DISCIPLINE!

I am not for it! At least not the physical kind of discipline. I have no intention of rapidly running through my finite allotment of heartbeats, in typical Esau fashion despising my birthright and greedily devouring my ration of systoles and diastoles. If you want to speed things up a bit, by all means, go ahead. No tachycardia for me!

[Something wrong with my theology here?]

Anyhow…

This, folks, is a special week in the church calendar—that cycle of events that keep time in the life of the Body of Christ. This is a special week because this Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent.

In the church, Lent (from the Old English word for spring) has come to demarcate the 40 days, excluding Sundays, that lead up to the greatest event on the church calendar, the event because of which the church exists—the Resurrection.

Lent serves as a preparation for this glorious redemptive event and, traditionally, the community of God’s people has prepared for its celebration with an examination of why, in the first place, redemption was necessary. The church through the ages (indeed, Lent was discussed in the Church Council at Nicæa, in 325) has utilized Lent for self-examination—a probing scrutiny of the sinful human condition and its deadly consequences for individual and society, and an equally intense consideration of the new life offered to us in Jesus Christ.

Discipline has been the key word of the Lenten season—intentional and sustained acts of self-control, not proceeding from a sense of duty or obligation, but from a heart of grateful devotion to God and Christ.

… discipline yourself
for the purpose of godliness;
for bodily discipline is only of little profit,
but godliness is profitable for all things,
since it holds promise for the present life
and also for the life to come.

1 Timothy 4:7–9

Think of the disciplines as ways we can place ourselves in the path of God’s sanctifying grace. Like placing your hands under a faucet: it is the water that cleans, but you’ve got to place your hands in the stream of water. Spiritual disciplines are to spirituality and godliness what a training regimen is to an athlete.

If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself,
and take up his cross daily,
and follow me.

Luke 9:23

There are things we can do and/or things we can give up (temporarily or permanently) in the denial of ourselves for the sake of following Christ, for the sake of developing godliness. Dallas Willard (The Spirit of the Disciplines) calls them the disciplines of engagement: worship, fellowship, study, prayer, service, etc.; and the disciplines of abstinence: solitude, silence, celibacy, simplicity, fasting, etc.

Consider engaging in one or more this somber season of Lent. Hopefully this disciplinary exercise will become a habit that transcends the span of 6+ weeks. I sure hope it will with the discipline of engagement I’ve resolved to undertake: regular memorization of Scripture. Anyone care to join me in this enterprise of treasuring God’s Word in our hearts (salvaging a few cardiac impulses in the process)? At least those Bible verses on this blog weekly?

Or you could consider one or more of these practices: skipping a meal or a favorite food? scheduling more time for prayer or Bible study? giving of your self and your resources in service of our fellowmen? … ?

Discipline. For the purpose of godliness. For the profit it holds for this life. For the profit it holds for the life to come. For the glory of God!

…discipline yourself
for the purpose of godliness …