Disciplines w/ a Twist

First, a description of disciplines and their importance. Then, some disciplines with a twist.



Freedom comes with discipline. Witness the professional piano player. She can sit down, and her hands can fly over the keys; she is free, because of her discipline, to produce a beautiful sound that I cannot.

We are saved by grace, not by works. Though we are not saved by our good works, there is a sense in which we are saved to them or for them.  Our being saved for good works is not ultimate; we are saved by God, for God, to God ultimately, and our getting to work with him, by him, and for him is a glorious by-product.  It is a means by which we get to know him better, and in that he is glorified!

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.  (Titus 2:11-14)

In reading some of Richard Foster's books on the spiritual disciplines, I have come to see the disciplines as an indispensable part of God's design.  We have the glorious promise from Philippians 1:6 that says, And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.  He is in the process of doing that, of making us like Christ, and his grace is training us to renounce ungodliness.  That training by grace indeed does come completely as a free gift (or else it would not be grace), but it does not generally come while I am idle, not pressing into God, not laboring for the Gospel, and not seeking his face.  Of course, God does often break into my patterns of sin and idleness, bringing me back by his grace.  But because he loves me, that pit of sin and idleness is not where he leaves me.

Ultimately, any energy I have for discipline is a good gift from God.  And indeed, once I press into that energy God is giving to me to become like Christ and labor for my Lord, that energy does not lead me to idleness of heart, mind, and body.  Energy that is truly from my Lord will lead me not into sin and stagnation - it cannot - but into sanctification, and I am convinced it will lead me to patterns of life that bring me more deeply within the flow of God's transforming grace - kind of like getting myself underneath a waterfall and soaking.  (Psalm 119 is like an extended meditation on someone who had tasted the goodness of God revealed in Scripture and who longs to glut himself there on that supreme Goodness.  Oh that we might be addicted to God's greatness, instead of to dumb parodies and worthless substitutes!)

Feel the tension in Colossians 1:29 - For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.  This is a beautiful paradox.

God has designed disciplines like prayer, service, worship, study, memorization, celebration, and others to be the primary means of this training grace, the means by which God, in his sovereign freedom, sanctifies us.  Let us, by all means, seek God above everything else; let us seek him in the disciplines he has given us.  Let us seek to actually be disciples of Jesus in truth and in deed.  (It would not at all be a waste of time if you resolved to, as soon as physically possible, read through the gospels and ask this question afresh: what does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus?)

There has been a revival of interest in the disciplines among pockets of evangelical Christianity over the last several decades.  There is a lot of good reading on the subject, and it probably deserves more attention than I give it here.  This has been a very short apologetic for the disciplines as an intro to some quick and quirky ideas for God-centered habits of life I have been trying to form.  These are my ideas, so you can take them or leave them, but I hope they might be a help. 

(1) Pray over your gas tank.

When you fill up your gas tank, pray over it.  I had this thought when musing about what it means to pray over our food.  What does it mean to bless our food?  It is not just, "God don't let me die from what I am about to eat."  It is, "God get all glory from every inch of energy you grant this food to give me.  May my labor be pleasing to you, and may this food serve you by fueling me to serve you.  You are so holy and so worthy!"  Our bodies are temples, and our lives are living sacrifices.  It would be better to die and be with Jesus, but we stay here for fruitful labor aimed at bringing about the obedience of faith among the nations.  We stay here to help people find the joy of faith in Christ.  Food helps us stay here in service to that end - seeing the joy of Christ spread by the energy that I might gain from that food.

My gas tank does the same thing.  It fuels my car, just as my food fuels my body.  My prayer for my gas tank and my car is that I would have beautiful tire treads...  And how are they to preach unless they are sent?  As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!"  (Romans 10:15)  May God get all glory from my gas tank; may it serve, every last ounce, to advance the gospel and the obedience of faith of all people; may no drop be wasted in service of my selfish dead-end desires.


(2) Say this to people - "I thank God for you."

Paul rocks my world, not just for his explanations of what Jesus did for me.  Of course he does rock my world in that way, but the beginnings of his letters have been humbling me lately in regards to Paul's genuine heart for people, as he mirrors and shows forth the genuine love of Christ for people.  To the Philippians he says, I thank my God in all my remembrance of you. (Philippians 1:3)  To the Romans he says, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.  (Romans 1:8)  We ought to imitate Paul in this.  (1 Corinthians 11:1)

It may seem awkward, but you have the opportunity to be a real blessing to the people you come across each day.  God does not leave us speechless in the ways of encouragement, but we have an embarassment of riches in the Scriptures for ways to speak powerfully to our brothers and sisters.  We have, by the grace of the Gospel, been set free from the necessity of looking cool and trying to impress people.  So let us think less of ourselves; let us not demand attention or approval from others.  In humility let us seek the lower seat, and let us, awkward or not, begin to tell others that we thank God for them.  The very act of thinking and saying that to people in sincerity has begun to transform my heart.

(3) Pray over your facebook friends.  

Jesus is Lord of all, even facebook.  If we are to spend so much time social networking, let us take it captive for Christ.  Every once in awhile, set aside some time to go down your friends list and legitimately entrust these friends to God's care.

And pray Scriptural prayers for them.  Too often our prayers consist mainly of this: "Father, ----- is having a hard time.  He is struggling.  Please remove [cause of suffering].  Thank you."  Indeed, let us pray for the alleviation of suffering, but let us see suffering within the bigger picture of what God is doing, and let us pray things like this, too...

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.  (Philippians 1:9-11)  We ought to see the various answers to all our prayers as means to this greater end - the glory and praise of God.
 
(4)  Do your work as if you were doing it for Jesus.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  (Colossians 3:17)

I went jogging and praying the other day, and God sent a ripple of conviction through me about procrastination.  Here was where my train of thought ended.  When I hand in a paper, I need to imagine that I am handing it in to Jesus.  What kind of work would I want to hand Jesus?

I don't think that is necessarily a call to be a perfectionist, but rather a call to rely on the Holy Spirit much more and to let him guide my priorities.  Practically, I have come to the conclusion that I need to do my best to be excellent and prepared in regards to my schoolwork.  (I'll let you contextualize this for yourself.)  I do not want to get into a situation in which I am stressed about getting something done last minute, with the result that my stress takes me out of a prayerful discernment of the needs around me.  How horrible if I lost the opportunity to share God's love because of my own laziness or sloppiness!  And if I ever get the opportunity to share the gospel with my teacher, I don't want it to be like serving up a nice, juicy steak on the wrong side of a garbage can lid retaining the stench of my poor stewardship.  (This is a throw-back reference to the Cosby Show.  Ha!)

(5)  Worship God in a lightning storm.

This actually is the impetus of this entry.  The entirety of Scripture speaks of God's majesty, and he is our Creator God.  Every atom this entire huge universe is his.  Here is what I did tonight in the storm, and I thought it was awesome... Turn off the lights in your house (or room).  Open the blinds.  Sit on the floor and pray to God while watching his lightning show.  Oh, how much more awesome this is than anything they put on television!  I prayed some, talking to God about his majesty and might and power and sovereignty.  Then, I put on some worship music and just sought God's presence.  Worship, dear friends, is meant for more than just Sunday; it transcends music and is actually meant for every single moment of our lives.  And we worship, not just for vibes, but because we serve a God who is really there!

(6) Memorize Scripture

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.  (2 Timothy 2:15)

This is not my invention.  I am just convinced that it is powerful to know Scripture and that not enough of us do it - myself included.  If you are not feeding yourself on a steady diet of Scripture, you are probably starving without knowing it.  Get the Word in your ear, your head, and your heart.  Let it change you.

Well, maybe you will try one of these things out.  Let me know how it goes.  I am very interested.  And if I have not told you in person, I do thank God for you.  And, as always, soli Deo gloria!