One of the continual struggles for many believers, or at least for me (and I choose to believe I'm not the weird one), is spiritual disciplines.
If most of us are honest, praying for hours is boring, fasting makes us hungry, and reading God's word can be a bit like high school homework. We suffer through it a few times a week. We read a chapter or two, and we occasionally attend a prayer service and praydream (daydream+pray= praydream) our way into feeling better. We even give up soda or candy for lent.
But it still feels like homework.
Which, let's be honest, sucks.
We need a significant re-orientation when it comes to spiritual disciplines. Even the word "disciplines" sounds like being sent to the corner as a child, so we need to see these acts in a whole new light.
The building block for every part of Christianity is relationship. It's the overwhelming theme in scripture. God made. God walked with. God sent away. But then made a covenant with and became friends. God dwelt among. God became flesh. God indwells. God comes back. It's all about people being in a relationship with God. It's about people knowing him, and introducing him to others because that is what we were made for. God looked at us and said "that's real good" because he made us in his image to know him intimately.
All of this means that when we really understand following Jesus we should see that we are not being "disciplined" we are being pursued. We are being related to. It's much like a dating relationship.
1. We sacrifice time and things to spend undivided time with the other person in the relationship. Being in a relationship means saying "no" to some things that I want in order to say "yes" to being with that person. Ask any married person. They'll agree. It's fasting.
2. We actually talk to people we are in a relationship. We don't just talk about superficial things like the weather and how we could use fifty bucks. When you get to know someone and let them know you it means opening up about all areas of life. It means letting them know what hurts, what helps, what is hard, what is easy, what is fun, what is beautiful, and what you've never said out loud before. It also means really listening. It's praying.
3. We use what we've been given to know each other. We hang out with each others friends. We listen to people tell stories about each other, and we seek to be taught how to know each other better. We tolerate each others music, and serve each other to build the relationship deeply. It's like church.
4. We submit to one another because we put each other first.
5. We confess to one another and seek forgiveness.
When we begin to see the "disciplines" in terms of relationship it's much harder to find ourselves uninterested. We see that God is not concerned with proving our dedication to him, instead he is concerned with us knowing him deeply.
This doesn't mean that we'll never get bored and zone out in church ever again. It doesn't mean we'll always spend 2 hours praying or read the book of Job every month. It does mean that we'll see the real purpose for all of it, and, even though it's hard, do it because we love a person who truly loves us.
If most of us are honest, praying for hours is boring, fasting makes us hungry, and reading God's word can be a bit like high school homework. We suffer through it a few times a week. We read a chapter or two, and we occasionally attend a prayer service and praydream (daydream+pray= praydream) our way into feeling better. We even give up soda or candy for lent.
But it still feels like homework.
Which, let's be honest, sucks.
We need a significant re-orientation when it comes to spiritual disciplines. Even the word "disciplines" sounds like being sent to the corner as a child, so we need to see these acts in a whole new light.
The building block for every part of Christianity is relationship. It's the overwhelming theme in scripture. God made. God walked with. God sent away. But then made a covenant with and became friends. God dwelt among. God became flesh. God indwells. God comes back. It's all about people being in a relationship with God. It's about people knowing him, and introducing him to others because that is what we were made for. God looked at us and said "that's real good" because he made us in his image to know him intimately.
All of this means that when we really understand following Jesus we should see that we are not being "disciplined" we are being pursued. We are being related to. It's much like a dating relationship.
1. We sacrifice time and things to spend undivided time with the other person in the relationship. Being in a relationship means saying "no" to some things that I want in order to say "yes" to being with that person. Ask any married person. They'll agree. It's fasting.
2. We actually talk to people we are in a relationship. We don't just talk about superficial things like the weather and how we could use fifty bucks. When you get to know someone and let them know you it means opening up about all areas of life. It means letting them know what hurts, what helps, what is hard, what is easy, what is fun, what is beautiful, and what you've never said out loud before. It also means really listening. It's praying.
3. We use what we've been given to know each other. We hang out with each others friends. We listen to people tell stories about each other, and we seek to be taught how to know each other better. We tolerate each others music, and serve each other to build the relationship deeply. It's like church.
4. We submit to one another because we put each other first.
5. We confess to one another and seek forgiveness.
When we begin to see the "disciplines" in terms of relationship it's much harder to find ourselves uninterested. We see that God is not concerned with proving our dedication to him, instead he is concerned with us knowing him deeply.
This doesn't mean that we'll never get bored and zone out in church ever again. It doesn't mean we'll always spend 2 hours praying or read the book of Job every month. It does mean that we'll see the real purpose for all of it, and, even though it's hard, do it because we love a person who truly loves us.
