Discipline is not my strong suit – I have a hate relationship with clocks and repetitive tasks such as dishes & dusting, followed of course by a nagging sense of the collection of tasks piling up yet to be done, including dishes. I am more people and project oriented – staying at one thing until it’s finished or until the deadline is reached and there’s no more opportunity to work, or talking with people until there’s nothing more to be said or some other event overtakes our visit. This may be why, during this term, I’m in 3 classes that demand a little work every day and several projects that can’t possibly be accomplished in one 24-48 hour window. I will be taught discipline, apparently this term, if it kills me (which it won’t, because God’s got something lined up for me later).
Reading through the chapter, familiar material after many years in holiness churches, I was struck with the phrase “will worship” and the perspective the author pointed out – we worship our willpower. Making sure nothing was taken out of context, I opened my Bible to read that portion of scripture and the surrounding thoughts. Sure enough, ‘will’ is not a verb in that context, but a noun. My mind jumped to Paul’s lament that he didn’t do what he wanted to and continued to do what he didn’t want to – something I can say of myself if it weren’t called plagiarism. So I hunted for that passage, recalling that it was somewhere in Romans…and my eyes fell on verse after verse repeating the refrain: you can’t do this, it is impossible. Expecting the passage to be highlighted, I passed right over it, then thought perhaps it was in one of the other letters, so through the books I went again, and again the words jumped off the pages: you can’t do this. Finally I surrendered to the concordance and found the verses, sure enough, in Romans, but not until I had cruised through several of Paul’s writings and saw the clear theme that was never far from his pen – the strongest self-discipline is of no avail, frankly worthless, in the pursuit of God and the Holy life.
Academically, the author presents the case that people in today’s world are pitifully shallow. Examples, in all walks of life, abound. He then moves into the area of sin-avoidance, commonly understood by anyone attending church in the 20th century (less now), and the pervading sin of will-worship. Like Paul, he doesn’t leave the reader hanging in despair, but explores the balance of grace and making oneself available to be changed through specific and regular habits once commonplace and well understood (whether practiced or not). Finally, he issues a caution to not turn these disciplines into an additional list of things to be accomplished under threat of more guilt and nagging.
I’m looking forward to learning how to stand in the rain (especially when the voices around me insist that the path of wisdom is to come in from the rain).
FOOTNOTES:
Class = Evangelism & Discipleship, Dr John Dendiu, Bethel College, Mishawaka Indiana
Book = Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster (25th Anniversary Edition)
Rain = Illustration presented by instructor – If it’s raining outside and my deepest desire is to get wet, what must I do? Answer: go outside & stand in the rain. Application: God’s pouring the rain, do you wanna get wet or not? (Incidentally, this sparks a flashback to Downpour by Dr James McDonald, Walk in the Word).