In Sunday school we’ve been studying
the Spiritual Disciplines, based on Donald Whitney’s book Spiritual
Disciplines for the Christian Life.
A couple other good books are Richard Foster’s Celebration
of Discipline,
and his son Nathan Foster’s The
Making of an Ordinary Saint,
among others. The latter book illustrates one man’s attempts to
live in the disciplines, and is perhaps the most encouraging example
for those of us who try and fail.
As I finished
reading these books, the thing that stood out most to me was that the
reason we tend to avoid many of the Spiritual Disciplines is that we
don’t want to be uncomfortable. Studying and memorizing Scripture
takes time, and we don’t want to give up something else in order to
make time. Evangelism can lead to some pretty awkward conversations,
and we don’t want to look bad. Stewardship means we have to give up
some of our resources, and we don’t want to find ourselves
shorthanded. Fasting means going without food for some period of
time, and most of us have never really experienced true hunger.
Prayer seems a little easier, provided we aren’t asked to pray out
loud or for a long time. And most of us are used to attending worship
services, though we may not actually worship often. Solitude may seem
desirable, especially for parents of busy children, but we may be
reluctant to use that time to seek God.
I think
“comfortable Christians” should be an oxymoron, but it is all too
common, especially in the Western world. We’ll put on the religious
act so long as it doesn’t inconvenience us or make us look bad. But
if it interferes with our work, entertainment, hobbies, and habits,
Christianity gets put on the back burner.
Donald Whitney says
this about the role of struggle in the Christian life:
“Referring
to the Godliness mentioned in 1 Timothy 4:7-8, the Apostle Paul
writes in verse 10, ‘And for this we labor and strive.’ The word
labor and strive tell
us that becoming like Christ involves a lot more than to ‘let go
and let God.’ The Greek word translated ‘labor’ means to work
until one is weary. We get our English word agonize from
the term rendered here as strive”
(242).
Does that sound
like the kind of effort that most Christians put into seeking
godliness? Whitney lists several other Scriptures:
- Colossians 1:29 (ESV)- “For this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me.”
- John 15:18-19- “If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”
- Galatians 5:17- “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”
- Galatians 6:8- “For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”
- 1 Peter 5:8- “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
- Ephesians 6:11- “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.”
Those don’t sound
like encouragement to “make yourself comfortable” while waiting
for Christ’s return. No, they are commands to remind us that the
battle is real and that we have an enemy who will do anything to try
to pull us away from Christ and prevent us from being effective
witnesses for His kingdom.
In 1 Thessalonians
5:5-6 Paul writes, “For you are all children of light, children of
the day. We are not of the night or of the darkness. So then let us
not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.” In
this dark world, it’s easy to get complacent. Even though an abrupt
end is coming, we lose vigilance as time goes on with no end in
sight. Darkness seems so pervasive that our little lights don’t
seem to make a difference. It’s easy to get distracted with the
routine of living and forget that this world as it currently exists
is not our eternal home.
The Spiritual
Disciplines are meant to keep our focus on God and to prepare us for
eternity. They remind us that some things are more important and
comfort and convenience. They help us to run from sin and run to our
Savior. They call us to run the race with perseverance, keeping our
eyes on the true goal of life only in Christ.
“Rather train yourself for
godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is
of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and
also for the life to come.” -1 Timothy 4:7-8
