Flipping the Script on Spiritual Disciplines
When we discuss spiritual disciplines, we often frame them with the second word in focus: discipline. Spiritual practices most certainly require commitment and discipline. Creating a regular space for God and protecting that time in our schedules is rarely easy. I still remember a commencement speaker who challenged the crowd with this: If there is something you want to accomplish, you must do it daily. If we desire a growing spiritual life, we have to dream first of what it could be, then take concrete action to make progress towards that goal. Having the discipline to carry through with our spiritual commitments to ourselves and to God is a challenge some days. However, without intentional effort to create a space for God to enter into our lives, we will remain stagnant.
“What is worthwhile is rarely easy” is a phrase that is worth keeping in mind. Matthew 7:13-14 talks about the wide and narrow gates with few finding the narrow gate. This has led some to frame the idea of the Christian walk as a type of drudgery that few want to do, much less truly focus on. In his book The Good and Beautiful Life, James Smith shares a concern that the church is not teaching the importance of these spiritual practices. He estimates that “only 10 percent of Christians are actively developing their relationship with God on a daily basis” (p. 207). This lack of focus, combined with the negative image of what it’s like to live a life that follows the narrow path, overlooks the blessing and benefits of the disciplines.
Dallas Willard looks at spiritual disciplines from the flipside in The Spirit of the Disciplines using the term “nondiscipleship.” He paints the picture of a life of “burdens, failures, and disappointments, a life caught in the toils of endless problems that are never resolved” (p. 2). He warns, “Nondiscipleship costs abiding peace, a life penetrated throughout by love, faith that sees everything in light of God’s overriding governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging circumstances, power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil. In short, it costs exactly that abundance of life Jesus said he came to bring (John 10:10)” (p. 263). Many who have developed regular practices identify with benefits that come from them in their own spiritual lives, which also impact them in practical ways such as peace, focus, and freedom from anxiety. Psalm 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” How can we encourage Christians to see the Word as something that is beneficial and offers guidance in their daily lives if we are merely focusing on the difficulties of it? Smith suggests, “Instead of focusing so much on the cost of discipleship, I think we should stress how bankrupt non-discipleship is” (p. 210). Flipping the script on how we present practicing spiritual disciplines could certainly impact our churches, both in how many are choosing to practice and in their attitude toward them.
When teaching about spiritual disciplines, I have found it helpful to emphasize their personal nature. Each person has to find what works for them. What my Bible classmate, preacher, or neighbor is doing may not work for me. There is no one right way to do things. Giving people the freedom to explore and try out different methods, while at the same time trying to focus head and heart, allows them to personalize their plan to fit them. In her book Sacred Rhythms, Ruth Haley Barton reflects on this personalization in the chapter “A Rule of Life.” She emphasizes the importance of exploration of the disciplines and incorporating them into one’s life in a realistic way. Our disciplines have to fit our lives with a flexibility that allows them to respond to various seasons of our lives. She says our spiritual practices need “to be ruthlessly realistic in our stage of life” (p. 149).
It is also helpful to make space for the testimonies of people who have enjoyed the fruitfulness of a regular time with God. Along with reframing the disciplines to be something positive, we also need to model openness about their practice. We need to decouple these from the realm of “super Christian” to something that is normal and expected practice by opening up times for conversation and inviting them to share about what has worked for them. This can help us focus more on the ways that spiritual practices are blessings than on how they are disciplines. Once our members have had the opportunity to experience the sweetness of their disciplines, then the practice of them becomes more desired and is done out of love and longing, not out of obligation.
Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives (New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 1988).
James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful Life (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2009).
Ruth Haley Barton, Sacred Rhythms (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2006).
