Proverbs 20.27
“The spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all his innermost parts.”
As we saw yesterday, God has given every person an inner conscience, which is what this Proverb means by “the spirit of man is the lamp of the Lord.” The word conscience, as you will recall, means “with knowledge.” Thus the conscience, when informed by God’s word and the Holy Spirit, speaks truth to our hearts.
However, knowledge alone is insufficient to produce an obedient and effective life. What is required is knowledge and action. We must act on what we know to be true. This is why the book of James tells us to be doers of the word, and not hearers only. It is why Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
The message here is that an obedient, effective Christian life has two pillars: doctrine (knowing what is true) and discipline (doing what it true). Both doctrine and discipline are necessary. One without the other is a major problem.
“Christianity has not so much been tried and found wanting, as it has been found difficult and left untried.” (G. K. Chesterton)
A challenge that has plagued the Christian church in every generation is doctrine without discipline … teaching without training … preaching without practice … words without work … orthodox without orthopraxy. We tend to be educated beyond our obedience. We tend to know far more than we do.
In our generation, this is partially the result of modern culture’s preoccupation with media-driven programming. There is great temptation for the church to become a kind of spiritual entertainment center where we talk and have presentations and programs, and where congregants passively watch and consume. Indeed, much of what the church does today is produce and present various forms of programming that is designed to engage and entertain in order to inform. The church is often “media event” oriented.
But an engaging and entertaining worship experience will not produce spiritual growth and transformation. This is not to say that worship services should be boring. Far from it! However, great care should be given to prioritize the process of discipleship. If a church attracts people through engaging worship services but fails to engage them in the process of committed discipleship,there is a problem. A big problem.
Spiritual transformation from the old life to new life in Christ requires diligent and disciplined practice. It is the musar process of the book of Proverbs, and it is an inescapable spiritual reality. Repeated action produces habits, and habits produce character. Excellence in Christ, then, is not an act—it is a habit. We are what we repeatedly do. Spiritual growth and vitality stem from what we actually do with our lives, not simply from what we profess to believe. Spiritual growth and vitality stem from the habits we form and from the character that results. 2 Cor.5.17 says, “Old things have passed away and, behold, all things become new.” Failure to act in certain definite ways will guarantee that spiritual transformation does not take place.
We must ask ourselves a simple, and yet profound, question. What do we need to do in order to grow? God has designed a world where habits are mastered through continuous and diligent practice. This is true if our goal is to learn to play the violin, hit a golf ball, or speak a foreign language. We learn primarily by doing the activity, not by merely talking about it. Mastering the disciplines of the Christian life requires no less of a commitment to continuous and diligent practice. No disciplined practice = no spiritual maturity. No musar, no growth.
What does that process look like? More next week…
