Christians are
followers of God through their faith in Jesus Christ. Some describe themselves
as evangelicals; so named from their claim, “Christian
faith is known, and experienced through a direct personal encounter with Jesus
Christ, as an active conversion.” By and large individual evangelicals exist
and function in their Christian faith-witness within the range of protestant
churches comprising evangelicalism; which as a movement in modern Christianity emphasizes
the gospel of forgiveness and regeneration through personal faith in Jesus
Christ, affirms orthodox doctrines, social responsibility, personal
discipleship, and the importance of structured or regularized personal
devotional life practices. The term “Devotional Life” indicates a generalized
evangelical discipleship practice.
The term “DEVOTIONAL LIFE” refers to . . .
- The practice of regular Bible reading, prayer, reflection/meditation,
and personal worship which may include the spiritual discipline of journaling;
the Bible reading element is frequently supported by published Bible reading
notes.
Evangelicalism’s
common expectation is the timing of a person’s daily devotions are observed in
the morning is often before breakfast, employment, or other larger
responsibilities. The practice is also known as; “daily devotions” or “quiet
time” is a devotional “rule of life.”
One’s “DEVOTIONAL RULE OF LIFE” is the structured routine of . . .
Self-chosen and intentionally
undertaken
- Christian spiritual disciplines
Which one pursues as either personal
or communal life-practices in
- maintaining and deepening one’s
relationship with God,
and
- Effective engagement within
broader-life public life.
Note: While Rule of Life structures provide a “centering for devotional practices and the
integration of a range of spiritual disciplines” they are not limited to merely
enabling devotional spirituality; they hold invaluable relevance in the whole-of-life
or holistic formation, and integration of one’s inner, outer and corporate
worlds.
CHRISTIAN SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES are . . .
Devotional spiritual formation
practices disciples apply consistently that help maintain and nurture faith,
grow spirituality, and build up Christ-conformity.
While there is a
significant range of Christian spiritual discipline practices, evangelical
spirituality author Richard Foster provides a “helpful threefold starting
framework” . . .
- Inward - Disciplines
practiced in the privacy of our intimate walk with Jesus
- Meditation,
prayer, fasting, and Bible study
- Outward -
Disciplines that affect how we interface with the world
- Simplicity,
solitude, submission, and service
- Corporate
- Disciplines that are practiced with others
- Confession,
worship, guidance, and celebration
Practicing Spiritual Disciplines . . .
- Spiritual discipline practices help
to put us in a place where we can begin to notice God and respond to His word
to us
- Spiritual disciplines give the
Holy Spirit space to brood over our souls
- Spiritual transformation,
“recovering your life,” comes from partnering with the Trinity for change
- Keeping company with Jesus in
the space between wanting to change and not being able to change through effort
alone can be a difficult thing to do.
- Disciplines are intentional ways we
open space in our lives for the worship of God
- They are not harsh but grace-filled
ways of responding to the presence of Christ with our bodies. Worship happens
in our bodies, not just our heads. In Romans 12:1 Paul exhorts us to; “Offer your bodies as living sacrifices,
holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship”
SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINES OPEN US TO GOD (aka “Worship”)
Worship is not something we
work up or go to on Sunday morning. Worship is every discipline's end game! We
miss the point and endanger our souls when we think of spiritual disciplines as
ends in themselves.
Spiritual practices exist to open us
into God.
They are never the "be all and end
all" of discipleship. The "be all and end all" is a loving trust
of and obedience to the God who is within us yet beyond us and our very best
efforts.
Adele
Ahlberg Calhoun, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform
Us. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2005, p.17-21.
John C. Douglas, "The Effectiveness of a Rule of Life as Growth Processing
Framework in the Development of New Zealand Evangelical Church Leaders’
Spiritual Discipline Behaviors (Project Draft)." doctoral
dissertation, Denver Seminary 2013, p.110-112.
Richard J. Foster, Celebration of
Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth. 20th anniversary ed. [San
Francisco]: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998, p.1-9.
Dallas
Willard, The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God.
1st ed. London: Fount, 1998, p. 386-398.
From SSPP Seminar session #2
