Do You Want to Grow Spiritually?
Session invites members to explore the spiritual disciplines that help Christians grow in their faith
From the pastor,
Not long ago, I met a Presbyterian pastor who has
written two books about the spiritual disciplines. That got me thinking about this topic, because Presbyterians haven’t
traditionally been all that interested in the spiritual disciplines. Actually, now that I think about it, you might be wondering
what I even mean by talking about them.
Spiritual disciplines are practices that people do to help them grow in their relationship with God. Richard J. Foster
is probably the one Christian thinker who has done the most to make American believers aware of the spiritual disciplines.
He wrote a book entitled Celebration of Discipline, which is widely read in churches, Christian colleges and seminaries.
Foster divides spiritual
disciplines into three main categories: Inward, Outward and Corporate.
Inward disciplines are ones that other people wouldn’t necessarily notice, even if you were prac-ticing them
in the same room. Prayer is probably the most common of these Inward disciplines; you can pray out loud, but you can also
close your eyes and pray silently if the situation demands it. (Personally, I learned this form of prayer in school and practiced
it on the days when report cards were handed out.)
Meditation is an Inward discipline. Lots of Christians probably associate meditation with other religions more than
with our faith. Buddhism is more active in meditation; “Zen Buddhism,” for instance, literally means “the
Buddhism of medi-tation.” But many of the most dynamic Christians in the history of the church have also been very deeply
committed to the process of meditation. It’s really a process of shutting out the hustle and bustle of the world so
you can think deeply about what God has done in history, what God has done in Jesus, what the scriptures say about a certain
matter, etc.
The
other two Inward disciplines in Foster’s scheme are fasting and study. A few of us study regularly, studying the Bible
or other Christian literature, but only something like 7% of Presbyterians study the Bible at all. And fasting is even rarer
among folks like us. Some of us give up sweets or something for Lent, but that’s about as close as we usually get. And
what we give up is usually something we already wanted to give up anyway – so for us, fasting is really just trying
to get God to help us with our diet.
Foster lists four practices as Outward disciplines.
They are: simplicity, solitude, submission and service. It’s probably pretty obvious
why they’re called outward disciplines: Each of them affects our relationship with the world outside ourselves. Simplicity
is the practice of a way of life that shuns the luxury and excessive consumption that’s so much a part of modern American
culture. Solitude is the intentional practice of drawing off by yourself to have the space to think and pray and listen for
God’s voice in your life. Submission is the practice of placing yourself under the direction of another Christian and
actually following that direction, whether you want to or not.
Service is pretty obvious, at least in its meaning, but there’s a little more to it than you might think at first
blush. The discipline of service isn’t, for instance, just planting flowers outside the church, which is really just
a way of serving the club of which we are a part. To really practice the discipline of service means serving strangers and
others just because we are commanded to by our Master.
Foster also lists four “corporate disciplines,” by which he means disciplines that Christians practice
together instead of alone. They are confession, wor-ship, guidance and celebration. There’s not really space to go into
the meaning of those disciplines in detail, but if you think about it for a minute, each of those practices is something that
the church does as a group.
Now, the whole idea of taking part in something called “disciplines” doesn’t really ring too many
bells with most Protestant Christians. I don’t think it’s any mystery why. Most of us don’t like the sound
of something we have to do with some regularity to get something out of it. And the whole idea of discipline sounds like someone
else has the power to tell us what to do – and that, of course, is something Americans really hate.
But Jesus seems to have assumed that his followers
would practice these disciplines. If you remember, he once said to his disciples, “When you fast, do not look somber
as the hypocrites do.” Seems pretty obvious that Jesus expected his disciples to fast, don’t you think? And that’s
just one example. If you take Richard Foster’s list of spiritual disciplines and read the gospels with that list in
your hand, you’ll find that the life of discipleship Jesus was calling his disciples to has these disciplines at their
very core.
At
the March meeting of Session, we had a conversation about the spiritual disciplines, and I mentioned to the elders that I’ve
been thinking about the possibility of beginning a program to help members of the congregation grow in their faith by studying
and practicing the spiritual disciplines. I thought they might sort of shrug and say, “OK, if you want to.” But
to my surprise, the members of Session seemed genuinely enthusiastic about the idea – and nearly all of the members
said if I organized a program, they would participate.
So on the first and third Wednesday evening of each month, starting April 7, we’re going to gather in the Narthex
to learn about the spiritual disciplines and try practicing them. Each month we’ll focus on one of the disciplines for
both sessions, and we’ll encourage participants to try out that discipline and report back to the group on how it went.
We’ll probably spend
more time on the discipline of prayer than on any of the others, because there are so many different kinds of prayer that
Christians have practiced throughout history.
Real spiritual growth comes about through the disciplines of the faith; just as physical health comes about when we
practice physical disciplines like exercise, healthy eating and getting enough sleep. Starting on Wednesday, April 7, members
of the congregation (and their friends, if you’d like to invite them) will start trying to grow in our spiritual lives
together. Please plan to join us.
Grace and Peace,
Henry
Actions of Session
If you
are new to the congregation and would like to add you and your family’s dates of birth and anniversary, you can either
put the information in the offering or call the office Monday-Friday from 8:00am to noon.
Twice a month the cupboard
packs 35 boxes for the Niles Senior high-rise. This is an assembly line process and help would be appreciated.
A big THANK-YOU goes out to Sara Williamson for coming on the past several Tuesday mornings to help finish the boxes.
If you can help with this process, you are asked to come on Monday morning at 11:00am. Remember, many
hands make light work. All non-refrigerated items are packed into the boxes
at that time.
The deacons of the church provide
regular support to those in need of grocery items, and your help is needed to support this vital ministry.