Training vs Trying
Training... to arrange your life around certain exercises and experiences that will enable you to do eventually what you are not yet able to do eventually what you are not yet able to do even by trying hard.
To follow Jesus means learning to arrange my life around those practices taht will enable me to stay connected to him and live more and more like him. In short, this is just another way of defining a spiritual discipline. It is any activity that can help me gain power to live life as Jesus taught and modeled.
What the Spiritual Disciplines are NOT...
...a barometer of spirituality. The ultimate indicator of your spiritual health is your capacity to love God and love others.
...a way of earning "brownie points" with God. They only have value insofar as they keep us vitally connected with zChrist and empowered to live as he lived.
Similarly, a disciplined person is not necessarily someone who does a lot of disciplines. A disciplined person is one who can do the right thing at the right time in the right way with the right spirit. It is a person who discerns when laughter, or gentleness, or silence, or healing words, or truth-telling is called for and offers it promptly, effectively, and in love.
Every Moment Counts
There are some foundational practices, like prayer, solitude, and Scripture meditation that are critically important. But all of life's activities can become spiritual training exercises if you allow them to.
Sitting in traffic congestion can become a training exercise in patience. Mundaneactivities like cleaning the house or taking a shower can train our hearts in gratitude, if we use those opportunitites to thank God for his daily provisions.
There is no need to divide life into times to "be spiritual" and times to "just do life." Every moment is a cance to learn from Jesus how to live in the kingdom of God.
God's Role and Mine
You may be wondering what God's role is in the Spiritual Training process. Think of a motor boat compared to a sailboat. I can run a motor boat all by myself. All I have to do is start the engine. I'm in control. But a sail-boat is different. I can hoist the sails. I can steer the rudder. But I am utterly dependent on the wind. My job is simply to do those things that will enable me to catch the wind when it comes.
Spiritual transformation is like piloting a sailboat. I can open myself to it through certain practicies, but I cannot engineer the wind. When it comes, it is a kind of gift. Wise sailors know their main task is to be able to read the wind, to learn to raise and lower particular sails to catch the wind most effectively. They know when to stay on the existing course and when to set a new one.
So it is with spiritual disciplines. Our job is to creatively and wisely engage in those activities that will give God a chance to work in our life. This can look differnt in different seasons of our lives. We can put up the sails and adjust them as needed. But what happens is up to God.
Spiritual Exercise
Your challenge this week is to see that all of life counts. If you let them, the ordinary moments of your day can become powerful training exercises in spiritual transformation. For one week, punctuate your days with the simple question, "How can this moment train me?"
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