Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life
Donald Whitney lists eleven spiritual disciplines, which include Bible intake, prayer, worship, evangelism, serving, stewardship, fasting, silence, solitude, journaling, and learning.[1] The impact on members of my local church would be significant if the spiritual disciplines were practiced consistently. However, first a few caveats are in order. David Earley correctly notes that the spiritual disciplines are “not an end in themselves, they are a means to an end.”[2] If any of the spiritual disciplines, in and of themselves, become gods, even the most righteous activities move toward idolatry. Oswald Chambers astutely points out when referencing Matthew 6:24, “It is easy to associate mammon only with sordid things.”[3] In other words, the enemy would love for the disciplines to become a yardstick for righteousness, a means of unhealthy comparisons, and a methodology that glorifies human performance rather than God.
With caveats firmly in place, underestimating the importance of the spiritual disciplines on their potential impact for members of the local church would be a grievous mistake. For my local church, in particular, a number of the spiritual disciplines are lacking and, at times, even appear absent. First, although evangelistic outreach exists through events, the spiritual discipline of personal evangelism often seems nonexistent. In light of the fact that the Institute of American Church Growth reports that between 75 and 90 percent of conversions occur through one-on-one relationships, the lack of emphasis on personal evangelism is highly problematic.[4] Second, Whitney references the Barna Research Group who suggests that 23 percent of Christians never read the Bible.[5] Unfortunately, due to the young age of the church I attend, I would venture to guess that Barna’s statistics are high. However, it is hard to imagine the magnitude of the impact on the emotional and spiritual health of the members who may consistently experience love, joy, and peace once fully engaged in the Word. Third, although certain disciplines are more difficult to assess, such as silence, solitude, fasting, prayer, and journaling – stewardship is not. The local church I attend averages ten dollars per week per attendee. Obviously, actual tithing is not even in sight. However, the freedom experience and faith expansion of the attendees who would decide to move outside the control and manipulation of the dollar bill, and instead, rely on God to provide, would be significant. Finally, the spiritual discipline of worship has unfortunately become more about evaluating the singers, rating the songs, assessing the decibel level, and seeking entertainment in my church’s seeker friendly atmosphere. Accordingly, the impact of true authentic worship may be revolutionary. Paul urges believers to present their “bodies as living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship” (Romans 12:1 NASB). In other words, if attendees would understand worshipping God as an all-encompassing life offering, their bondage to the temporal pressures of the world would perish. I especially enjoy Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of the same verse, which states, “So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-round life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him” (Romans 12:1 The Message).
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[1]. Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1991), 5.
[2]. Liberty University, “Presentation: A Matter of the Heart – Overview of Spiritual Formation and Prayer,” Liberty University Web site, Microsoft Silverlight file, 7:45, http://bb7.liberty.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_1942950_ (accessed March 16, 2013).
[3]. Oswald Chambers, The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers (Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House, 2000), 728.
[4]. William Fay and Linda Evans Shepherd, Share Jesus Without Fear (Nashville, TN: B&H, 1999), 12.
[5]. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 32.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Chambers, Oswald. The Complete Works of Oswald Chambers. Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House, 2000.
- Fay, William, and Linda Evans Shepherd. Share Jesus Without Fear. Nashville, TN: B&H, 1999.
- Liberty University. “Presentation: A Matter of the Heart – Overview of Spiritual Formation and Prayer.” Liberty University Web site. Microsoft Silverlight file. http://bb7.liberty.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_1942950_ (accessed March 16, 2013).
- Whitney, Donald S. Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1991.
