter 2, increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. And this was not due to his own wisdom.

23. 12:55

    For we know that in our nature of which Jesus shared dwelleth no good thing in the Messianic Psalm 16 in the Rsvs is protect me, oh God, for in you I take refuge. I say to Yahwah, you are my Lord. I have no good apart from you. Christ drew in wisdom and stature because he meditated daily upon God’s instructions and his principles. A Psalm which certainly has application to Christ’s life, is Psalm 119, also quoted this morning, or says in verse 10. With my whole heart I have sought thee. Let me not wander from thy commandments, Thy Word. Have I hidden my heart?

24. 13:41

    That I might not sin against thee, Blessed art thou or Yahweh, teach me thy statutes. With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth. I have rejoiced in the way of Thy testimonies, as much as in all riches. I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto Thy way.

25. 14:02

    I will delight myself in Thy statutes. I will not forget thy word. Though this was written by David, it was also Christ’s mindset and seemingly applies directly to him. When we become a disciple of Christ, we take, we take on God as our coach as well. God said to his people in Isaiah chapter 41.

26. 14:32

    Fear not, for I’m with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your elohim, your mighty one. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Our God is the ideal coach. He encourages us and reminds us that we are not alone on our walk. He will never leave us nor forsake us. Though we may be weak, our strength comes from God, who is mighty.

27. 15:03

    We also know from First Corinthians 10 that God is faithful. And he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide a way of escape that you may be able to endure it. So God as our coach pushes us to perform and endure, yet he knows our limits and will not push us past them.

28. 15:26

    And I find it helpful to think of God in this, in this light. As a coach, he wants us to succeed and will help us to do so. Strengthening us and pushing us, though never beyond our limits, Christ as our forerunner, an example, showed us the level to which we need to respect and meditate upon God’s precepts. With his whole heart he sought him and delighted in his statutes, and he grew to know the Scriptures so well. That we are told in John Chapter 7, the Jews marveled, saying how knoweth this man letters having never learned. Jesus never had any formal training, he didn’t train at the feet of any famous rabbi, and he taught with authority and knew the scriptures better than any of them. And this came from time and effort in the word Christ’s answer to their question.

29. 16:29

    How knoweth this man letters comes in the next verse in John Seven. My doctrine or teaching is not mine but his that sent me. Christ only learned what God had left for us through the scriptures. There were some divine and angelic ministrations for sure, but he learned scriptures just like any of us by putting in the time and effort to read and study.

30. 16:56

    This is how he grew in wisdom and in stature with God and man. And this is how we, too, learn from our God how to live in a way which is pleasing unto him. So let U.S. Open Scripture every day to learn from it, and learn from Christ’s example, as God instructed Joshua.

31. 17:18

    This book of the law shall not depart from thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night. That thou mayst observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

32. 17:40

    One of the techniques which people suggest when teaching self improvement is to surround yourself with likeminded individuals. If you’re learning a language, then you might join a study group. If you are training for the Tour de France, you probably join a cycling team. Christ used this technique as well. If you’re training, sorry.

33. 18:03

    Though he was their teacher, Jesus gained the strength from his 12 disciples. We may remember the account in the garden of Gethsemite when Jesus asked his disciples to watch and pray and they left him alone and fell asleep. And we may think of this and how they let him down. And think that they did not bring him strength.

34. 18:25

    Yet I don’t think that’s true. I think that Christ’s love for his disciples, these men, is evident throughout the gospels. And though they let him down on that occasion in Gassem, and he greatly benefited from having a group of friends surrounding him, people can do hard things when they are prompted by love.

35. 18:47

    A love of exercise can prompt people to wake up early before work and go for a run. A love of knowledge can push people to work hard in school to become scientists, and the love one feels from another person can be even stronger. People all over the world go to jobs that they hate every day for years in order to support their family.

36. 19:11

    There are single parents that work multiple jobs to put their kid through college. People can do hard things when they’re prompted by love. And I think that the the love Christ felt for his disciples and from his disciples was a great strength unto him and enabled him to carry on. When he was being scorned by the chief priests and rabbis, or when he was rejected by those he grew up with in his hometown of Nazareth, Christ was kept sharp. By the love of his friends, as Proverbs tells us, as iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

37. 20:01

    And in John 15 we read of Jesus’s love for his disciples, his friends. This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love hath no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends. If you do what I command, you no longer do.

38. 20:25

    I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing, But I have called you friends. For all that I have heard from my father, I’ve made known to you. Christ showed how great His love was through His sacrifice, not just for His 12 disciples, but for all of us. Also, the love that we feel when we interact with our brothers and sisters can have a great positive effect on our lives. And this is one of the reasons for the establishment of ecclesias, that we may sharpen each other and encourage each other in love.

39. 21:09

    When one person is going through an ordeal, another can show love and hospitality and uplift that brother or sister. When one is dealing with grief, often the company of loved ones brings warmth and comfort when an issue arises that we may not know how to handle. Others in the ecclesia may have experience in that area and may be able to greatly assist.

40. 21:40

    So I encourage all those watching virtually those who are able to attend to do so, Some we haven’t seen for years. This world is tough, but it’s made easier by the company of your friends, especially those who share your beliefs and can strengthen you and encourage you to endure.

41. 22:04

    Even Christ needed his friends, so it’s important for all of us to meet together regularly that we may be strengthened and uplifted. Another tip which is often given to those looking to improve themselves is to practice mindfulness or to meditate. Meditation can give you give you a sense of calm or peace that can benefit both your emotional well-being and your overall health, including lowering stress or anxiety or even blood pressure.

42. 22:41

    And this time of self reflection can have a powerful effect on your mental health, leaving behind harmful memories or habits, managing impulses, or resolving conflicts.

43. 22:57

    And this idea involves setting time apart to reflect upon yourself. One was put down their phone and turn off the TV and think about how you’re doing, where you’re going in life, how you are progressing. It’s a time to consider the hard things which are still yet to come and those which are still ongoing.

44. 23:22

    It’s also a time to remember the things you have which you have to be grateful for. Practicing gratitude or thankfulness is a great way to improve yourself.

45. 23:37

    Imagine the impact self reflection and meditation can have when we then take the issues that we are trying to leave behind. When we recognize bad habits, we must leave behind and we bring them to God. When we ask for God’s help to accomplish the hard thing we must do or keep doing in prayer, if you think about it, is a form of meditation from which we gain those mental health benefits.

46. 24:08

    But prayer is also communication with the creator of the universe, who has the the power to carry out those requests. And Christ knew this obviously and spent hours at a time in communication with his father. Christ told the parable of the persistent widow in Luke 18 to teach his disciples to pray.

47. 24:34

    So Luke 18 starting at verse one, actually verse two, there was in a certain city, there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected man, and there was a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, give me justice against my adversary. For a while he refused, but afterward he said to himself, Though I neither fear God nor respect man yet, because this widow keeps bothering me, I will give her justice so that she will not beat me down by her continual coming. And the Lord said, hear what the unrighteous judge says. And will not God give justice to his elect who cried to him day and night?

48. 25:28

    Will he delay long over them? I tell you he will give justice to them speedily. Christ told this parable to his disciples, as it says in verse one, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart. Let us learn from Jesus the importance of prayer. Christ spent hours at a time in prayer.

49. 25:54

    He would often go apart from his disciples in order to pray. We read in Matthew 14, after feeding the 5000 people, that when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray. In Mark 14 in the garden of Gethsemane, we’re told they came to a place which was named Gethsemane, and he saith to his disciples, Sit ye here while I shall pray? And then in verse 37 he cometh and findeth them sleeping, and saith under Peter Simon, Sleepest thou couldest thou not watch?

50. 26:28

    One hour. Then he goes away again. And a third time, probably at least another hour each time. So he’s in prayer for hours here in communication with his father and in Luke 6 we’re told it came to pass. In those days he went out into a mountain to pray and continued all night in prayer to God. So Christ’s example to us shows that prayer needs to be a part of our day.

51. 27:01

    Often times I will utter a 32nd prayer before bed, called a night. And that’s fine. We know of many quick prayers throughout Scripture. Even the Lord’s Prayer only takes 30 seconds to say. But I think it’s also important that we set aside time for deeper conversations with our Father. Not lengthy for the sake of feeling pious or proud, but meaningful and sincere. Prayers are something which Christ showed us are important. It’s important not only so that we may make requests of our Father, but so that we may build our relationship with our Father.

52. 27:46

    Now I would like to cover one last piece of advice which people suggest when when describing how to improve yourself, and that is to set goals for yourself.

53. 28:01

    When learning a language, maybe you set the goal of being able to converse with a native speaker in a year’s time. Setting goals for yourself is very helpful way of keeping yourself accountable and staying consistent. If you have nothing to strive for, no reason to continue pushing yourself, then at any point at which you grow tired you may just give up. But if you have something important to keep pushing for, keep working towards, then you cannot give up. It gives you a reason to persevere when you have tough days.

54. 28:38

    And Christ knew this as well. Christ had spent so much time in the Word and in communication with his Father. He knew all the prophecies about himself, and his goal was to fulfill them. And, for instance, he knew that he was to begin his ministry in Galilee. Matthew 4 says that he departed from Nazareth and went into Galilee, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken by Isaiah. And so he began his ministry.

55. 29:07

    And from that time Jesus began to preach and to say, repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus knew the prophecy in Zechariah 9 about the Messiah, where it says, rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion, Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem, Behold thy king cometh unto thee. He is just in having salvation lowly and riding upon an ass and upon a cult the full of an ass. In this picture of meekness, that lowliness was fulfilled literally by Christ in Matthew 21 and tells us in verse 4 all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet.

56. 29:49

    Jesus knew the prophecies about himself, and his goal was to fulfill them all. And on one hand, having so many prophecies about him, Christ may have felt some enormous, enormous pressure to fulfill them. Some were fulfilled by happenstance, things like his lineage and where he would be born. Yet others he had to make sure to fulfill.

57. 30:16

    And there are hundreds of Old Testament prophecies about him, so we would have felt this weighing pressure to fulfill them. Yet on the other hand, I think maybe all these prophecies also would be a blessing unto him, acting as a guide for him, acting almost like a blueprint for his life, as if God was guiding him, holding his hand throughout his life, never leaving him alone.

58. 30:47

    So Christ had the blessing of his Father’s guidance throughout his life, and perhaps this gave him the strength to and to face the cross, which he knew he had to do from Leviticus. Christ knew that he was to be sacrificed for the life of a creature is in the blood, and I’ve given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar.

59. 31:08

    It is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Christ was the Passover lamb who had no defect. He knew he must be lifted up on the cross, John Three tells us. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

60. 31:38

    Christ was able to live this perfect life, and was able to endure the cross, because he had his eyes fixed on his goal, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfector of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand, the throne of God.

61. 32:04

    Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. So let us look to Jesus for our example on how to endure, to not give up or grow weary. The goal of being here there in the Kingdom with Him should keep us awake and active in the Word.

62. 32:33

    There are still prophecies which Christ has not fulfilled, and you can bet He’s looking forward to fulfilling them, such as Psalm 9. The Lord shall endure forever. He hath prepared his throne for judgment. He shall judge the world in righteousness. He shall minister judgment to the people in uprightness. The Lord will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee. For thou Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. So let us not forsake our God or His Son, but rather focus on the joys set before us so that we may not grow faint hearted until that time comes.

63. 33:25

    Let us remember the sacrifice which our Messiah has made for us and continue to walk humbly before our God. If we just try to make these small changes, they will add up one day. They will add up to you and I reigning as kings and priests with our Savior in His Kingdom.

64. 33:59

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65. 34:14

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66. 34:54

    Thank you for listening. God bless and talk to you next week.