Yesterday, we talked about the life Jesus has called us to live as his followers, that life that is a crucified life. In our discussion we mentioned the spiritual disciplines. The topic of spiritual disciplines is not one that we hear often in Christian circles which is a tragedy for they offer much hope and help in the progression of our faith. Perhaps the greatest reason we don’t talk about disciplines of the faith is the great abuse of these disciplines in the Middle-Ages. This abuse has echoed through the years in the idea that the spiritual disciplines are designed to make us miserable and deny us an enjoyable and full life. However, monks engaging in practices that abused their bodies to the point of near death was never what God intended. We shouldn’t reject the disciplines simply because of their misguided use by a few fellows in robes several hundred years ago.

So what are the disciplines and why should we practice them? The concept of spiritual disciplines are rooted in the truth that God has a life that He intends for us, a life other than that which we live on our own terms and by our own means (Eph.2.10). Access to this life is found in the person and ministry of Jesus. Through his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus opened a way to the life God has for us. While God freely grants us access to this life, Scripture teaches that we have a part in moving toward this life. This is where the disciplines come into the picture. Jesus clearly taught that those that were his disciples were to engage in the active and ongoing process of self-denial and death to self as their part in moving to true life (Luke 9.21-25). Likewise, Paul noted that followers of Jesus were to engage in the process of putting off old habits and attitudes and putting on the character of Christ as their part of this process (Phil. 2.12-13; Eph. 4.20-32; Col. 3.5-17; Titus 2.11-14). The practices involved in this process of self-denial and death to self are called spiritual disciplines.

Spiritual disciplines are intentional practices, relationships, and experiences that facilitate a denial of self and a replacement of old attitudes with new attitudes. These practices are not acts of righteousness. That is, they are not acts that obtain salvation for people. Rather, they are means of opening one’s life to God so that He has free access to one’s heart to do the deep work of true spiritual transformation. The spiritual disciplines have been part of the life of the church since the earliest days. In Acts 2.42 we find that the first Jesus followers practiced the disciplines of study, fellowship, Eucharist, and prayer. According to Jesus, the practice of spiritual disciplines (actions that lead to a denial of self) is to be part of the daily life of a disciple (Luke 9.23).

While disciplines are to be a part of the daily life of a disciple, one need not practice the same disciplines every day. Disciplines function something like machines at your local gym. You use only the machines that are needed to work on the parts of your body that need attention. Thus, we use only the disciplines that address the areas of our life that are not yet fully submitted to Christ so that His life might fill us and become our own. Disciplines are not harsh or life-draining. Rather, disciplines are grace-filled and life-giving. The disciplines open our lives to the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to fill us with the grace we need for life. They affirm that we need God to live in us and through us, that on our own we are not capable of truly living. Over time, the goal is to be transformed and thus no longer have a need for these disciplines as one has fully taken on the life of Christ. Many of the disciplines that we encourage at Browncroft through our blogs and Next Step e-blasts are found in Scriptures, drawn from the life of Christ and the writings of the Old and New Testaments. However, anything that makes room for the Holy Spirit to work in our lives can be a spiritual discipline. God is the great teacher. Often, He will lead us to practice disciplines specific to our own needs and situation if we are open to such teaching. We should be open to the practice of such disciplines as a means of partnering with God in finding the life He has for us.

A fellow traveler,

Blake
Spiritual Formation Pastor