Discipline?

I did it.

A few weeks ago, after leaving the gym, I reached my goal of trying to lose twenty-five pounds.

While I don’t have the rippling abs and super cut biceps I imagined I would after three months of pounding the treadmill everyday, I am looking and feeling better.  I know the ebs and flows of my workout routine shouldn’t be directly tied to the prosperity of my spiritual life.  I’ve learned that being disciplined in small areas of my life, like working into a running schedule and eating better, can help me take greater strides in avenues that hold more of an eternal significance.

I recently spent a week in Florida for, what seems like will be, my last college spring break trip.  I would wake up at eight a.m., make breakfast for myself, and the run anywhere from two to six miles depending on how well my shin splints were doing that day.  I’d come back to the rental house and spend a solid hour or so studying the scriptures, praying, and seeking the spirit as a way to start my day before anyone else would wake up.  I really enjoyed combining this discipline while being able to take in the awe of creation a few yards from the beach.  But it got me thinking; why do I feel it necessary to spend time with Jesus like this?  And if everyone does it, does that necessarily mean it’s the best way to build spiritual discipline in our lives?

I know a “quiet time” isn’t necessary for my salvation, but why have wiser men than me have suggested that this discipline would be beneficial to my spiritual life?

You need to know that I have the personality type that when told to do something, I usually entertain the idea of doing the exact opposite in order to prove someone wrong.  So when told to have a daily quiet time, I used to chose to do the exact opposite, justifying my actions, or lack thereof, by trying to avoid any hint of legalism in my life.  I’m not the type to nod and agree, to do as I’m told no questions asked, I can’t act based solely on the initial words of others.  While these older, wiser men and women exemplify great Christians; they have to tell me the reasons behind the action, not just how to do them effectively.

Like the Israelites in the desert we try to create these tangible ways to measure our faith and claim that in doing them, we’re worshiping God, when in reality all we’re doing is creating a bigger barrier between our true father and ourselves.  When we look at the idea of adding more discipline into our lives we have the tendency to fall into one of two camps:  The “nod and agree” – act blindly faction, and the “don’t tell me what to do” – I’ll figure it out on my own camp.

When we act blindly, trusting in the guidance of others,  our actions seem correct but we can easily lose sight of the bigger picture.  We become a group of autonomous people going through the motions in hopes of achieving a greater sanctification based on the words of a trusted parent, pastor, or friend.  We look at their lives, see that they are putting these actions into practice and seek to imitate rather than understand.  It’s simpler that way.  It’s easier to go through life looking for answers to “how” questions rather than “why” questions.  Sometimes, it’s just been wired into us to not be difficult and to go with the flow.

On the other side of the spectrum we find people that want to avoid legalism all together.  These zealots try to find their own meaning in life, and refuse to, as G.K. Chesterton would say, respect “the gospel of the dead.”  Change for the sake of changing isn’t always the best option, and when we perpetually do the opposite of the nor we lose respect for the men and women who have paved the way, and figured things out that if we would only stop for a moment and listen, would save us countless hours of searching for answers in the limited life experience we have.

So what’s the answer?

How do we combine the advice of our elders and their stories, with the knowledge that come with figuring out why we do things on our own?  What if we never come to the right answers on our own?  What if our elders don’t know why they do what they do, and are only doing it because some one told them to?

What’s great about God is that we can’t limit him.  We can’t “put him in a box”.  If that is true, than is there more to God than what has been revealed to us in scripture?

What if God gave us a something else to help us figure out the mystery of discipline, and other life mysteries and we don’t tap into it as much as we could?

I think he has.  In fact, I know he has.  It’s called the Holy Spirit, and I think if we learn to listen to him more, the reason we become disciplined changes from “I have to…” to “I get to”.

If I were to join the Army and be dropped into war right now, I wouldn’t last the day.  But when soldiers go through basic training and are woken up the first day at 4 a.m. they have a hard time getting out of bed, but as their training goes on, their bodies adjust to the discipline needed for combat.  Their bodies are trained to listen and react, no questions asked.  If we don’t take this mindset when it comes to discipline in our lives, we can easily miss the Holy Spirit calling us to do His work.

If our reasons for becoming disciplined are “everyone else is doing it” or “because I have to” or “because someone told me to” we miss the point.  If we aren’t disciplined for the same reasons, we miss the point.  Discipline opens up the door for us to be able to listen to the Spirit and do His work, which often benefits us more greatly than just knowing about Him.