Spiritual Disciplines: Exercises of the Soul

By Pastor Chad

The curse of the 21st century is instant satisfaction. According to Richard Foster, our age has three main adversaries: noise, hurry, and crowds. Modern man is uncomfortable in silence. We want some constant distraction and noise to take our minds off of life. We are consistently in a hurry–rushing kids from one sporting event to the next. Rushing out the door to make the next event or appointment. Rush, rush, rush. Now. Now. Now. Such is a soul draining existence.  

When Charles Sheldon wrote In His Steps, he started a movement called WWJD: What would Jesus do? The basic idea is: If Jesus were in your situation, how would He act; what would He do? The intention behind the question is (I think) sincere: We should act like Jesus. As the pastor and philosopher Dallas Willard points out, however, the concept can never work in the simple form it is presented. 

One cannot do as Jesus did without living the life Jesus lived. Our decisions and actions in life are not made in a vacuum. Who we are today–in many ways–is impacted by who we were yesterday. No sports player magically becomes a great athlete overnight. She practices, works, sacrifices, and homes her skills over time. In the same way, spiritual growth is a process–it doesn’t happen overnight. Sure, when we repent of our sins and believe in the gospel we are regenerated and justified–forgiven and born again. But that doesn’t mean we have successfully arrived where we need to be in the process of salvation. Pastor Kent Hughes says, “We will never get anywhere in life without discipline, be it the arts, the trades, business, athletics, or academics." And this is also the case in one’s spiritual life. Discipline is a necessary attribute to have a healthy and thriving spiritual walk. In order to do Christlike action tomorrow, we must exercise today.

As Pastor Hughes says, “[S]piritual discipline frees us from the gravity of this present age and allows us to soar with the saints and angels.” To paraphrase Richard Foster again, in contemporary Christianity, we do not need better teachers, or better speakers, or better musicians, or better writers, or more intellectuals; we need deeper believers. To be specific, we need more godly men and women. 

Today, the church is in desperate need of godly men and women that will live rightly and biblically. Children need a godly father and mother. Wives need godly husbands. Husbands need godly wives. Churches need godly men and women that make their primary pursuit not to achieve worldly success and acclaim, but to pursue holiness at all costs. That’s where spiritual disciplines come in. 

Over the next three months, we will take an in-depth look at spiritual disciplines. What are they? How do we practice them? What is their purpose? And how do they help our spiritual lives? I encourage you to join us each Sunday morning, but I also encourage you to implement the disciplines we discuss in your own life. They aren’t easy, but they are worth it. Let’s walk this journey together, and seek to glorify God in all that we do.