Spiritual Disciplines? Yuck!
If you have not been around followers of Jesus very much, you are probably wondering what crazy thing is meant by “Spiritual Disciplines”. Alternately, if you’ve been around Christians for a while, or are a believer, you probably have heard the topic of Spiritual Disciplines mentioned.
Regardless, the very phrase can make us wince. Spiritual makes them sound mystical or hard to grasp. Discipline is something most of people view negatively. We receive discipline, which is not pleasant. Else we fail to be disciplined, perhaps in our exercise regiment or diet, or some other areas of lifestyle.
Put together, we have this hard to grasp, mystical practice that we probably will fail to do, and will be punished for not doing. No wonder you might think “Yuck!” when you hear “Spiritual Disciplines”.
Here is where I can throw out a lot of cliches about why you should practice spiritual disciplines. Like, “no pain, no gain”, or “ if you want to succeed you need to make a plan and work your plan”. Or maybe a bit of reason by guilt . . . “If you want to be a good disciple you will” . . .
A fellow named Richard Foster has built an entire ministry called Renovare based on practicing spiritual disciplines. In college I was required to read the book that started his ministry. It had the rather contrarian title “Celebration of Discipline”. A thought provoking book, it was a bit dry and tedious to read at times. Much like we view spiritual disciplines themselves. Dry and tedious. At best, something to endure out of duty.
But what if the super spiritual saints who keep making us feel guilty for not practicing spiritual disciplines really are not super spiritual? And what if they are not trying to make us feel guilty? What if spiritual disciplines are less about working our spiritual plan and more about discovering and celebrating God? What if they are less about making grade A saints and more about finding joy in following Jesus?
Think and pray over that. In an upcoming article, I will share how stress, and busyness, and stuff, and even ministry itself had become barriers to engaging God. You’ll find that God began to correct the situation, and one day the light bulb went on. He was implementing two spiritual disciplines in my life. Disciplines that allowed me to glimpse peace and joy.
Stay tuned.
His
Mike