However, most people don't know what're spiritual disciplines or at least quite blur to it.
Here's a recommended reading site for this information. It's in English but it's very easy to understand.
The Water's Edge
Below are some previews:
"Superficiality is the curse of our age…. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people."
-Richard Foster, "Celebration of Discipline"
"The spiritual life is first of all a life.It is not merely something to be known and studied, it is to be lived."
-Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude"
"Everybody thinks of changing humanity and nobody thinks of changing himself."
--Leo Tolstoy
Once upon a time, a group of men from Chicago left their jobs in the high-rise office buildings, moved to the prairie, and bought some farmland.
"We're farmers!" They all declared to each other. And all summer long they would go to the field to watch their crop grow up. However, when September rolled in, their fields were filled with goldenrod and all kinds of wildflowers and weeds.
"Where's the corn?" they asked each other. And they wondered what they could have possibly done wrong.
Growing up in the church, I have often noted the fact that so few "long-time church members" experience the significant life-change expected from many years as students of Jesus. Like those city boys, they purchase the land, but do nothing to cultivate a field in which growth could take place.
Why do so many of us feel like we just have not grown very much in the likeness of our Master? Are we just spiritually "thick-headed?" Are we just not "built" to be spiritual giants? Or have we simply not been taught what it means to be a student of Jesus?
2 comments:
I agree there's alot of confusion surrounding the nature of spiritual disciplines, and think it's great that you guys are thinking about it.
I would recommend the leaders to grab a hold of "Spiritual Disciplines Handbook" by Calhoun. It's about $30 from Koorong, and contains an outline of different disciplines across different domains of Christian spirituality. It is a useful reference for leaders who want ideas on different disciplines to introduce to their groups.
At the moment I'm working through the "spiritual formation workbook" with someone else, that provides a structure and approach for introducing disciplines into a group setting, and it has been useful.
At the same time it's important to REALLY emphasise that disciplines do NOT help you grow - they just put you in a position through which the spirit can work. They are not a magic bullet we can use to twist God's arm into making us grow, which is the way too many Christians begin to take it.
Btw i'll warn also that a good application of spiritual disciplines is a good way to annoy people - because it places the demands of discipleship right in the forefront, so be prepared for that.
Post a Comment