I became a Christ-follower in the mid ‘90s. It was a time of self-discovery, turmoil, and eventually surrender. It was not without much seeking, questioning, and more questioning that I finally came to the place where I asked God to become the “captain of my soul”. From then until now I’ve continued to wrestle with questions. I’ve been influenced by many flavors of Christianity and had some really interesting experiences along the way. Today I equally enjoy reading some of the Mystics, Puritans, Reformers, and have recently discovered N.T. Wright. I read stuff from people I don’t whole heatedly agree with. I value listening with an open ear to those who practice and think differently about faith. Sometimes I walk away from that time of listening disagreeing. And sometimes I walk away from that time of listening being challenged to change. I think that’s healthy.

About 5 years ago I took a class at Moody Theological Seminary about the Spiritual Disciplines and Spiritual Warfare. Wisely the professor had us experiment with some of the disciplines during the summer intensive. Honestly, I’ve always found myself in churches that have practiced many of the disciplines, so the class wasn’t as shocking to me as it could have been. I do clearly remember though that a friend who took the class at another time was appalled at being forced to do some of these things and was (rightly and with a good heart) wrestling with having to do these in such a forced manner. The person posited this might be legalistic, and wondered if the practices would really be beneficial. In the end, if memory serves me correctly, the person did gain some insights and was glad to have participated by the end of it all.

Just a little while before entering Seminary I decided to join this radical thing called CrossFit. The foray into this world led to a love for Olympic Weightlifting, then Powerlifting, and Strongman stuff. Now I have this dream setup in my parent’s garage. This is a great improvement from the last gym I was at in Chicago, which I fondly referred to as “crap-tastic” because of all the almost good equipment (if you’ve never performed the Olympic lifts, let me assure you that you want a bar that spins well instead of one that is rusted and has been abused … just trust my sore wrists). Although I’ll probably never win any medals for the time and money I’ve invested in becoming stronger and gaining some measure of endurance, I can tell you that God has taught me a lot about myself while spending time under tension.

Often over the years I’ve thought that the Spiritual Disciplines are a lot like working out ….

• you have to actually do it to gain any benefit
• it’s better if you have a plan rather than winging it
• it’s helpful to properly warm up and mobilize before applying intensity
• incorrect form will lead to injury
• perfect practice makes perfect
• there are no magic potions to magically make you stronger, even people on Performance Enhancing Drugs have to put in the work
• assistance exercises need to be kept in perspective, don’t major on the minors

There are a few key principles that most fitness professionals would agree on:

• Exercise selection and programming (i.e. how many repetitions, what weights should be used, intensity, duration etc.) should be highly dependent on what a client’s goals are.
• You can’t outwork a bad diet … not in the long term anyway.

In Christianity I’ve heard some people take the stance that all we need to do is read our Bibles, and do what it says (and pray, because it says to do that, some even go so far as fasting, because … you guessed it, the Bible mentions that too … oh and tithing, because that’s in there …).  Other’s have detailed and catalogued a plethora of activities that assure it’s participants a greater, deeper, and overall more amazing Spiritual Life. Some go as far as prescribing X activity at a predetermined dose and frequency in order to heal _______ psychological, emotional, or spiritual ailment.

Personally, I tend to live in the middle of these tensions. Reading God’s word to me is akin to feeding my soul a good diet. Taking in the Word, digesting it, thinking it through, and applying it is nutrition that I desperately need (and really can’t get anywhere else). To me the Pentateuch can often seem like brussels sprouts (until I learned different ways to prepare them, I really hated them). Some Psalms are like onions, but many are like sweet dessert. And I never quite know what I’m getting with those words in red. The same words can sometimes be gently healing while other times offer a dose of firm thrashings.  A broad and frequent reading is advised (eat the rainbow).

Just as with the physical, you can’t outwork a poor diet. In my opinion, there is no better nourishment for the Christian than reading the Bible. And just like a good meal, it’s better enjoyed in a community (but that’s a topic for another time).

Now to address the multitude of things that I’ve seen and heard included in the Spiritual Disciplines. Depending on the flavor of theology undergirding the writers, the lists can often look very different, I’ve even seen one list include “speaking in tongues” as a discipline. But really, when you look at most lists, they are just activities that can help you both focus inwardly and outwardly. They are not all detailed in scripture with particular prescriptions for frequency or intensity. (Lest we forget, not all things in Scripture are proscriptive (meaning, we must go and do likewise), some things are simply descriptive (meaning, this is what happened … and sometimes even, don’t do likewise)).

Here are some of the disciplines broken down by major authors. This was adapted from
http://achievebalance.com/twelve/disciplines.htm (who I don’t know anything else about, but found the chart and really liked it, my books are in storage, so couldn’t double check):

I firmly believe that the most authentic spiritual life is lived in the tension of two things: the Holy Spirit working in and through us, and our choices (specifically our cooperation with, ignorance of, or disobedience to the Holy Spirit). The real danger I see in studying and using the disciplines is that we can become easily entangled by our own efforts! We can easily take something that is good, and make it the object of our worship, serving it, using it as a functional savior, instead of rightly seeing those things as mere means, they become ends in themselves, and actually become obstacles to the very aim with which we undertook them. Calling it what it is, some fall into legalistic rules and behaviors. Even when legalism is subtle, the measurement of the practices can (wrongly) become a litmus test for one’s own and other’s maturity and authenticity. To be clear: This does not lead one down a helpful path (Gal 2:16, Romans 3:20-24, Phil 3:8-9, Eph 2:9)!

All of this presumes someone has already surrendered to Christ in the first place. No amount of human effort can ever out perform, equal, or replace that which only Christ Jesus was able to accomplish! Take a look at Hebrews 10:1-13, but especially verse 14, “And by that [the Father’s] will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Reading the rest of Hebrews and on into James you’ll find that our faith doesn’t then mean we just keep on living our lives the exact same way before the new birth … no indeed. It’s with a chuckle that I think the placement of James – a book so filled with exhortation to do good works that Martin Luther detested it – is right after a book about the one and only sacrifice of Christ Jesus. Ain’t this faith journey grand?

I’m looking forward to delving back into the disciplines. Pastor Keith did an awesome job with the first message in this series today (sermon will be available at http://www.ccclive.org/messages.html). I’ve been thinking about this for months when friends of mine had me read something about the trend of the disciplines coming back into the church. I must confess, I’m looking forward to spending some time under tension, because my physical training has taught me that this will lead to strength and endurance.

And who couldn’t use a little more strength and endurance for this journey?