Faith Venture

I’m teaching on the discipline of study this weekend. A couple of days ago I broached the topic of study->learn->do. You meditate to bring the Word more deeply into your soul. You study to analyze the word in order to understand the meaning. You read a devotional with Scripture in the morning in order to start the day off with the correct frame of mind. It all works together.

In order to do each, you need to start in silence with a clear mind and focus on the Word. Then you read something and figure out what the writer meant. This is work. I’ll talk about that work in a later post. I’m not from the generation that began with the later Boomers and extended on where evidently people were pampered and got the idea that work is bad. Actually, work is your highest calling. Whatever your talent, you need to work at it.

Going through the hard work of study must have some beneficial result else why do it. Study leads to understanding. Understanding leads to perspective. And this leads to wisdom. Wisdom is knowing how and when to act when faced with a situation. How to interact with people who need or are seeking guidance.

Some people think study is memorizing. They learned this in school. Memorizing is not all bad, but it is not understanding. You can quote a Bible verse to someone in need, but if you have no understanding, you cannot truly guide that person to understanding the truth in the situation. Quoting a verse does not take the place of a deep, focused compassion for another where the wisdom you have gained beginning with study becomes a spiritual fruit.

Study is good. Set aside some times for concentrated study of a book of the Bible this year. Or a spiritual classic like Augustine’s Confessions. It’ll pay huge dividends both for you and for the people you interact with.

‘All men’s miseries derive from not being able to sit in a quiet room alone.’ ~Blaise Pascal

Can you sit alone in a room? Just with yourself? Without checking Facebook to see what others are doing? Without flipping on the TV to get some noise?

The psychologist Carl Jung wrote about a patient who was becoming unbearable with tension and busyness. He suggested that the patient try sitting alone in his study every afternoon doing nothing. Just experiencing stillness. After a week, the patient returned and Jung asked how it went. He said that he tried it. He sat for a while. Then he got up and rearranged books on the shelf, shuffled papers, and other busy work. Jung told him the idea was that he was to sit still and just be with himself. “I can’t think of any worse company,” the man protested.

To me there is nothing better to do to start the day than to get a cup of coffee and just sit quietly for a time. My thoughts may wander for a while, then settle down. Sometimes if I have a problem, I’ll just release it mentally, then a solution will present  itself out of nowhere–so to speak. Sometimes I just start the day calmer when I know that I’ll be facing people who are not calm and who only serve to agitate my soul. It’s easier to deal with them when you begin the day calm.

Try it. Perhaps read from the Bible first. But don’t think about the passage. Just be still and enjoy the quiet.

We live in an era where continuous learning is essential to keep up with your job. You also need continuous learning in order to grow spiritually. I have thought a lot about study and learning, but Jon Swanson wrote something yesterday that woke me up. “You learn in order to do.”

When Jesus was tempted after fasting and praying for 40 days in the wilderness, he met each of the three temptations with a quotation from Scripture. He was hungry (probably almost starved), and the Temptor suggested that he turn the rocks into bread. Now, he could have done that. After all, he turned 5 loaves of bread into dinner for 5,000. But he just replied God says you cannot live by bread alone. He didn’t just know Scripture, he practiced it.

We all know people who are “book smart.” Engineers were famous for that in manufacturing when I started working there. They could work all manner of formulae, tell you about strength of materials with math, but didn’t always know just which alloy of aluminum would be best for an application. Or they could design a part only to discover that it was impossible to machine that part.

I guess I fear being book smart about the Bible and then getting caught not practicing it.

I’m diving deeper into learning the Spiritual disciplines as I lead a group of people into deeper spiritual formation. I notice that the disciplines address body, mind and spirit–sometimes more than one at a time.

We took a look at how meditating on the Word of God and deeper intercessory prayer nourish and develop your soul. Next we look at fasting. Abstaining from food and drink for a period of time in order to focus your attention more deeply on God brings discipline to your body, but it also strengthens the soul. Disciplined study strengthens your mind.

You can do all of these simultaneously, of course.

As we studied intercessory prayer, someone asked about prayer as a conversation with Jesus. Doing each of the Spiritual disciplines will lead you to a life of constant communion with Jesus. That is actually the goal of practicing discipline. It’s not that you can study, or pray, or fast. It is that each practice leads you to a deeper awareness of the reality of God.

We have all noticed at some point in our life those people who live undisciplined lives. They seem lost. No direction. First they try one thing, then another. Sometimes relationships are destroyed. Or their bodies through drug or alcohol or food abuse. Or their minds through drug or alcohol abuse or simply through lack of mental exercise.

But disciplined people are those who seem in touch with God, serve others quietly with joy, are always there to listen and help.

So, I’m preparing to teach a class on developing spiritual discipline. Meanwhile, I’ve been so busy that several of my disciplines—including writing this blog—have gone out of the window.

In the past three weeks, I’ve slept in my own bed a total of 5 nights. All this travel destroys my routines. As I’ve thought about this, I have concluded that I need at least one habit or discipline that I can do on the road even when I’m getting to my room about 11 after dinner and needing to shower to leave by 7 for a breakfast meeting.

That realy is what disciplines are all about. Making a conscious choice to do something every day that will move you toward growth. I have another one of those weeks coming up. We’ll see how I do.

The Willow Creek Community church in South Barrington, IL recently conducted a large survey of Christians. During a message from a couple of weeks ago (I listen to podcasts of the messages, you can subscribe through iTunes or go here) the teaching pastor made the comment that out of 80,000 people who responded to the survey, many thousands acknowledged becoming spiritually stuck.

I bet that happens to lots of us. There are times, especially after experiencing a “God moment” when God seems to be distant. Prayer life seems sterile or non-existent. Worship is a drag. You can’t seem to connect. Obviously I’ve been through some of those times. Sometimes even experiencing what John of the Cross called The Dark Night of the Soul.

Willow Creek didn’t stop with that question, though. They asked how they become unstuck. Many thousands answered that question. The overwhelming answer was Re-engage Spiritual Practices. In other words, it is intentional. A matter of attitude. You want to connect to God. Wonder why you’re not. Maybe your habits slipped. So you intentionally return to consciously forming the habits of study, prayer, worship and the like. And one or more of these practices helped you re-connect to God.

If you live close to Sidney, Ohio, I’m teaching an introduction to practicing Spiritual Disciplines this fall. This will actually be one of my disciplines because the Fall is one of my busiest times between the work I do with soccer programs and my business. But teaching is an important calling. I’ll just touch on a few of the basic disciplines including study, prayer, meditation, worship, celebration, fasting and a few more.

If you are interested, send me a message.