A New Look at Spiritual Disciplines
Hebrews 12:14- Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
2 Corinthians 6:31b-7:1- For we are a temple of the living God. As God said: 'I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they will be my people.
Therefore come out from them and be separate, says the Lord. Touch no unclean thing, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.'
Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates the body and spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God.
God has offered to walk among us, but he has a request: He wants us to be holy. So maybe we can look at holiness*, not as goal within itself, but a response-- to God’s offer and to our reverence for Him. Since we want to commune with Him, we work on perfecting our holiness, purifying ourselves and being separate.
These scriptures suggest that holiness does not come naturally. Spiritual disciplines are the different types of tools we can use to get there. (Ex: fasting, memorization, giving to the poor, meditation, Bible study, and solitude.)
In my part of this blog, I hope to explore how spiritual disciplines:
- Help us to separate ourselves from the worldly/visual reality.
- Help us to connect with the spiritual/kingdom reality.
I hope this study will demonstrate the wonder and excitement of spiritual disciplines and how they can deepen walk with God exponentially.
Methods, not requirements
We are a culture of checklists. I used to have one for my Christianity.
-Read Bible? Check.
-Pray? Check.
-Give to the needy? Failure.
(Admittedly, this is point I began feeling unsafe in my ability to please God. And others.)
I no longer believe that spiritual disciplines are a list of requirements. In fact, the Pharisees had a mental checklist and Jesus often rebuked them for it. Why? Perhaps because achieving the list allowed for self-righteousness. Failure to follow it could lead to worldly sorrow.
Does that mean I’ve thrown the disciplines out? No. Jesus participated in spiritual disciplines and so did his followers. Jesus was concerned with correcting the heart behind them. In Matthew 6, Jesus calls disciplines "acts of righteousness." He focuses on a few of them: Prayer, Fasting, Giving to the Needy, and Avoiding Materialism. He commands us to do them in secret, eliminating the temptation for self-righteousness and worldly sorrow.
Most disciplines are not commanded in the New Testament. I think that Jesus avoids this because he lived in a culture founded on works. There was no need to tell people to fast, pray, etc. Instead, Jesus would say "When you fast…" or "When you pray…" In contrast, our culture tends to be less methodological when it comes to Christianity, so it might be helpful to explore their benefits. And this is just my opinion, but perhaps Jesus did not focus on the methods because he did not want to limit us! Does standing on your head and singing Jesus Loves Me help you remain near to the Lord? I doubt that Christ would confine us to the methods mentioned in the Bible
*Exodus 3:5 and footnote: HOLINESS involves being consecrated to the Lord's service and thus being separated from the commonplace.