Week after week, I sat in a pew, hemmed in by my friends and someone’s parents, taking notes in the sermon notes guide handed out in youth group and searching for the secret clue. What I wanted to know was “how.” HOW did I do all the things that were talked about in church? How did I become more like Christ? I don’t remember ever finding out then, though I am willing to believe that at least part of the blame for that lies with me.
In the years since, I’ve thrown myself into the study of discipleship. What does it mean to follow Jesus? Why does God leave us here, following Him? How are we supposed to live? I spent years in a church that believed that the will of God extended down to the minute details and the greatest fear of my life then was “being out of the will of God” and that could be as big as who I married or what house I bought or where I went to college. Fear dogged my steps. Every decision was a possible misstep and how was I supposed to know?
Years later, at another church, I remember a pastor saying that God was not as concerned with whether you bought this house or that one, but how you lived in the house. That was the beginning of an evolution of understanding. I’ve read books and listened to podcasts and participated in seminary classes (maybe it takes me a long time?) and slowly learned a truth that’s been known by the church for its existence. Spiritual disciplines are the how of following Christ. We are formed into disciples by how we live and whether that life looks like Christ’s.
When I talk about spiritual disciplines, I always want to start with the foundation of what the disciplines are not. The disciplines are not ways that we gain God’s approval. We have God’s approval because of the work of Jesus. The disciplines are not proof that we are disciples. Technically, they could be done without any relationship with God whatsoever. The disciplines are not how we force God to act. God alone controls what God does. These are not ways to manipulate God.
The disciplines are how we make space for God and God’s truth about the world in our lives. Richard Foster, in the beginning of his book Celebration of Discipline, writes, “Joy is the keynote of all the Disciplines. The purpose of the disciplines is liberation from the stifling slavery to self-interest and fear.” He then says, “God has given us the Disciplines of the spiritual life as a means of receiving his grace. The Disciplines allow us to place ourselves before God so that he can transform us.”1
Transformation
So why do we bother with these practices? Because the aim of the Christian life is transformation. We are becoming like Christ as we mature in the faith. We do not get transformed just with information. We do not get transformed by some magical zapping that God does when we are asleep. We cannot make the transformation happen—that’s God’s work to do—but we do participate in the transformation. We live out what we are learning through the disciplines.
Embodiment
Our world is increasingly digital; that is news to no one. Our lives can become pixelated, boiled down a highlight reel and a filter, subjected to whatever controlling narrative we want to share with the world. The disciplines aren’t digital however. They can’t be truly practiced in a performative way on the internet. The disciplines are embodied because we are embodied and we follow Christ as people with bodies. Disciplines bring us back in the body as we fast or sit in silence or feast with other believers.
Narration
What we do reveals what we believe about the world and that is often different from what we say we believe. Disciplines can provide space for us to learn and relearn a new story. The Bible tells a deep and mysterious story of God that we miss if we hurry past. The disciplines slow us down. We live out the story as we practice the disciplines and contemplate their meaning.
Participation
The disciplines ask something of us. That’s probably why so many of us avoid them. But we need that invitation to participate. Habits shape us. And we participate in or own formation when we reshape how we live and making space for God to work.
You might be skeptical. I get that but just give it a try. Pick a spiritual discipline—just one!—and practice it, expecting God to move, probably in ways you don’t expect. Put it to the test; don’t take my word for it.2
I’d love to hear about your personal experiences with the disciplines and which ones have been formative for you. Last week I told you about the one I’m focusing on now.
These quotes are on pages 2 and 7 in my copy of the book.
I haven’t listened to all of this sermon but Comer rarely lets me down, especially about the disciplines.
“We do not get transformed just with information.”
Thank you for these words. I can relate to you in the beginning of the article with sitting in church, striving to pull the thing from that day that would make everything click, and that would ensure that I would be on the right path towards God’s will. I’ve struggled for much time, with seeking to hear the right thing, or making the right decision that would keep me in his will, and if I missed it, then I would be toast. Ha.
Thank you for the reminder that we are transformed by time and connection with Him, rather than by what we consume. I know I’ve heard this I can’t remember how many times, but this time it sat differently. It clicked into my heart in a different way. Thank you for your words!
Melissa, your words here are so encouraging to me as well. I’m glad that God is moving along with you just as He is with me.