A Biblical Take on "Best Practice"

 I'm going to let a bee fly out of my bonnet just now, so brace yourself.

The term 'Best Practice' annoys me. It annoys me A LOT.

It has burned me. I've used it myself; I've had it promoted to me. I've seen it in research, in literature, in pseudo-guru-speak jargon. And now I think I finally have the courage to push back.

Hang On a minute!! Isn't 'Best Practice' automatically, by its very literal nature, completely warranted as acceptable? Doesn't everyone want to follow 'Best Practice' in every situation?

Actually, No. No, we don't. And I'll tell you why.

Because it's arrogant, proud, assuming, and lacking in nuance. It lacks a 'here and now' understanding of things.

Sure, there's probably times where 'best practice' is helpful. If you are a clinician of some sort, and following a static experimental process; if you are a professional whose work is to follow exacting procedures, fine, go ahead, and consult 'best practice' outlines. Follow that. But please, PLEASE, don't assume some document out there with 'peer-reviewed-data-research-based-best-outcomes-practice' is the end-all be-all of wisdom.

Because you know what? Best Practices can BURN. They can burn people. They can burn institutions. 

Here's why: it removes the need for on the ground discernment. You know what's not 'best practice'? To go to war and cull your soldiers from 32,000 men down to 300 men. I can just imagine Gideon consulting his 'Best Practice Guide for Fighting in War' and telling God, 'You can't be serious! You want me to cull my men down to 300?! That's not Best Practice!!' 

The idea of 'best practice' appeals particularly to those with a need for perfection. But doesn't God want us to strive for perfection?  I can almost hear the rebuttals begin. Yes, to some degree. But maybe we need reminding that perfection is only found in Christ, not in our manuals of peer-reviewed-researched-outcome-based-evidence-proved-data-analysis-formulated-best-practice. Scripture is full of stories of times where God seemed to act in ways contrary to the best peer-reviewed data out there! 

You know what's not 'best practice'? When Daniel refused to eat and drink from the royal feasts and turned down meat to eat only veggies. You need protein to build muscle! But he discerned a different practice and went with that.

You know what's not best practice? To pray in public when the king says only praying to his statue is allowed. You know what's not best practice? To preach in the public square in the name of Jesus when they're gonna haul you away and throw you in prison!

You know what's not best practice? To choose 12 rag-tag, mostly uneducated, average guys to revolutionize the world. 

I daresay, this idea of best practice is rooted in human pride and a deep desire for certainty in outcomes. There's nothing wrong with wanting the best for all situations. But God didn't hand us a manual of best practices. He hands us a book full of stories that incline us to understand that the best practice we can shoot for is unswerving, undying loyalty and trust in our sovereign King, to guide us into a moment by moment understanding of His good will. And sometimes that guidance will show us things that make no sense to us. It may fly in the face of every 'best practice' out there. And so be it. My loyalty isn't to any manual of best practices; my loyalty rests with the Lover of my soul, the King of Kings.

No, I daresay the best practice, spiritually speaking, is unwavering, bold, daring trust in Almighty God. 

That's best practice.

 But it's harder than reading endless manuals. It's harder than implementing a strategic plan. It's harder, scarier, more uncertain, and forces me to seek my comfort not in predictable outcomes, but in the welcoming embrace of my loving God, Who I trust to guide me into every best practice He has for me to follow.

Jesus issues this call: "Come, follow me..." Not 'follow my manual of best practices.' Not, 'strategize for best possible predictable outcomes.' No, He invites us to follow HIM.  A person. Not a method, a plan.

I've been personally burned by trying to follow 'best practices' in parenting. (Cue memories of books we read and tried to follow because the results were guaranteed!) I've been burned by others trying to follow 'best practices' in institutional settings. I forgive others' ignorance, but have a hard time forgiving my own. 

And lately I've observed this term being tossed about in a kind of angry 'everyone should know better and follow these well known and documented best practices.' It comes from a place of demanding (that everyone else get on board with what she seems to know and require) - a place that says, 'I know better and the data I hold is far superior to everyone else's.' 

I'm sure I'm being too vague here. But maybe you catch what I'm saying. I think the academic world can move on with their 'best practice' quest. And there are those of us in Christ who live in that world and need to grapple with that. At the same time, let us not imagine that there is a substitute for an ongoing, synergistic, organic, moment-by-moment, living-breathing, engagement with the Spirit of God Who dwells in us, Whose voice can be discerned, Whose word is written, yet alive, very near us, in our heart and on our tongue. We cannot hush the Spirit of God in an effort to follow a manual of best practice. 

How about we start to promote the spiritual best practice of radical trust?

How about we call out the term 'best practice' for what it really is: something to feed our desire for control of outcomes and predictable data? (Please know, I'm not saying all of these desires are bad necessarily - just questioning whether this desire should have supremacy in all circumstances and situations).

I do believe in testing everything against Scripture. And if we apply what we know of 'best practice' to most of what we read in Scripture, I think we must admit that human strategizing may miss the mark in developing best practice. God's invitation - even God's command to us - is to follow His best practice for us. 

Most of my spiritual life and growth has been simply testing this notion: What is it like to fully trust God in all things? What would it look like in my life to not rely on my own understanding?

Now there's an idea for God's best practice for us.

Why not give it a try?