Jamie posed a question on her blog this morning that I have also been thinking on lately. She asked for a general response to the question of discipline, or more exactly, self-discipline. I seem to be full of opinions, qualified or not on most things, so why should this issue be any different?
One would be hard pressed to argue against discipline in the life of a Christian, but I am wary of the notion on the whole. I daily bear witness to what I believe to be the negative effects of a disciplined lifestyle, and I often don't know how to reconcile this with the benefits. I know, it sounds funny even reverberating in my mind as I write those words, but I am being entirely genuine in my apprehensions.
I believe the problem to be in two parts: pride and self-reliance.
Pride: I keep a certain set of disciplines, but many are imposed by necessity and do not thereby give me any great sense of pride. Most of these have to do with my education, and therefore are a part of my responsibilities as a responsible student, but there is one discipline that I have been able to call my own for several years now: running. Since the day football season ended in high school there has been no reason for me to engage in running apart from personal fulfillment. I take great pride in the fact that I have consistently done this for over 10 years, but it is in that statement that I am aware of the danger of pride. Though I would normally not admit this, I often have no patience or empathy for those who are slothful and lazy. It has been a source of derision in my relationship with my wife and has led to a feeling of superiority over those who are overweight or unathletic.
All these feelings of pride based on a personal preference. The danger associated with personal discipline is in exactly this. One feels compelled to study Scripture at 5Am each day, and invariavbly they grow to resent those who don't. One values education, and so that person cannot stomach a non-reader. Intellectuals mock entertainment magazines, activists thumb their noses at 'the apathetic', and Baptists look down upon Catholics. The list is utterly endless, and it is based upon personal conviction and the human nature to feel martyred and superior when one's beliefs are not held by the masses.
I work at a school that is built on the principal of individual-discipline-turned-corporate. The head of our institution has personal convictions ranging from prohibition against drinking and tobacco to definite theories on the accountablity of the believer to other believers, but he has globalized these, fearing that one who does not practice these same disciplines cannot possibly know the same Christ that he does. I attribute this attitude to pride, but it also segways into the second danger I see in discipline, self-reliance.
Self-reliance: I am strictly applying this to the Christian faith, because I have observed both in myself and others that a Christian engaged in self-discipline is often want to rely more on themself than on God. I am not one to label myself as a Calvinist or an Arminian, a Platonist or an Aristotelian, a Catholic or a Protestant, but I certainly hold to the Scriptures, and these seem to indicate a Christian's absolute dependence upon God in all things. Spiritual disciplines often, though with good intentions, lead believers into a false sense of security within themselves that leaves God out of the equation.
How often have you heard one say, "I should have had a bad day, but I wasn't prayed-up like I should have been"? They seriously believe that God's fortune rests on their prayers or lack thereof that morning. Or how about my favorite, "God told me ....."? Those who have become actively engaged in study and prayer imagine that they have some sort of supernatural connection with God that is completely divorced of themselves, but even this is an overexaltation of self, in my opinion. Does God speak, certainly, but not nearly at the rate as modern Christianity likes to tout. It is a confidence in one's own ability to hear God speak when others can't, and this is due to the level of intensity with God. Henry Blackaby has made a career of marketing this idea to believers, but potentially at the cost of believers truly relying on God and not their own whims masked as "God's will".
Solution: I don't suppose, as hard as I might try, that I can completely do away with spiritual discipline, so I suppose the answer is to be disciplined in one's discipline. I know, that's not a real answer, but I have to go be teacher for a few hours. I prefer just to present the problem and not leave the answer to you wise sages.
One would be hard pressed to argue against discipline in the life of a Christian, but I am wary of the notion on the whole. I daily bear witness to what I believe to be the negative effects of a disciplined lifestyle, and I often don't know how to reconcile this with the benefits. I know, it sounds funny even reverberating in my mind as I write those words, but I am being entirely genuine in my apprehensions.
I believe the problem to be in two parts: pride and self-reliance.
Pride: I keep a certain set of disciplines, but many are imposed by necessity and do not thereby give me any great sense of pride. Most of these have to do with my education, and therefore are a part of my responsibilities as a responsible student, but there is one discipline that I have been able to call my own for several years now: running. Since the day football season ended in high school there has been no reason for me to engage in running apart from personal fulfillment. I take great pride in the fact that I have consistently done this for over 10 years, but it is in that statement that I am aware of the danger of pride. Though I would normally not admit this, I often have no patience or empathy for those who are slothful and lazy. It has been a source of derision in my relationship with my wife and has led to a feeling of superiority over those who are overweight or unathletic.
All these feelings of pride based on a personal preference. The danger associated with personal discipline is in exactly this. One feels compelled to study Scripture at 5Am each day, and invariavbly they grow to resent those who don't. One values education, and so that person cannot stomach a non-reader. Intellectuals mock entertainment magazines, activists thumb their noses at 'the apathetic', and Baptists look down upon Catholics. The list is utterly endless, and it is based upon personal conviction and the human nature to feel martyred and superior when one's beliefs are not held by the masses.
I work at a school that is built on the principal of individual-discipline-turned-corporate. The head of our institution has personal convictions ranging from prohibition against drinking and tobacco to definite theories on the accountablity of the believer to other believers, but he has globalized these, fearing that one who does not practice these same disciplines cannot possibly know the same Christ that he does. I attribute this attitude to pride, but it also segways into the second danger I see in discipline, self-reliance.
Self-reliance: I am strictly applying this to the Christian faith, because I have observed both in myself and others that a Christian engaged in self-discipline is often want to rely more on themself than on God. I am not one to label myself as a Calvinist or an Arminian, a Platonist or an Aristotelian, a Catholic or a Protestant, but I certainly hold to the Scriptures, and these seem to indicate a Christian's absolute dependence upon God in all things. Spiritual disciplines often, though with good intentions, lead believers into a false sense of security within themselves that leaves God out of the equation.
How often have you heard one say, "I should have had a bad day, but I wasn't prayed-up like I should have been"? They seriously believe that God's fortune rests on their prayers or lack thereof that morning. Or how about my favorite, "God told me ....."? Those who have become actively engaged in study and prayer imagine that they have some sort of supernatural connection with God that is completely divorced of themselves, but even this is an overexaltation of self, in my opinion. Does God speak, certainly, but not nearly at the rate as modern Christianity likes to tout. It is a confidence in one's own ability to hear God speak when others can't, and this is due to the level of intensity with God. Henry Blackaby has made a career of marketing this idea to believers, but potentially at the cost of believers truly relying on God and not their own whims masked as "God's will".
Solution: I don't suppose, as hard as I might try, that I can completely do away with spiritual discipline, so I suppose the answer is to be disciplined in one's discipline. I know, that's not a real answer, but I have to go be teacher for a few hours. I prefer just to present the problem and not leave the answer to you wise sages.
Michael Stone, Keep 'em coming. I appreciate your thoughtfulness and careful consideration of whatever the topic is... I respect your opinions and look forward to hearing what you have to say about stuff. I may comment more specifically on your post later, but I read it twice and it's making me think.