Introduction to Spiritual Disciplines
When we look at the great heros of the Bible, most of us don't compare. We don't come close. But we need to put this into perspective. For every champion of faith whose name is recorded in Scripture, there are thousands of unnamed people of God. The examples and teaching of the few whose names are front and centre tell us something important. God intends for all of His people to have significant, fulfilled lives. Yes, He chooses some for extraordinary expoits, but many more are not chosen for such things. Leaders like Moses, Deborah, David, Esther, Peter, Paul and others whose names we recognize are exemplary in many ways. While they were called by God for specific special purposes to which we can't aspire, we can imitate aspects of their lives.
God offers several blanket invitations to all of humanity. Isaiah 55:6 gives us one example from the Old Testament: "Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near." Matthew 11:28 guves us one from the New: "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." There is no doubt that God wants to relate personally to all of us, not just to a few great leaders.
But developing intimacy with God is not easy, even though He wants us to have it. Because of the global effects of sin, we have obstacles to deal with along the way. Demonic spirits, the world system, and our own hard hearts are naturally opposed to God and hinder our establishing the kind of life God intends for us.
One of the challenges we face is that we are programmed to do things for ourselves, but we cannot make ourselves grow spiritually any more than we can make ourselves grow physically. But that doesn't mean that we have no role in the process. We can't make ourselves grow, but we can prepare ourselves to grow. Though gardeners can't make plants grow, they still invest time and energy in preparing the soil. Christians prepare their lives for growth through spiritual disciplines.
Author Dallas Willard defines a discipline as, "any activity within our power that we engage in to enable us to do what we cannot do by direct effort." For clarification, I'll give you an illustration from the world of music. Many pieces of music are so difficult that most musicians could not play them immediately. They are too technically demanding. They cannot be mastered by simply working on the piece itself. However, by working on scales, exercises and studies, the musician will eventually be able to play the piece.
Jesus engaged in a number of what we identify as spiritual disciplines. By following Him in these activities, our inner life can be prepared for a deeper relationship with God. Some of us are anxious to get on with this process. Some may not want to, but could be willing to. Others not only do not want this change, they are unwilling to change, but perhaps they could be willing to be made willing. Still others, may resist spiritual change (and even the possibility of spiritual change) because the personal price seems too high.
Practicing spiritual disciplines will disrupt your life. It will affect how you spend your time, money, energy and other resources. While it will impinge on your personality, it will not rob you of your personality. It will filter out its sinful expressions that are so natural, so normal, so ingrained. It will affect how you respond in attitude, word and action to people and situations. The good news is that your life will undergo observable change.
Of course, we are looking for positive change. It is possible that the pursuit of spiritual disciplines will make us disciples of the Pharisees rather than of the Lord Jesus. We need to be alert to the danger of becoming legalistic instead of disciplined in our approach to these practices.
Over the next few weeks we’ll consider the following disciplines (not necessarily in this order): prayer, fasting, confession, simplicity, solitude, silence, meditation, study, submission, service, fellowship, worship, and celebration. In the meantime, to get started on your own, you might want to choose one of the synoptic gospels and observe how Jesus practiced spiritual disciplines.
Ron Hughes
© May 2008
