The Spiritual Disciplines
A few weeks ago I had the joy of teaching a discipleship course on the spiritual disciplines. I always enjoy these courses. I have so much fun preparing for them, teaching them, and hearing the feedback of the people involved. It’s such a blessing to be able to discuss God’s word, prayer, and the church with the Lord’s people. With that, I thought to myself, why not share what I taught there with the rest of the church? That’s why I decided to write these blog posts.
Probably my favorite book on this topic is David Mathis’s Habits of Grace. I like it for its simplicity and its succinctness. More than this, I like it for its truthfulness. The spiritual disciplines have seen a resurgence in popularity recently. I think this goes hand-in-hand with the resurgence of conversions to Eastern Orthodoxy and Catholicism. People are hungry for something with substance. They want a true spirituality which the seeker sensitive mega-church movement has failed to provide. People are tired of the smoke and mirrors. They want a real, living, active faith, and they are searching for ways to get it. For these reasons—and possibly many more—the spiritual disciplines have been in popular demand.
I believe that this is a good thing. I am glad that people want more from faith in Jesus than loud, semi-decent, rock like worship music and topical sermonettes that leave one feeling empty. Yet, with any resurgence there is the potential for overcorrection. In this case the overcorrection happens when you begin to look into the most popular books on the spiritual disciplines. As I was studying to teach this course, I found that many books on the spiritual disciplines have different lists of disciplines. This is confusing. Shouldn’t we expect the Bible to be consistent in what it tells us to do when it comes to our spiritual growth? I would think so. Certainly God did not put us in a position where any self-proclaimed spiritual discipline guru can make up their own path to the spiritual life. This is why I like David Mathis’s book.
David focuses on the essentials. Instead of giving us one massive list of every discipline he can think of, he focuses on collating different disciplines under larger discipline headings. In doing this Mathis focuses on three main disciplines: hearing God’s voice (word), having God’s ear (prayer), and belonging to his body (church). This is extremely helpful. Unlike others, Mathis is not presenting the disciplines as a massive to-do list that we must accomplish in order to experience true spirituality. Against this, he frames his study of the disciplines under three broader categories, which grow us in our love for God as we practice them throughout our lives. This is a much more sustainable approach to sanctification. It is also more biblical.
One of the problems with the resurgence of interest in the spiritual disciplines is that it can easily morph into something like “works righteousness”. Although this is an unintended consequence, the disciplines can be portrayed in a way that makes it seem as if our relationship with God depends on our ability to perform certain tasks. The measure of our faith becomes how much time we spend in silence and solitude, or how frugal we are, or in living a simple life—as if Marie Kondo is the most spiritual amongst us. Yet, this unintended consequence of the spiritual discipline gurus has massive consequences in the lives of real people.
The good news of the gospel is that we have been loved and accepted by God thanks to the finished work of Jesus Christ. I did not die on the cross, he did. I did not pay the debt for my sin, he did. I did not restore myself back into relationship with God, he did. The only way into fellowship with God is through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Without that, no spiritual discipline will ever make you right before God. I can prove it too, just look at the Pharisees.
Sadly many do not realize this. Many approach the spiritual disciplines with the idea that they will in some way earn them favor with God. Far be it from us! Let us never think that we can earn God’s love through our actions. So why bother with the spiritual disciplines at all? If we are saved purely by grace, through faith, in Christ alone, then why do we need to do anything? In answer to this we practice the disciplines not to earn God’s love, but to grow our love for God. The spiritual disciplines are the regular practices of the Christian life that over time grow us in our love for God.
Whenever we approach the spiritual disciplines we need to keep two truths in our minds. First, that we are loved and accepted by God thanks to the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. Second, that we can grow in our love for God as we put in place certain practices. Over the next few weeks we will look at these practices so that we might grow in our love for God.