The Problem With Spiritual Disciplines | Theocast

This is a quote by Carson that I found helpful. He says this, it is not helpful to list assorted

Christian responsibilities. We agree there are Christian responsibilities, and label them spiritual disciplines.

It seems to be the reasoning behind the theology that smuggles in, say, creation care and almsgiving.

By the same logic, if out of Christian kindness, you give a back rub to an old lady with a stiff neck and a sore shoulder, then back rubbing becomes a spiritual discipline.

By such logic, any Christian obedience is a spiritual discipline. I couldn't agree with him more.

If you read different books, there are some people who have over 250 spiritual disciplines that you can do in order to gain godliness and to gain maturity and spirituality.

The problem I have with this is two things. There are certain things you can do that are godly acts, meaning that they reflect the nature of God, but they're not guaranteed to bring about maturity.

What concerns me is that nowhere in Scripture other than plain passages like Ephesians 4 say, do this, and it will cause maturity.

Paul flat out says that when the body functions properly, it builds itself up in love.

Nowhere else in Scripture does it say you will be built up into Christ by doing simplicity or quietism or journaling.

Justin Perdue I'm restraining myself from wanting to jump on that Ephesians 4 train because what's the context?

What's the understanding there? It is completely a corporate reality. It is the body of Christ corporate in all of the gifts that Christ gives to the church, which includes apostles, prophets, evangelists, teachers, pastors, and then the whole body.

If we think about Paul's writing elsewhere about how every member has its function, the whole body functions under God by the ministry of God's Spirit to build itself up in love unto maturity in Christ Jesus.

This is why we say all the time, and I want to be really clear because I say this in my own church all the time, and I know we say it here,

John. I know you speak this way at Grace Reformed. God has promised to uniquely bless corporate realities in a way that He has not promised to bless something you do in private.

That does not mean that what you do in private is irrelevant. It's not what we're saying, but it does mean that the most important thing by miles when it comes to the

Christian life and our growth and sustenance is that we gather with the saints to partake of the means that God has promised to bless and to use for our growth and maturation and our sustenance.

You're exactly right. That language of Paul in Ephesians 4 is maybe the most obvious place where the apostle speaks, do these things and this will happen.

But the New Testament is full of that, at least at the level of implication, with all of the corporate exhortations that are given in terms of how we live together and things that need to be given attention.

The preaching and reading of Scripture, the singing of Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to one another, and even the exhortations to prayer are corporate exhortations.

To be praying about everything as a body of Christ, and certainly we pray individually, but it's real important.

According to Jesus, the individual prayer is a prayer of dependence. We are depending upon God for our ongoing sustenance.

It's an outworking of faith. If you turn prayer into a discipline, here's my problem with it.

I'm not saying if someone disciplines themselves to pray at a certain time every day is different than turning prayer into a discipline.

This is why, because then you can equate, if I pray this much, I will mature that much, and it doesn't work that way.

Prayer is about you depending upon God. It is the greatest acknowledgment of our weakness because we have to reach out to God in everything, in our meals, in our fears, in our joys.

We always give praise, honor, and reflection to God because we depend on Him for so much.

Let me put it this way. The thing that I want people to hear is that the

Reformers said the means by which God matures you and sustains you is through the corporate preaching and teaching of His word, the

Lord's table, baptism, and prayer. If you're going to discipline yourself, you need to structure your life in such a way that that becomes the priority of your life.

Discipline your time at home so that you can participate in these corporate realities.

What bothers me is that people want to go home and do all these spiritual disciplines, and yet they are so frustrated by their life because they aren't seeing and not having joy and aren't seeing growth.