In late February, I had the treat of sitting under the teaching of Dallas Willard and John Ortberg at the Knowing Christ Conference sponsored by the Martin Institute/Dallas Willard Center at Westmont College. I took dozens of pages of notes, which I’m editing and sharing over a number of posts.
My standard disclaimer is that these are insights that I gained from listening to John. They are sometimes his exact words. They are sometimes my own words or reflections. So, don’t assume that every word here is straight from him. And these are lightly edited, so bear with possible typos or grammatical goofs. With that in mind, I pray these notes will help you in your own journey with Christ.
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Now we get to some of the “how” of what we’ve been talking about.
Two extended passages: Colossians 3:1-14. Set our hearts/minds on the kingdom. What will it be like to appear gloriously. And 2 Peter 1:1-11.
Can we just live in this counsel. Is my church producing people like these passages describe?
The “how” is answered with insights from spiritual practices.
I didn’t like Dallas’s Spirit of the Disciplines when I first read it. Felt guilty about the disciplines I was already struggling to practice, let alone ones I wasn’t yet.
Authentic transformation is possible and God wants it to happen. There must, therefore, be things I can do in cooperation with Him.
Here’s a helpful distinction: There is a great difference between trying and training. Think about 1 Cor 9:24-27. Run to get the prize. Go into strict training. They do it for a temporary crown, but we for an eternal crown. Not aimless. Not ineffectual. Beating my body, making it a servant of my mind and will. My body is a good servant, but a bad master.
Training. When it comes to physical transformation, how many could go run every step of a marathon today? Few. Even if you tried really hard? No. We would have to train first. Training is arranging my life around those practices which will enable me to do what I cannot now do by direct effort. Training gives me power to do something I cannot do now by willpower alone.
Transformation involves training, not just trying. This is true of learning a musical instrument, a new language and living the spiritual life. 1 Tim 4:7 – train yourself in godliness. Luke 6:40 – every disciple when fully trained will be like the master. There is a close and obvious connection between disciple and discipline.
A discipline is a practice I engage in to receive power. We tend to exaggerate the power of trying and underappreciate the power of training. We kill people with “trying harder to be like Jesus.” Trying harder doesn’t work with anything I cannot currently do under my own power.
Spiritual practices are training exercises. Unfortunately, discipline conjures up self-effort. They aren’t a way I gain credit from God. There are no gold stars for multiplying practices. They aren’t necessarily unpleasant. What counts is based on what you are training for. If I am training for a life of joy and love, disciplines for this life may not be unpleasant at all.
Disciplines themselves aren’t a gauge of maturity. The disciplined person is able to do the right thing at the right time in the right spirit. Don’t do disciplines for their own sake. Do them for what you are training for.
For those of you who don’t much like journaling, remember that Jesus never journalled!
Journal if it helps you gain insight or unpack something.
Remember that disciplines are a means to an end. Grace is critical.
Bonhoeffer: Discipleship is the reception of grace. As a general rule we’re good at teaching that we are saved by grace, but we have sucked at teaching people how to live by grace.
Dallas says that saints burn grace like a 747 burns jet fuel. We receive grace through disciplines, for one. Sometimes God uses experiences. Suffering is one of those experiences that sometimes become an unexpected means of grace.
Disciplines and the fruit of the Spirit. We know thse fruit are to be marks of our lives. But we think we need to try harder to produce them.
How do we actually grow in patience? How do I know to ask which disciplines to practice? What would living in the kingdom look like? What barriers are there to this? What practices would free me of those barriers? These are questions to help us determine the disciplines that will train us in this way of responding.
God is interested in my life, not something called a “spiritual life.”
Dallas once said to me: Ruthlessly eliminate hurry from my life. Hurry is the great enemy of the spiritual life in our day. Disciplines? Drive in the slow lane on purpose. Choose the longest line at grocery. Eat your food…and actually chew!
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Filed under: Church, spiritual disciplines, Spiritual Formation Tagged: church, communion with God, eternal life, John Ortberg, spiritual disciplnes, Spiritual Formation
