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Last updated on
Mar. 20, 2003
Determined Discipline
Delivered February 16, 2003
by Pastor Werner De Jong
Text: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27
Main Idea of New Series on Spiritual Disciplines: The ultimate goal of followers of Jesus is to become more and more Christlike, more and more like their Master. This must of course involve obeying his commands. But the power and strength to obey his commands faithfully comes only as we also follow his example of engaging in the regular practice of spiritual disciplines, like prayer, meditation, solitude, fasting and service.
Main Idea of Today's Message: Christians must not make the mistake of presuming that spiritual growth will occur automatically. If we want to share in the blessings of the gospel we must exercise discipline and self-control. This was the apostle Paul's practice, to discipline his body in order to prevent it from falling back into slavery to sin. Rather, through a life of discipline he offered it to God as a slave of righteousness.
Purpose: To encourage the listeners that all Christians can grow spiritually and become Christlike in character. To challenge the listeners that this transformation requires careful attention to the faithful practice of the spiritual disciplines.
Introduction: Every sincere Christian is interested in spiritual growth. Some may not be realizing much progress, but nonetheless that is their desire. Earnest disciples take seriously the New Testament's teaching that followers of Jesus are to become like Jesus. They are not to remain static in their relationship with him, but as they grow to know him they are to become more and more Christlike. As Paul writes in Ephesians, the ultimate goal of believers is "to attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (4:13). This is a tall order, but those who love their Lord do want to grow into people with a maturity like his, people who daily die to self to bring life and hope to others, people who consistently love even their enemies and pray for those who persecute them, people who are merciful and pure in heart, people who are not afraid to be peacemakers even when they are persecuted for it, people of courage, conviction and compassion. All sincere Christians aspire to these things.
This gives rise to the all important question: How do we become like Christ? What does the process look like? Is there a tested and proven method? Or is it just an accident that some people make much greater advances in Christian maturity than others? One of the greatest failures of the modern church is its failure to deal seriously with such questions. I have to confess that it is a failure which up to this point in my pastoral life I fully share. Recent books which I have read have convinced me that I am guilty of a certain imbalance in my own teaching. I have delivered many messages encouraging obedience to the commands of Jesus and the NT, as has the church at large. There is nothing wrong with that, that is the responsibility of pastors and biblical teachers. The problem is that an imbalance results if we only look at the commands of Jesus, or of Paul and Peter and John, but fail also to look at their lifestyles, that is, the habits that these great spiritual leaders have built into their lives which enable them both to teach and live the truths of the gospel with great conviction. It is one thing to know the teachings of the Holy Scriptures; it is another thing to develop the depth of Christ's character within us which will enable us to obey from the heart the form of teaching which he delivered to us.
New Series: The Spiritual Disciplines: In order to begin correcting my own imbalance, this morning I want to start a series of messages on the spiritual disciplines. For if you look at the actual lifestyle of Jesus and later on of the apostles, it is immediately obvious that they were all people of discipline, people who engaged regularly in disciplines like prayer, study, meditation, fasting, solitude, service and celebration, (to name a few). Historically the church took such disciplines very seriously. But in our era words like discipline and self-control and strict training are rarely heard in our churches. Contemporary churchgoers love to hear about blessings and rewards, and God is certainly full of goodness and grace, but many have come to believe in what Dietrich Bonhoeffer called "cheap grace," ie., they have come to believe that all of the blessings of Christ are theirs no matter how they live, no matter what they do, no matter what habits, good or bad, they develop. Contrast that attitude with the testimony of Paul in today's text: "I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize" (v. 27). Many believers today scarcely know what to do with such texts, so we tend to ignore them.
Before we look at this text any further, I want to say one thing about spiritual disciplines. I am aware that the word "discipline" has negative connotations for some people. We may associate it with weariness and drudgery; or we may associate it with past failures to be disciplined, so that any talk of discipline brings back terrible guilt feelings. Others may be reminded of an authoritarian parent who emphasized discipline to an extreme but never accompanied it with love and tenderness. If the concept of discipline has any of these connotations for you, all I can do is beg for your patience and trust during this series. For the biblical concept of discipline has nothing to do with drudgery or guilt or authoritarianism. Rather, as Richard Foster has written, "Joy is the keynote of all the disciplines." I would add to that the biblical teaching that discipline leads to freedom, freedom from slavery to selfish, life-reducing habits. Engaging in the spiritual disciplines will certainly at times be hard work, we won't always feel like doing them, nor will we always feel joyful when we do, but this much is absolutely true: the disciplines are means of grace provided for us by our loving Heavenly Father in order that we may enter into the fullness of Christ's life, and never has there been a more satisfying or joyful life than his. Let me go so far as to say this: If in your practice of the disciplines you become burdened with guilt, or overwhelmed by boredom, stop. Stop immediately and come talk to me. I say that with all sincerity. For in all likelihood it means that something is wrong in our practice or understanding of the disciplines.
The good news is that we can all grow in the deep things of God. Although "superficiality is the curse of our age" (Richard Foster), we can all grow into Christians of substance. The psalmist wrote, "deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls" (42:7). If we want to commune with the deep things of the Spirit of God in the depths of our being, then let us embrace the disciplines, and allow God in his grace to use them to transform us.
Today's Text: With that general introduction to our series, let's turn now to today's text. Like the texts we will look at over the next few weeks, 1 Corinthians 9 doesn't look at any one discipline in particular, but rather it deals with the theme of discipline and spiritual growth in general. After establishing a solid biblical foundation for the practice of the disciplines we will then be ready to look at specific ones.
Do not presume to win the prize: Our text begins with verse 24: "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run (then) in such a way as to get the prize." Paul begins this section of his letter with the metaphor of a footrace. That was very relevant for his readers, because every five years the Isthmian Games, which were second in size only to the Olympic Games, were hosted near the city of Corinth. The citizens of Corinth would observe the athletes during their 10 month training period, and then they would gather in the Stadium to cheer for their personal favourites. Paul employs this racing metaphor to warn his readers against a spirit of presumption. The racing metaphor itself warns against the presumption that simply because one has signed an entry form and entered a race that one will automatically win the prize. That is just not so, argues Paul. If only it were so easy, I would have a gold medal around my neck today! While Paul may have been a racing fan, his point here is not to give advice to sprinters or distance runners. The metaphor of the race was commonly used by Paul for the Christian life. His warning against presumption, therefore, is directed toward those who have entered into the Christian life. Specifically, his warning is this, and we desperately need to hear it today: Do not presume that simply because you have entered the Christian life that you will automatically obtain to all that God has in store for you in Christ Jesus. Growth and maturity in the Christian life, in other words, are not to be taken for granted, they do not occur automatically. If we presume that they do, we are in danger, in Paul's words, of losing the imperishable prize.
Paul had good reason to write this way to the church at Corinth. It was a church plagued with problems. Some of its members were engaging in blatant sexual immorality, while others were flirting with idol worship. Some were guilty of greed and gluttony, for they did not wait to partake of the Lord's feast until everyone had gathered. But yet they were Christians, they had called upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet in chapter 10 Paul warns them to consider the example of their forefathers, who had been delivered from Egypt and passed through the Red Sea. He says they were all baptized into Moses, he writes they all ate of the same spiritual food and drank from the same spiritual rock which accompanied them, which was Christ. Nevertheless, writes Paul, God was not pleased with them and their bodies were scattered over the desert. In other words, your forefathers presumed upon God's goodness and grace, and look what happened to them. Just because you have been baptized, therefore, and just because you partake of the Lord's Supper, is no guarantee that you will be able to stand.
If Paul were writing a letter today, he could write much the very same thing. His strong language should disturb the "easy-believism" that is so prominent among affluent North American Christians. I hope to develop this thought more next week, but suffice it to say this morning that many believers misunderstand what it is to have faith. We have reduced it to mere mental assent to a series of theological statements, which is entirely inadequate. How many Christians are there today who presume that simply because they have quoted the sinner's prayer that they can consequently live however they wish and expect to receive God's blessing? On a less drastic level, but still very serious, are those Christians who do try to avoid breaking laws like the ten commandments, and they want to obey Jesus, but yet who make no effort to develop positive virtues in their lives, who don't take seriously the spiritual disciplines, who don't try to develop godly habits, who seem to presume rather that it is solely God's responsibility to see to their spiritual development.
Exercise Discipline and Self-Control: It is against this very kind of thinking that Paul is writing. Just because you have entered the race doesn't mean that you will win the prize. This leads into Paul's next point: If you do want to win the prize, far from presuming that it will automatically be yours, you must train for it: "Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever" (v. 25). Paul insists that no athlete will ever wear the victor's crown without the sternest self-discipline. We know that to be true. No athlete today can hope to win a medal at the Olympics without complete commitment to a training regimen. Without discipline you'll never get to the victor's podium. Paul's argument is this: if athletes are willing to train so hard to obtain a perishable wreath, shouldn't Christians be willing to train at least as hard to obtain a crown that will last forever? We must not water down this challenge. We must allow it to search us, for it gives rise to a very searching question: Are we as dedicated to spiritual disciplines as Olympic athletes are to physical disciplines? Do we train as hard as they do? Paul calls us to no lesser a standard than this. On one occasion he wrote to his friend Timothy: "Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way." (1 Timothy 4:7). There we have it again, godliness does not grow in us automatically, God does not infuse it in us as if by magic, it is something we have to train for, with all diligence. The Greek word for "train" which Paul uses here is gumnazo, from which we get our word gymnasium. In other words, Paul is saying: "Be at work in the spiritual gymnasium" (Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines, ch. 7). Work out regularly. There is no short-cut, there is no quick fix to spiritual growth.
Before this all begins to sound too impossible, beyond our ability to achieve, let me point out that God in his grace, if we lean on him and seek his help, will provide us the strength we need to discipline ourselves. Self-discipline is our responsibility, but we cannot do it without relying on God's grace. In this regard Paul wrote a very encouraging word to the Philippians, and I urge you to look at this text sometime on your own: "Continue to work out your salvation in fear and trembling (our responsibility) for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose" (2:12). In other words, if we are faithful to our responsibilities, God will give us the will power and the strength to act out his purposes. Self-control and discipline were obviously not strong points for the Corinthians, but yet Paul clearly assumed that they could make progress. Why? Because he knew that when they took discipline seriously God would be at work in them to help them. And the same is true for you and I. Nothing less than the power of our loving and risen Lord is at our disposal to enable us to grow into his likeness.
Discipline and Self-Control are not ends in themselves: When we are talking about discipline, we must always keep this goal of Christlikeness in mind. We don't engage in spiritual discipline as an end in itself. There is nothing more dangerous to the spiritual life than that, to make discipline an end in itself. Such practice leads to self-righteousness and legalism. It quickly leads to a spirit of pride as we compare our level of discipline with that of others. Rather, engaging in a life of spiritual discipline must always be seen as a means to something, as a means to grow into the likeness of Christ, as a means to develop his obedience to the Father, as a means of being able to respond to every day life situations with the love and patience and grace that Jesus did, as a means to bring healing and hope to others through the gospel, in order that we may also share in the blessings of the gospel. Such prizes give purpose to our training. As Paul writes, the runner does not run "aimlessly," with no goal in sight. Neither does the boxer punch the air, his goal is to strike against his opponent. In the same way spiritual discipline has a purpose. If we enter into training without knowing this purpose, the training has no value. If your purpose in engaging in spiritual disciplines is only to see how disciplined you can be, don't do it. Not only will it have no value, it will be harmful for you. But if you are interested in bringing glory to God, if you want to grow in your knowledge of Jesus and become more like him, if you want to share in the blessings of the gospel, then the spiritual disciplines are just the means you need to achieve that goal. This is why Paul is so strong in calling us to a life of self-control.
Paul's personal example: Paul not only taught discipline–it was definitely also his practice. Just before we close I'd like to look at the last verse of our text, which deals with Paul's practice. Paul has just finished saying that he doesn't run aimlessly or fight like a man beating the air. And then he adds this thought: "No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified from the prize" (v. 27).
As I said earlier, it seems Christians today are more familiar with the teachings of Paul or Jesus or the apostles than we are with their life practices. Most Christians, for example, are aware of Paul's great doctrine of justification by faith. We know that he was the preeminent preacher of grace. But do we also know his lifestyle, the tremendous discipline which made him a man whom God could use to bring the gospel to the Gentile world? Do we know his daily battle to bring his body into submission, so that he was not a slave to bodily desires, but rather his body became a slave to the gospel? Leo Tolstoy once wrote, "Everyone thinks of changing humanity. Nobody thinks of changing himself." Paul knew that we cannot change the world unless we ourselves are transformed. Paul knew that distractions and hindrances arise chiefly from within. Paul was well aware that the greatest problem we as Christians will face in life is ourselves, our own bodies, and our tendencies toward selfishness and laziness and being controlled by various appetites. Paul realized that without a life of disciplined grace he himself, the great preacher to the Gentiles, was in danger of being disqualified from the prize.
Conclusion: In conclusion, therefore, let us not only gladly acknowledge the teaching of Jesus and Paul and the other apostles, but let us also gladly endeavour to adopt their lifestyles. For only by committing ourselves to a life of discipline, as we rely upon God's grace for strength, can we grow in Christlikeness. Spiritual growth does not occur automatically, it only comes as we discipline ourselves and work out consistently in the spiritual gymnasium. The good news is that, as we are serious about bringing glory to God, and do our part to manage ourselves, God will grant us all we need to mature as Christians. That is true of each and every one of us. Spiritual growth through discipline is not only for those we consider spiritual giants, it is God's gracious offer, God's gift, to all of his children. So let us pay careful attention to our daily habits, and we will grow in the love and likeness of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.