A Preaching Strategy for the Spiritual Disciplines

A Preaching Strategy for the Spiritual Disciplines

Dr. Ed Scott

The Baptist College of Florida

850-263-3261, x488

A Preaching Strategy for the Disciplines

When we preach the disciplines, we are dealing with the very building blocks of people’s souls. We are dealing with the processes by which God can work His plan in our lives:

Rom 8:29…For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren. I don’t claim to understand everything about the balance between election and free will, but I understand this verse. We have been predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ!

So as ministers, we have the rare and special privilege to help others in this eternal process by preaching to them about their best tool for spirituality: the spiritual disciplines. Donald Whitney is in his excellent book on the disciplines has said that there are three basic tools (or “catalysts”) for increasing godliness and two of them are beyond our control: the people around us whom God uses to influence us, and the circumstances of our lives.[1]

But the third is in our hands: the spiritual disciplines. That is the one we have the joyful privilege of preaching. As with any preaching situation, we can preach in a way that truly helps or possibly hurts and offends. So I suggest the following, which is essentially a strategy of identification.

In 1992, Craig Loscalzo, then a professor at Southern and now a full time pastor, wrote a book called Preaching Sermons that Connect. He defined the best sermons as those “connect.” And he said that connecting sermons come from preachers who have “identified” with their congregations.

Identification, said Loscalzo, is superior to what might be called authoritarian preaching (the kind that says to listen and obey because I am the Pastor!) Identification preaching comes from preachers who are real people, who make the Bible come alive for real life situations (partly because they have been there themselves and are not afraid to admit it).

Harold Bryson, in his great little book, Building Sermons to Meet People’s Needs, calls this “putting people in the sermon.” In other words, you simply preach with the needs of people in mind. So the following could serve as a strategy for preaching about the Spiritual Disciplines in particular, and a strategy for preaching about discipleship in general:

1. Think like a struggler: encourage vs. berate

In 1978, Richard Foster published Celebration of Discipline. In that book, Foster correctly identified culture as part of the overall problem resulting in ineffective and unproductive Christianity. He said,

Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem. The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people.[2]

He went on to say that any one of us can be such a “deep” person:

We must not be led to believe that the Disciplines are for spiritual giants and hence beyond our reach, or for contemplatives who devote all their time to prayer and meditation. Far from it. God intends the Disciplines of the spiritual life to be for ordinary human beings…. In fact, the Disciplines are best exercised in the midst of our normal daily activities.[3]

Desire for instant satisfaction in our society, however, is not the only culprit. Another issue is that the Disciplines have been out of practice for so long that they are often unknown. In older times, no one had to ask how to meditate on Scripture or what to eat before a fast, because it was common knowledge. So the current generation will have to re-learn the skills, and guard against confusing the relearning the mechanics with the actual practice of the Disciplines.[4]

In addition, modern believers, especially American believers, have to understand that the development of the disciplines is no mere exercise in self-will and determination.

Our ordinary method of dealing with ingrained sin is to launch a frontal attach. We rely on our willpower and determination. Whatever the issue may be—anger, bitterness, gluttony, pride, sexual lust, alcohol, fear—we determine never to do it again; we pray against it, fight against it, set our will against it. But it is all in vain, and we find ourselves once again morally bankrupt or, worse yet, so proud of our external righteousness that “whitened sepulchers” is a mild description of our condition. Heini Arnold in his excellent little book entitled Freedom from Sinful Thoughts writes, “We . . . want to make it quite clear that we cannot free and purify our own heart by exerting our own ‘will.’

In Colossians Paul listed some of the outward forms people use to control sin: ‘touch not, taste not, handle not.’ He then added that these things “have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship” (Col 2:20-23, KJV…the NASB says “self-made worship). “Will-worship”—what a telling phrase, and how descriptive of so much of our lives! The moment we feel we can succeed and attain victory over our sin by the strength of our will alone is the moment we are worshiping the will. Isn’t it ironic that Paul looked at our most strenuous efforts in the spiritual walk and called it idolatry: “will worship”?

Willpower will never succeed in dealing with the deeply ingrained habits of sin. Emmet Fox writes, “As soon as you resist mentally any undesirable or unwanted experience, you thereby endow it with more power—power which it will use against you, and you will have depleted your own resources to that exact intent.”[5]

* * *

*Note: what do we normally do when someone comes to us and says, “I have tried; I have tried.” We generally advise them to…”try harder!” We do that even if we dress it up in the spiritual language of “turn it over to God.”

Foster says we move forward not by focusing harder on the failure, but by focusing on the Savior…the author and finisher of our faith! And we do that by building new habits through the Spiritual Disciplines!

* * *

The necessary step is learning and practicing new habits, new disciplines. Foster cites the Book of Romans especially as saying that righteousness is a gift of God. And righteousness, in fact, is unattainable through human effort alone.

But Foster also notes that this truth alone can lead us into an opposite error: assuming that there is nothing to do except wait on this righteousness to be given. The truth is in the synthesis: human striving alone is insufficient and righteousness is the gift of God. Foster concludes that God has given us the spiritual disciplines as a means of receiving His grace. The disciplines “allow us to place ourselves before God so that He can transform us.”[6]

Foster uses two metaphors to describe how this happens: a field and a path. A farmer, he says, is helpless to grow grain; all he can do is provide the right conditions for the growing of grain. He cultivates the ground, he plants the seed, he waters the plants, and then the natural (God-given) forces of the earth take over. And up comes the grain! This is the way it is with the Spiritual Disciplines--they are a way of sowing to the Spirit, “getting us into the ground; they put us where He can work within us and transform us.”[7]

Foster says in that regard that the spiritual disciplines are “God’s means of grace.”

He goes on to say that the spiritual disciplines are like a narrow ridge with a sheer drop-off on either side: there is the abyss of trust in works on one side (moralism) and the abyss of faith without striving (antinomianism) on the other. On the ridge there is a path, which is the practice of the disciplines. We must remember that the path does not produce change; it only places us where the change can occur.

The task for us, then, is to cultivate our daily lives into fertile ground in which God can bring growth and change. Expressed in the other metaphor, our task is to stay on the path, which leads us to growth.

If the disciplines become joyful habits, God will have an open door to our hearts. The one danger, of course, is to guard against the joyful habits becoming the drudgery and legalism of the Pharisees, becoming external habits without inward substance! See Rev 2:1-7…the church at Ephesus was busy doing good and godly things, but they had left their first love (the love of Christ).

My pastor once said to me, “God blesses richly where He is welcome and wanted.” He was speaking of church growth where church growth is welcomed by the acceptance of the people for change. But that truth would work, I believe, just as well in the context of this discussion. Where God is welcomed by the practice of the disciplines, He can bless and grow and change lives!

2. Think like a regular person: don’t be afraid to repeat previous material.

In the case of the Spiritual Disciplines, the invitation to be a practitioner is as old as the New Testament itself:

Matt 11:29…Take my yoke upon you and learn from me.

I Tim 4:7…Discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness, for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable in all things since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

So should we be looking for something new and innovative to say instead of covering old ground?

Joe McKeever recently wrote, “I was sitting on the platform, ten feet off to the left and rear of the pulpit, studying the 300 people in the congregation. In five minutes, I would walk to the podium and, as the guest preacher, bring the sermon. The thoughts running through my mind were not helpful.

‘They know all these things. I’m talking about the Church in this sermon, and these people are at church on a Sunday night, of all things. I might as well go into a diner and speak on the joys of eating or to a gym and talk about the need for exercise.’”[8]

Joe said we need to remember three things when we have such thoughts:

a. It is amazing how few in the congregation know the most basic facts of the Christian life and biblical doctrine.

b. The fact that they may know these things does not necessarily mean that they are living them. We all know more than we are doing.

c. Even those who know these things and are doing them faithfully will appreciate the reminder of their value.

3. Think like a beginner: strive for the practical.

Stuart Briscoe has said in his lectures on preaching: every sermon should answer three questions:

1. What? (the information, the data)

2. So what? (the significance, importance)

3. Now what? (the first steps when I leave this place)

Examples

Here are some examples of sermons that deal with the Spiritual Disciplines. I hope you will be able to see in them:

• Encouragement (not berating)
• Repeated information for the regular person (vs. innovation)
• Practical help

Example #1 (Prayer)

The Big Mistake in Prayer

Ecclesiastes 5:1-2

What do you suppose the biggest mistake is in prayer?

Would you believe it? Sometimes the big mistake in prayer is talking--talking too much and too soon, that is! After thinking a long while about his life, Solomon says in these verses that we just don't think enough when we pray!

We don't think about what we are doing.

We don't think about who we are.

We don't think about who God is.

Too often we pray out of routine and not out of intention and purpose. And far too often we just don't listen to God. Solomon says in verse 1 to be "more ready to hear." In verse 2, he says to be careful not to rush into prayer and immediately begin barraging God with multiple requests. His advice is to stop and get a grasp of what is happening in prayer: a man on earth is speaking to God in heaven.

If that thought can seize us, our prayer time will be revolutionized. And Solomon wants that to happen to us, so in verse 2, he gives us his best advice: "let your words be few." Don't worry, the words will come, and there will always be time for your requests. But start slow, seize the moment, and see what is happening. You may discover that God has something to say to you as well!

Father, never let me take my prayer time for granted. Help me to enjoy praying. I want my time with you to be more than an obligation. I want it to be peace. I want to hear you speak. So help me stop for a moment, help me slow down, help me put all my requests off for just a minute...and enjoy being in your presence.

Example #2 (Prayer)

Learning to Be Honest with God

Psalm 109: 1-20

This is the second in a series of lessons on prayer that you can't use at church--but you can use them at home! Last Wednesday we talked about talking too much and too soon. We need to stop, think, and listen. Now we learn a lesson from Ps 109 and some of its "cousins" in the Psalms!

Psalm 109 is the best known of a group of psalms called "imprecatory" (imprecate: "to curse") psalms. Ps 109 is best known because it is the most severe and because v8 is quoted in Acts 1:20 as a reference to Judas. This psalm and others like it have been troubling to many because of their lack of mercy...John Durham, in the Broadman Commentary, called Psalm 109..."the most comprehensive and imaginative sequence of vituperation in the Psalms."

There is no doubt that David is speaking here as an angry and passionate man. He was such a man. The lesson for us is not that we should be the same...how well does that compare with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control? But rather the lesson is in this and the other imprecatory psalms: we must learn to be honest with God.

Most of us, when we pray, don't tell the truth. And if someone in our church voiced these prayers, we'd refer them to a counselor! We habitually do not let people know how we are really feeling, and we carry that habit over into our speaking to God. But we must begin to tell God just how we feel.

1. It is emotionally cleansing to tell the truth--not using theological language--but simply telling God what our gut reactions are!

2. With the door to honesty open, God then becomes our counselor.

In an old book, The Listener, an old man in the community leaves money for a prayer chapel. And in the chapel, a heavy curtain is placed across the room to hide a listener who will listen to any person and any problem. He listens, but never speaks. The people come, one by one, for their time in the room...and they all seem to get better. The listener does not speak, but it seems as though he does. Some realize they have talked out the answer themselves, some swear he gave them advice. It turns out that there was never anyone behind the curtain. And we must realize that God can superintend that process for us...as we tell him the truth about anger, jealousy, and even depression.

**[Imprecatory Psalms: 35, 59, 69, 70, 109, 137, 139, 140]

Example #3 (Bible study)

II Tim 2:15

What Else Can I Do with It?

Among the last things ever written down by the Apostle Paul before his execution by the Romans, there is this word to Timothy about studying the Bible. It is an exhortation, a strong encouragement, an urging from the Apostle Paul at the end of his ministry to the young pastor Timothy at the beginning of his ministry. And the urging is this: Paul tells Timothy to begin a lifetime habit of studying the Word of God to the extent that even God himself would approve the level of study! He tells him to become "a workman," a serious student of the Bible.

This presents a problem for many Christians. The problem, of course, is not that we do not have any Bibles. Churches buy Bibles by the case to give away. In many Christian families, special occasions are marked by the giving of a Bible. New Study Bibles come out every year, and many Christians, myself included, can't wait to get their hands on the latest and greatest edition. Like teenagers standing in line for the latest video game, like computer junkies waiting for the latest processor to be released, Christians will often grab up the latest version of the Word of God.

Neither is the problem that we don't read the Word of God. If Christians have heard one sermon about reading their Bibles, then they have heard a million. It is thoroughly ingrained into the Christian mindset that we should open the Word of God. I think that even if we didn't hear those sermons, the Spirit of God would communicate the same idea to us. He would assure us that these really are the "words of life" and that we ought to give our attention to them.

In fact, believers are so fond of the Bible that we often display them in our homes or put Scripture plaques on our walls. That is actually a good tradition, going all the way back to the Jews who placed portions of the Bible in their doorway so they would be reminded every time they left their house that they were to live by the Word of God. I admire that Judge over in Alabama who has fought to keep the Ten Commandments posted on the wall of his courtroom. And I remember the story of Chuck Colson attending a meeting of newspaper editors. During the meeting, one editor proudly proclaimed that he led the campaign to remove the Ten Commandments from his city's classroom walls. And then just fifteen minutes later, the same editor was bemoaning the high rate of theft that was plaguing their school district. Colson said he could not help himself...he raised his hand and suggested that they ought to put a sign in the classrooms that said, "You shall not steal."