Habits For Our Spiritual Growth

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CONTENTS
1. Stages of the Soul, chapter 1:

Growing Toward Wholeness, Holiness, and Love
—A Reliable Map
2. How to Grow, chapter 7:

Three Core Habits We Never Outgrow
3. Made for His Pleasure, chapter 1:

Spiritual Fitness in a Flabby Generation
4. Your Future Self Will Thank You, chapter 8:

Disciplined Living in an Age of Distraction
5. Discovering God through the Arts, chapter 1:

The Arts and Spiritual Disciplines: Two Paths
to a Deeper Faith
6. Holiness, chapter 6:
The Pathway to Holiness: “Put On”—Say “YES”
to Grace
7. Strange Days, chapter 13:

On Earth as It Is in Heaven
8. The Other Half of Church, chapter 2:

How Do People Grow
StagesoftheSoulSource.indd 9 9/16/21 11:04 AM

1
GROWING TOWARD
WHOLENESS,
HOLINESS, AND LOVE
A Reliable Map
There are far, far better things

ahead than any we leave behind.
C.S. LEW IS
L ife is a pilgrimage—a journey to our eternal destination.

For all of us, there is the life we planned, the life we
have, and the life that is waiting for us. “We must be willing
to get rid of the life we’ve planned,” Joseph Campbell writes,
“so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”1 While Joseph
Campbell refers to a life of our own making, Jesus invites
us to a journey on the path to the “life that is waiting for
us”—one that He has destined from eternity, a path marked
by freedom in Christ and His unfailing love. His invitation is
to leave behind our well-ordered, predictable lives to live an
S TA G E S of T H E S O U L
extraordinary life filled with deep meaning and purpose. This

sacred way involves entering into a whole new way of seeing
and thinking, a whole new manner of moving and relating.
Through this process of discovery that we will call the five
Stages of the Soul, we discover who we are, our unique place
in this world, and the humble honor of knowing and being
known by the One who created us.
Like a hiker setting out to walk the trails of the mountains
of Colorado, we must have a reliable map of the terrain ahead
to help keep us on the right path. It is the same with our spir-
itual life. To understand the spiraling path of the five Stages
of the Soul—from Our First Love (conversion) to deeper,
Intimate Love—we need a way to navigate and then assess
the growth of our love for God over our entire lives. This
process can give us a language for our experience and can
assure us that we are not alone in our doubts and struggles.
In the courses I have taught on Christian spiritual forma-
tion, I have asked students in the beginning of the course,
“How does God actually change us?” Generally, students
look bewildered and offer vague responses about prayer,
Bible reading, and trials. The students seem confused not
only about how God forms us but about what the process of
spiritual growth and change looks like.
As a young believer, I was told that a commitment to
follow Christ would involve a lifelong journey of living life
with Christ and for Christ. At some unknown point, I would
come to the journey’s end and then enter into my eternal,
heavenly home. The process, I was told, was clear: salvation
(conversion), sanctification (a very, very long process!), and
24
Growing Toward Wholeness, Holiness, and Love—A Reliable Map
glorification (seeing Christ face to face in eternity). I was

further instructed that God would be transforming me into
the image of Christ through the process of sanctification as
I chose to obey the directives in His Word and live a life of
surrender. I would hopefully end my journey as a follower of
Christ reflecting something of the character of Christ.
But what about the days when I wasn’t following Christ?
What about the seasons of doubt and dryness? What about
the days when my heart was cold and rebellious and I wanted
nothing to do with God? Had the sanctification process
stopped? Or what about the days when all seemed well, from
my perspective, and I was faithfully following Christ? Was I
actually changing then? If I was being kind to others, did that
mean my heart was actually changing or had I just learned
to act nice? How did I know, other than gaping flaws in my
character, if I was actually becoming more like Christ?
To be formed into Christ’s image and continue to mature
and persevere through trials, we need to understand the
stages of growth and change. These Stages of the Soul can
serve as markers of where we are in our formation so that
by the end of our days we can, with full confidence, know
“how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,
and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you
may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God” (Eph.
3:18b–19).
What will it take to become like Christ? Most of us start
with the notion that we first must change. We were told,
somewhere along the way, that God would love us if we
change. But the truth is actually the reverse. God loves us
25
first so we will change. What motivates us to grow in our

love relationship with God is actually experiencing His
love in the depth of our souls—to know God as a lover
rather than a rule giver. Real intimacy with God—not only
worship, discipleship, or practicing moral uprightness—is
a giving of ourselves that mirrors the radical gift of God
in Christ. We are called to become whole and holy (Lev.
11:45), which means conformity with a love that is willing
to give up everything for others.
This journey takes time, radical honesty, and examination
of our hearts. It will require us to be willing to enter into
the unknown territory of our souls—the parts we are afraid
of examining. Daily, it will cost us letting go of everything
we hold dear to realize what has eternal value. It will mean
being primarily concerned about grieving God’s heart in all
the decisions we make. It will mean loving God more than
anything else and allowing Him to remake us entirely.
C. S. Lewis vividly describes and compares the process
of our soul transformation to the reconstruction of a home.
He writes:
Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild
that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is
doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in
the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and
so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the
house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem
to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explana-
tion is that He is building quite a different house from the one
you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an
extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You
26
thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage:

but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it
Himself.2
During this transformation, God is co-creating with each

one of us to make something beautiful out of our lives that
we never could realize on our own. He does not call us to be
wandering travelers on this journey. He calls us to actively
participate with Him so that we can become the fulfillment
of His divine purposes in this world.
A RELIABLE MAP
The five-stage model presented in this book follows the life of

Jesus and integrates truths from the Scriptures as it unfolds
the process by which a Christian will mature in the faith.
Stage One is Our First Love—Called into Saving Faith.
In this stage, we are embarking with joy upon the spiritual
journey with Jesus Christ as our Redeemer and Savior. We
see this in the example of Jesus’ calling to Peter to drop his
nets and follow Him.
In Stage Two, defined as Obedient Love—Learning the
Ways of Godliness, the believer is trained up in the funda-
mentals of the faith to live and grow within the body of
Christ. After accepting Jesus’ invitation, Peter becomes a
disciple of his Rabbi, following closely and obediently.
In Stage Three, marked by Persevering Love—Invita-
tion to Intimacy, the believer is invited into a more in-depth
understanding of what it means to surrender, along with
developing a sacrificial heart that God shapes and forms for
27
His purposes. This stage involves a more profound inter-

nalization of one’s faith and belief and a greater desire for
intimacy with Christ. This stage often contains unexpected
setbacks and realizations about oneself. For instance, we
see Peter deny his beloved Jesus three times: “While the
words of denial were being spoken, Peter heard the crow of
a rooster ([Luke] 22:60b). At that instant, the Lord turned
and looked at Peter ([Luke] 22:61a). One can only imagine
the searing pain of conscience that swept over Peter at that
moment . . . ‘The effect on Peter was shattering.’ ”3
The believer in Stage Four, Sacrificial Love—Living
the Kingdom Here and Now, is mature and steadfast in
his reliance upon Christ in order to serve and love others.
After Jesus is crucified and resurrected, we see a new Peter
emerge. The impetuous, anxious Peter becomes empowered
to courageously proclaim the message of Jesus to the Jewish
authorities; he is becoming the “rock” upon which Jesus said
He would build His church (Matt. 16:18).
In the final stage, Stage Five—Intimate Love—Being
Light and Love for the World, the believer rests assuredly in
the presence of Christ and surrenders all to serve Him. This
is most notably seen as sacrificial love for Christ and His
kingdom, even unto death. We see the apostle Peter and the
other disciples encounter the risen Christ at the Galilean
seashore, the third time Jesus appears to the disciples after
the resurrection. Three times Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love
me? . . . then feed my sheep” ( John 21:15–17). Peter, now
tried and tested, is being invited by Christ to love Him by
living not for himself but for the benefit of others. Peter’s
28
last season of the journey culminates in giving up his very

life for his beloved Rabbi.
Underlying Assumptions of the Stages of the Soul

As we explore these stages in the following chapters, there
are some fundamental assumptions and critical elements
that are important to keep in mind:
• Jesus is our model of life, character, and conduct; our

hearts are formed by Him.
• Each stage builds on the stage preceding it.
• The process is not as linear as it appears but rather
more of a spiral. As we continue to grow, we will inev-
itably be circling back and picking up what has not
been thoroughly learned in prior stages.
• Suffering and pain take on different dimensions in
each stage as we grow closer to God.
• We will encounter unique obstacles to our growth
in each stage that may inhibit us from continuing to
mature.
CHARACTERISTICS OF EACH STAGE
Each stage includes a section describing the characteristics

and concepts unique to that stage. We will identify notable
qualities often demonstrated in each stage, and what mov-
ing on to the next stage entails.
As with any journey, we will encounter obstacles in each
stage, including temptations that, depending on our choices,
can impede our growth. Until we walk into eternity, we will
29
be confronted with all the aspects of ourselves that are not

Christlike, all the idolatrous values and affections that keep
our hearts from being fully devoted to Christ.
In the book of Matthew, we see this in the man who
wants to follow Jesus but whose father has just died. He
asked Jesus if he could first give his father a proper burial.
Jesus challenged his priorities by saying, “Follow me, and let
the dead bury their own dead” (Matt. 8:21–22). We always
have before us the ability to freely choose our way or God’s
way. God will never override our choices.
In each stage, God allows suffering for us throughout the
stages to purify us and teach us. Enduring suffering—such
as relational difficulties, physical ailments, emotional infir-
mities due to job loss, divorce, or death of a loved one—can
be the most significant means by which we change.
By nature, human beings are pain avoidant and pleasure
seeking. God will allow the times where our circumstances are
unmanageable and our fear and insecurities rise to the surface
to draw us to Him. As we move through the various stages of
the soul, we will see how God tenderly uses pain and suffering
to encourage us to move to the next stage of transformation.
Like a small child receiving a vaccination for the first time,
we often are confused about why God is allowing us to expe-
rience pain. Just as that child comes to understand the good
purpose behind the vaccination as she matures, so we may
eventually come to see how God masterfully crafts situations
to teach us and to see His goodness in the suffering.
The chart on pages 28–29 provides an overview of the
stages and their components.
30
Quite simply, this is a model of following the pattern of

our Rabbi to become like Him in all our ways. It is no small
thing to accept Jesus’ invitation. For each of us, there will
be certain things we will need to leave behind—things our
hearts cling to.
An example of this ultimate surrender is seen in the life
of William Borden. He could never have predicted the
path ahead of him when he chose to follow Christ in his
youth. He was an heir to the multimillion dollar Borden
Dairy estate and was given an unusual gift upon graduating
from high school—to travel around the world. While the
average teenager was dealing with peer pressure, grades, and
who they were going to date, Borden, with his mentor, was
traveling through Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. In all
of his rich experiences, he was most deeply moved by the
poverty and inequity he observed. A passion grew within
him to do what he could to bring God’s love and hope to the
least and the lost. “When I look ahead a few years it seems
as though the only thing to do is prepare for the foreign
[mission] field,” Borden announced in a letter to his parents.
His father discounted his desire stating, “Wait until you are
21 before making any life decisions.”4
In the back of his Bible, Borden wrote his own response:
“No reserves.”5
Borden returned home and attended Yale. During his
time there, he initiated and organized Bible studies and
prayer groups. By the time he graduated, 1,000 of the
1,300 students were attending the weekly Bible studies.6
31
STAGES STAGE ONE STAGE TWO
Our First Love— Obedient Love—

Called into Saving Faith Learning the Ways of Godliness
Key Scripture “This is real love—not that we “For this very reason, make
loved God, but that he loved us every effort to add to your faith
and sent his Son as a sacrifice goodness; and to goodness,
to take away our sins. (1 John knowledge; and to knowledge,
4:10 NLT) self-control; and to self-control,
perseverance; and to
perseverance, godliness; and to
godliness, mutual affection; and
to mutual affection, love. For if
you possess these qualities in
increasing measure, they will
keep you from being ineffective
and unproductive in your
knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ.” (2 Peter 1:5–8)
Key Characteristics of We have an encounter with We allow God’s love to bring our
the Transformational God’s love that leads us to behavior, attitudes and desires
Process Into Christ- salvation. into conformity with Christ.
likeness
Key Obstacles to the We are tempted to refuse to We are tempted toward legalism
Transformational relinquish control of our life. and living a life of faith in our own
Process into Christ- resources. Doing acts of service
likeness and ministry for the approval of
others rather than God.
Suffering We perceive we suffer as a result We perceive we suffer to receive

of consequences of our own sin. training in righteousness and
godly living.
Movement to Hunger for knowledge Coming to the end of our

Next Stage about God and life striving to please God by
with God. our works.
32
STAGE THREE STAGE FOUR STAGE FIVE
Persevering Love— Sacrificial Love— Intimate Love—

Invitation to Intimacy Living the Kingdom Here Being Light and Love for
and Now the World
"One thing I ask from the Lord, “I pray that out of his glorious “But whatever were gains to me
this only do I seek: riches he may strengthen you I now consider loss for the sake
that I may dwell in the house of with power through his Spirit in of Christ . . . and participation in
the Lord your inner being, so that Christ his sufferings, becoming like
all the days of my life, may dwell in your hearts him in his death, and so,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord through faith. And I pray that somehow, attaining to the
and to seek him in his temple." you, being rooted and resurrection from the dead.”
(Psalm 27:4) established in love, may have (Phil. 3:7–11)
power, together with all the
Lord’s holy people, to grasp how
wide and long and high and
deep is the love of Christ, and to
know this love that surpasses
knowledge—that you may be
filled to the measure of all the
fullness of God.” (Eph. 3:16 –19)
We find, through total surrender, We love God by offering We are completely

that God’s intimate love alone ourselves to Him and the world abandoned to God in
satisfies our deepest longings, compassionately and divine union.
and we learn to dwell with Him. redemptively.
We are tempted to refuse to We are tempted toward feeling We may find others
surrender idols and deep self-righteousness that we are misunderstanding us and
attachments of the heart. set apart by God. struggle with loneliness.
We perceive we suffer to be We suffer to show Christ’s glory We share in Christ’s sufferings.

purified of our motivations and power.
and pride.
Coming to a profound sense of Coming to a realization Coming into a deeper realization

our identity in Christ; ego of a deep sense of union of the thin veil between eternity
attachments have fallen away; with Christ. and the present moment.
content in abiding in Christ.
33
Beyond campus, Borden was involved in the local mission in

New Haven, caring for those in need. To help people he found
on the streets struggling with alcoholism, he founded a not-for-
profit to assist them in recovery.7
After graduating from Yale, Borden followed his grow-
ing conviction to minister to people of the Muslim faith in
China.8 He attended and graduated from Princeton Sem-
inary and then joined the China Inland Mission. At that
time, it is said that he wrote two more words in his Bible:
“No retreat.”
Borden set sail for China and stopped first in Egypt to
become proficient in Arabic. While in Egypt, he contracted
spinal meningitis. And then, during his illness, with the
threat of his life being cut short, it is said he wrote these
words in his Bible: “No regrets.”
Borden’s entry echoes the words of the apostle Paul in
his letter to Timothy: “For I am already being poured out
like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have
kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will
award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all
who have longed for his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:6–8). Nine-
teen days later, at the age of twenty-five, William Whiting
Borden entered into eternity. His tombstone in Egypt is
engraved with these words: “Apart from Christ there is no
explanation for such a life.”
This is the brief and devoted life of William Borden:
no reserves, no retreat, no regrets. There is no human way to
34
explain the impact that Borden’s life had on others. Borden

was captivated by the love of God. He chose the path Jesus
referred to as the “narrow road that leads to life” (Matt. 7:14).
May God grant us the courage to follow Him on the path
of life. Let the journey begin.
35
CHAPTER SEVEN
THREE CORE HABITS

WE NEVER OUTGROW
Nearly every area of life can be boiled down to some core

task, some essential component, that must be mastered if
you truly want to be good at it.
JAMES CLEAR
One of my friends is a former paramedic. When he began

his training, the instructor told him that he would teach only
three things: the basics of airway, breathing, and circulation, or
the ABCs. “The physician told us he could teach a monkey how
to be a paramedic in a week,” he says. Understandably, the stu-
dents felt insulted. They’d just spent years studying to qualify for
the program, and had paid thousands of dollars in tuition. Surely
there’s more to being a paramedic, they argued.
113
HOW TO GROW
The instructor agreed, sort of. There was more to learn—not

more topics, but more about each of the ABCs. They would go
deeper into the basics, but they’d never move beyond them. “All
it takes is the basic skills,” my friend says. “But, he said, it would
take years for us to learn how to apply them.”
This principle applies to every area of life, including our spiri-
tual growth. The way to grow is to master the basics—a job that
takes a lifetime. To grow spiritually, focus on three core habits.
We never outgrow these habits, so keep coming back to them.
W E N E V E R M O V E B E Y O N D T H E BA S I C S
In July 1961, thirty-eight members of the Green Bay Packers

football team gathered for the first day of training camp. The pre-
vious season ended when the Packers squandered a lead late in
the game and lost the NFL Championship to the Philadelphia
Eagles.
Their coach, Vince Lombardi, addressed the group of profes-
sional athletes. Months earlier, they’d come within minutes of
winning the biggest prize in their sport. Lombardi stood in the
group, raised a football, and said, “Gentlemen, this is a football.”
He started at the beginning and covered the fundamentals of the
playbook starting from page one. At one point, Max McGee, the
Packers’ Pro Bowl wide receiver, joked, “Uh, Coach, could you
slow down a little? You’re going too fast for us.”1 Lombardi smiled,
but continued with the basics. Six months later, the Packers de-
feated the New York Giants 37–0 to win the NFL Championship.
Every follower of Jesus needs to master the core gospel habits
that will keep them growing for a lifetime. We never move beyond
them. I’ve noticed that some complain that the core habits are too
basic. Usually, when I press them, I discover that they don’t prac-
tice them consistently. They would like to move on to something
114
T hree Core H abits W e N e v er O utgrow
more advanced without mastering—or being mastered by—the

basics. I’ve also noticed that when I talk to more mature believers
about the core habits, their eyes light up. They feel like they’re just
getting started with the basics.
No matter how much we grow, we’ll never grow beyond build-
ing three basic gospel habits: reading or listening to the Bible,
praying, and pursuing worship and fellowship within a church
community.
Core Habit One: Reading or Listening to the Bible

Reading or listening to absorb the Bible is crucial for spiri-
tual growth. Donald Whitney, a leading teacher on spiritual disci-
plines, writes, “No spiritual discipline is more important than the
intake of God’s Word. Nothing can substitute for it. There simply
is no healthy Christian life apart from a diet of the milk and meat
of Scripture.”2
The late philanthropist and pastor George Müller said some-
thing similar: “The vigour of our spiritual life will be in exact pro-
portion to the place held by the Bible in our life and thoughts.”3
Jesus Himself affirmed the importance of the Bible when He
quoted a passage from the Hebrew Scriptures: “Man does not live
by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the
mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8:3; cf. Matt. 4:4). Every spiritually
mature person I’ve known has made the regular intake of God’s
Word a priority in their life.
Despite the importance of reading or listening to the Bible,
most of us haven’t developed this habit. A study in Canada found
that self-identified Christians did not read or engage with the Bible
much more than Canadians in general. Only one in five Chris-
tians reflect on the meaning of the Bible for their lives a few times
a week.4 “We are not reading the Bible, much less reading it well,”
comments George Guthrie, a professor of New Testament.
115
HOW TO GROW
Ask one hundred church members if they have read

the Bible today, and eighty-four of them will say no.
Ask them if they have read the Bible at least once in
the past week, and sixty-eight of them will say no.
Even more disconcerting, ask those one hundred
church members if reading or studying the Bible has
made any significant difference in the way they live
their lives. Only thirty-seven out of one hundred will
say yes.5
The solution isn’t a guilt trip. The solution is to build a habit of
reading or listening to the Bible using the best practices for build-
ing habits.
Fortunately, we live in a golden age of resources for Bible read-
ing. Videos, study Bibles, Bible reading plans, and books on how
to study the Bible give us everything we need to get started. Still,
many of us are intimidated, especially if we’ve gotten stuck in the
past or never read the Bible on our own.
Here are some tips on building the habit of reading Scripture:
Find the why. Reading or listening to the Bible takes some ef-
fort. You will probably get stuck. You’ll run into some parts of the
Bible that are difficult to understand or that frustrate you. Spend
some time reflecting on the importance of Scripture—even the
hard parts! Clarify for yourself why reading or listening to Scrip-
ture is important. And remember that we can’t follow God if we
don’t know who He is or what He desires. Reading Scripture is
essential for growth. Remind yourself often. Keep coming back
to these reasons.
Start small. Pick a goal that’s realistic. It’s better to read for
five minutes a day consistently rather than fifteen minutes a day
sporadically. Shrink the habit until you’re confident you’ll be able
to practice it consistently at least 80 percent of the time.
116
Pick a format. Pick a good Bible version that’s both accurate

and understandable. (See Appendix 1 for recommended resour-
ces). If you want to read, pick a good study Bible, or if you’d like
to try something different, pick up a reader’s Bible that omits the
chapters and verses. You may also want to consider picking an
audio Bible, particularly if you don’t enjoy reading or if you’ve
found yourself bogged down in the past. Bryce Hales, a pastor
who participated in Gospel for Life Discipleship, switched from
reading to listening to the Bible every day and found that it was
helpful. “Every morning I go for a walk, listening to the Bible and
then spending time in prayer. It’s a really simple change, but it’s
made a big difference in my life.”
Use tools. Good tools make a big difference. A study Bible
helps you understand the overall themes of Bible, the big picture
of each book within the Bible, and the details of each passage. The
free videos produced by The Bible Project6 can help transform
the way we see and understand challenging parts of Scripture. I
have a friend who used their video on Leviticus (one of the more
challenging books for many of us) in his sermon, and received a
standing ovation. Use some of the great tools in Appendix 1 to
help you understand and go deeper as you read and listen.
Read or listen with others. Some of us prefer to be alone. Oth-
ers of us do much better as part of a group when tackling a project,
and will do better when we read or listen to Scripture with others.
Find some friends who want to work through the Bible, and set a
goal to follow the same plan. Create a Facebook group, text thread,
or email list and invite others to join you. Accountability and sup-
port from others can help to keep us on track.
Reading and listening to God’s Word helps to shape our hearts.
It helps us see the world differently, and to become accustomed
to God’s ways. And yet, it’s hard. Many people struggle to develop
this habit even though they understand its importance.
117
HOW TO GROW
“Nobody ever outgrows Scripture,” said the British preacher

Charles Spurgeon. “The book widens and deepens with our years.”7
Keep reading, listening, and memorizing Scripture. Meditate on it.
There’s no other habit that will change you as much as this one.
Core Habit Two: Prayer

The strange thing about prayer is that it’s easy and hard at
the same time. It’s easy: anyone can do it. Nobody needs to
learn how. The smallest child can do it. People who don’t even
believe in God feel compelled to pray. It’s almost like we can’t
help ourselves. Jared Wilson defines prayer as “acknowledged
helplessness—spilling our guts.”8 Spilling our guts shouldn’t be
that hard.
The strange thing, though, is that it is. I don’t know anyone
who feels accomplished in prayer. A publisher once approached
Sinclair Ferguson, an esteemed Scottish theologian, and asked
him to write a book about prayer. He felt flattered but demurred.
The author of such a book would, he said, need to be older, more
seasoned, and more prayerful. He even suggested some names.
The editor smiled. He had already asked the well-seasoned
Christian leaders that Ferguson had mentioned. They, too, had
declined for the same reasons.
“Wise men,” Ferguson says. “Who can write or speak at any
length easily on the mystery of prayer?”9
We’re all beginners when it comes to prayer. This is good news,
though, because it puts us in the right place to learn how to pray.
The secret to prayer is helplessness. Paul Miller writes, “Prayer is
bringing your helplessness to Jesus. . . . The very thing we are aller-
gic to—our helplessness—is what makes prayer work. It works
because we are helpless. We can’t do life on our own.”10
I’m learning that prayer is about coming to God with our help-
lessness and the mess of our lives. It means telling God exactly
118
what’s on our minds and asking for His

Jesus died for
help. I want to come to God all put to-
the real you, so
gether; God wants me to come to Him as
I am. Jesus died for the real you, so come
come to God with
to God with the real you. Come with your the real you.
temptations, struggles, doubts, and anx- Come with your
ieties. Come confessing that you don’t temptations,
want to pray. Come as you are. struggles, doubts,
After all, God invites us to come. I wake and anxieties.
up regularly and look over at my wife with
amazement. She wants to be in relationship with me. She knows
the worst about me, and yet she’s still here. It is amazing that
Charlene loves me this much and wants to spend her life with me.
How much more amazing is it that God wants a relationship with
us and longs to hear from us. As a father delights in his children
coming to him, so God delights in our approach, even if we come
full of need and not as together as we’d like.
Our mistake is that we tend to see prayer as a duty rather than
a delight. We should approach God not because we have to, but
because we get to. He loves us. He cares for us. He invites us into
relationship with Him. God actually wants to hear what’s on
our minds.
I’ve found three practices helpful when it comes to prayer.
First, see prayer as a way to manage your life. I got this idea
from Paul Miller.
Prayer is where I do my best work as a husband, dad,
worker, and friend. . . . I’m actually managing my
life through my daily prayer time. I’m shaping my
heart, my work, my family—in fact, everything that
is dear to me—through prayer in fellowship with my
heavenly Father. I’m doing that because I don’t have
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HOW TO GROW
control over my heart and life or the hearts and lives

of those around me. But God does.11
Charlene and I found this a few years ago when we felt over-
whelmed. Charlene was changing careers. We were starting a new
ministry together. I was juggling ministry pressures. On top of this,
we’d received some devastating news that hit us emotionally. Char-
lene and I had always struggled to pray together. Suddenly, out of
desperation, it was our only choice. We began to pray together in
the morning, and I also learned to pray throughout the day when-
ever I felt overwhelmed, which was a
lot. I wish I hadn’t waited so long to
Prayer isn’t just learn this. Rather than trying to cope
something we do at with the complexity of life by our-
a certain time. It’s selves, we can manage the complexity
with God’s ongoing help.
meant to permeate
I think this is what Paul meant
our life, so that we when he told us to pray without
pray repeatedly and ceasing (1 Thess. 5:17). It’s not that
often, so much so that we should spend all day in formal
we can say it’s how prayer. We should, however, live all
we manage our lives. of life aware of God’s presence, inter-
acting with Him and weaving prayer
into how we live our lives. Prayer
isn’t just something we do at a certain time. It’s meant to permeate
our life, so that we pray repeatedly and often, so much so that we
can say it’s how we manage our lives.
Second, pray at certain times about certain things. Prayer
should be both spontaneous and planned. We won’t develop the
habit of spontaneous prayer without also learning the discipline
of regular, structured prayer. I’ve found it helpful to pray at cer-
tain regular times in the day.
120
Once every day, I spend some time in prayer. I journal about

what’s going on in my life and the things that are on my mind.
I also go through a prayer list that I’ve created. I pray through
various categories: my relationship with God, my family, urgent
requests, my church, ministries I care about, and world issues.
In the past I’ve used index cards in each category to keep me on
track.12 Right now I use an app on my tablet called PrayerMate,13
which prompts me to pray about a certain number of items from
the categories I’ve chosen. It doesn’t matter when you do this, but
pick a consistent time and find a structure that works for you.
Then, throughout the day, I set reminders to quickly pray. My
Apple Watch tells me to breathe a few times a day. I’ve started
using these reminders as reminders to pray. Others pray at fixed
times. For example, Zack Eswine thanks God in the morning,
prays for perseverance and protection from temptation at noon,
for friendship, food, hospitality, and play in the early evening,
and for rest at night.14 Tim Keller prays in the morning and eve-
ning and sometimes includes a brief midday “stand-up” time of
focused prayer to reconnect to his morning prayer insights.15 Ex-
periment with finding a planned structure for prayer that works
for you.
Focus on God more than you focus on prayer. Remember,
prayer is a means to an end. You’re pursuing God, not the act of
prayer itself.
Finally, use Scripture in your prayers. Because prayer is
conversation, we need to hear God speak through His Word, and
then respond through prayer. We can respond to what we read
in Scripture through prayer. We can also allow Scripture to teach
us how to pray by using the Psalms or by using the prayer that
Jesus taught us a pattern for our prayer.16 Tim Kerr has compiled
and categorized Scripture promises and prayers in his book Take
Words With You, so we can use them in our prayers.17 It’s an invalu-
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HOW TO GROW
able tool for learning how to use Scripture in our prayers.

I still feel like a prayer beginner, but I can’t imagine not be-
ing able to pray. Prayer is one of our greatest privileges as God’s
children. God cares about us, and He invites us to live life in His
presence. He cares about us and wants us to live in dependence
on Him. Through prayer we can learn to be honest and to bring all
of our messy lives into the presence and power of God, who not
only cares but is willing and able to help.
Core Habit Three: Pursue Worship and Fellowship Within a

Church Community
I’ll be the first to admit it: sometimes church doesn’t look like
much. Church is a collection of people who don’t have much in
common and who are struggling through
their lives just like us. When they gather,
Don’t let the most of what they do looks fairly routine
ordinariness of and maybe even a little strange. Not only
church fool you. that, but churches are often inconvenient,
There’s a lot more messy, and uncomfortable.
going on than Add to this the times that we’ve been
hurt and disappointed by church. It’s no
you think.
surprise, either, since churches are full of
sinners (pastors included).
But don’t let the ordinariness of church fool you. There’s a lot
more going on than you think. The church has always been messy
and humble, and yet it’s simultaneously more glorious than we
can imagine. It’s the bride of Christ, loved and cherished by Jesus
Himself (Eph. 5:22–23). It’s His body, the expression of His phys-
ical presence on earth (1 Cor. 12:12–27). It’s “the household of
God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress
of the truth” (1 Tim 3:15). The church is a “sign, foretaste, and
instrument of God’s kingdom.”18 It makes the gospel visible.
122
Jesus established the church, and the Christian life in the New
Testament takes place in the context of church. There’s no way to
live the Christian life apart from a commitment to and participa-
tion in the life of a church.
We need the church. We’re meant to grow and serve within
the context of a fellowship of other believers. We can’t live the
Christian life on our own.
Here are some steps to take to pursue fellowship within a
church.
Find a good church. Don’t choose a church simply because
you enjoy it, or shop for a church like a consumer looking for
goods and services. Find a church where the gospel is “preached,
prayed, sung, celebrated, taught, applied, lived, and loved—week
in, week out, day in, day out, 24/7.”19 Make sure that they take
the Bible seriously and follow its commands for church: that
they regularly practice baptism and communion, appoint godly
leaders, and practice church discipline (correcting sin in the life
of the congregation and members). Make sure that it invites you
into community and mission; that it gives you opportunities to
serve, pray, study, be encouraged, and encourage others in the
church throughout the week. Look for a church that has a gospel
culture, that incarnates “the biblical message in the relationships,
vibe, feel, tone, values, priorities, aroma, honesty, freedom,
gentleness, humility, cheerfulness—indeed, the total human
reality of a church defined and sweetened by the gospel.”20 It
doesn’t have to be perfect. In fact, it won’t be. But if it has those
things, then you’ve found a good church. It doesn’t matter much
if it’s big or small, flashy or humble, or whether it checks all of our
preference boxes. Commit and stay.21
Show up. This doesn’t sound like much, but it’s important.
The ministry of showing up is important for two reasons, accord-
ing to Hebrews 10:
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HOW TO GROW
• We need it—“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope

without wavering, for he who promised is faithful” (v. 23).
• Others need it, too—“And let us consider how to stir up
one another to love and good works, not neglecting to
meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging
one another, and all the more as you see the Day draw-
ing near” (vv. 24–25).
We rob ourselves and others when we don’t join others for
worship. If church is as important as Scripture says it is, it must be
a priority in our lives.
Engage in key practices. Studies show the traits that corre-
spond with growth: Bible engagement, obeying God and deny-
ing self, serving God and others, sharing Christ, exercising faith,
seeking God, building relationships, and being unashamed and
transparent. They’ve also shown the behaviors that lead to these
traits: things like confessing sins to others, attending worship ser-
vices, getting involved with ministries and projects to serve oth-
ers, discipling and mentoring others, praying for church leaders,
participating in Bible studies and small groups, and more.22 Most
of these traits require participation in the church. It shouldn’t sur-
prise us that these behaviors lead to growth, since they’re consis-
tent with the commands of Scripture. Build habits that help you
engage in these behaviors.
One of the most important things you can do, besides parti-
cipating in public worship, is to get involved in a small group or
Bible study. Out of all the behaviors that are tied to the markers of
spiritual growth, three showed up consistently:
• Reading the Bible
• Attending a worship service at your church
• Attending small classes or groups for adults from
church, such as Sunday school, Bible study, small
groups, Adult Bible Fellowships, etc.23
124
We need public worship and smaller group interaction as we

engage with church.
Participate so that your pastor and leaders are happy to see
you. This sounds self-serving since I’m a pastor, but it’s not about
me. It’s about what God says in Scripture. “Obey your leaders and
submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as
those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy
and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you”
(Heb. 13:17). Remember that your pastors are people who need
the ministry of the church too. Live in such a way that you give
them grace. Contribute toward building a
gospel culture within the church. We are ministers,
We need the ministry of the church. and we rob others
We need its preaching and teaching, ordi-
of grace when we
nances, relationships, and even its incon-
veniences. It helps us get over ourselves.
withhold the gifts
Even more, others in the church need God has given us.
us. We have a role to play within God’s
church. We are ministers, and we rob oth-
ers of grace when we withhold the gifts God has given us. There’s
simply no substitute for regular, joyful, and sacrificial participa-
tion in the life of the church, even (maybe even especially) when
it’s costly.
E N GA G E T H E CO R E
I’ve sometimes noticed in the gym that Charlene is struggling

with an exercise that I find easy. Why is she struggling, when I’m
barely breaking a sweat? I’ve thought.
The answer is simple: she was doing the exercise right. Un-
less I’m careful, I can rush through an exercise without engaging
the muscle groups they’re intended to strengthen. I was going
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HOW TO GROW
through the motions; she was engaging the core. She was working
harder, and she was also seeing more benefit.
It’s not enough to read or listen to the Bible, pray, and pursue
worship and fellowship within a church community. If we miss
the point, these practices can be dangerous, not helpful. If we
read Scripture just to check off the box, pray without pursuing
relationship with God, or attend a great church out of routine or
obligation rather than intentional engagement, we won’t grow,
and we’ll conclude that these practices don’t work.
Of course we should still read our Bible and go to church even
when we don’t feel like it, but we should be aiming for genuine,
heartfelt, and earnest (internal) engagement with these core hab-
its that goes far beyond going-through-the-motions (external)
engagement.
Don’t just practice these habits by going through the motions.
Engage your core. Seek God, not just the habits themselves.
WA X O N , WA X O F F
I’ve never met anyone who’s encountered God’s grace and

who’s practiced these three habits from the heart—reading or lis-
tening to the Bible, praying, and pursuing worship and fellowship
within a church community—who hasn’t grown. Conversely, I’ve
never met a single person who’s grown spiritually who hasn’t en-
gaged in these three core habits. These are the foundational habits
that we’re called to practice for the rest of our lives. We never get
beyond them. They shape us and help us grow in our joyful pur-
suit of God and in our love for others.
When Daniel wanted to learn karate in the classic movie The
Karate Kid, he was given an unusual task by Miyagi, his teacher.
He was given a series of menial tasks: waxing cars, sanding a
126
wooden floor, refinishing a fence, and repainting a house. Dan-

iel grew frustrated. He didn’t see a connection between these
tasks and karate.
The assignments, though, trained Daniel, both in his muscles
and his mind. Daniel’s muscle memory allowed him to unexpect-
edly triumph when he competed in a tournament. He mastered
the basic movements and developed discipline, and it made all
the difference.
The habits of reading and listening to the Bible, praying, and
pursuing worship and fellowship within a church don’t seem like
much. We’ll be tempted to see them as menial and ordinary and
to think that they’re a waste of time. Develop and practice these
core habits, though, and we’ll soon experience more of God’s
grace and pleasure in our lives.
The way to grow is to master the basics—a job that takes a life-
time. We never get beyond them.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
• No matter how much we grow, we’ll never grow beyond

building three core gospel habits: reading or listening to
the Bible, praying, and pursuing worship and fellowship
within a church community.
• No spiritual habit matters more than reading or listen-
ing to the Bible. Believe that it’s worth it, start small,
pick a format that works for you, and good tools that
will help you. Enlist support from others.
• Prayer is both easy and hard. Nobody feels like an
expert at prayer. Cultivate prayer by managing your life
through prayer, and by praying at set times according to
a plan.
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HOW TO GROW
• Pursue worship and fellowship within a church commu-

nity. You need the ministry of the church, even when it’s
challenging, and the church also needs you.
• These habits seem ordinary, but they lie at the center of
Christian growth. We never get beyond them.
Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion

1. Which of the core habits do you practice already?
2. Which core habits do you enjoy the most? Which do you
find the most challenging?
3. How can you build the habit of reading or listening to the
Bible?
4. What steps can you take to build more spontaneous and
planned prayer in your life?
5. What can you do to either find a good church or to encourage
somebody in the church you are in?
What Do I Do Now?
• Pick one of the three core habits listed above.

• Use the seven practices in chapter 6 to begin building
that one habit into your life.
• When you have established that habit, pick another one
in this chapter.
• Repeat until you’re practicing all three consistently.
• Notice and celebrate the changes you see in your life as
you practice these habits.
128
Spiritual Fitness in a 1
Flabby Generation
I n 1970, a handful of runners participated in the

first New York City Marathon, which was run on
a four-loop course around Central Park. The marathon is
now nearly fifty years old, and more than 50,000 run-
ners participate annually. Meanwhile, in 2016, the ten
largest marathons in the United States saw a total of
over 200,000 finishers, and there were well over 700
marathons throughout the nation.
This is just one indication that physical fitness is a
priority for many people as we continue in the twenty-
first century. Business personnel stride toward their
offices, briefcases in one hand and exercise bags in the
other. Young mothers rollerblade with their youngsters
on their backs or jog as they push along their little ones
in three-wheeled strollers. Technical medical informa-
tion, once the domain of our physicians, is now the
subject matter of animated conversation in health-food
stores and fashionable cafes that serve only that which
26 j Made for His Pleasure
makes one lean and keen for physical exercise. Maga-

zines abound on the subject and carry advertisements
for such appealing products as the “energy optimizer”
and the PowerBar, which are reputed to allow one to
burn fat faster. If you want to maximize energy, mini-
mize fatigue, and accelerate recovery, then you should
opt for the scientifically based ultimate sports nutrition
system. All these products are designed to help the aver-
age overweight and underexercised individual become
serious about physical fitness.
EXERCISING FOR A RE A SON
As Christians, we should be at the front of this parade.

After all, we know that our bodies are not to be abused,
but to be fed and cared for. They are the dwelling place
of God (1 Cor. 6:19), and it is through them that we give
expression to our concrete service for God. Yet, histori-
cally, we do not have a strong track record in this area.
Most local churches have included eating as a regular
feature of their programs while at the same time either
rejecting or neglecting, in practice, exercise as valid
Christian activity.
We tend to be behind the curve in other ways as
well. When aerobic exercise, aided by video, grabbed
center stage in the ’80s, Christians decided they needed
to have their own version. So they created Praisercize to
substitute for Jazzercise. The result? Christians who had
a desire to get fit neglected the opportunity to plug in
with their unbelieving friends, choosing instead to form
Spiritual Fitness in a Flabby Generation i 27
another holy huddle: bodies bouncing in time to worship
songs. This allowed them to shun the secular and trivial-
ize the sacred.
We should not be distancing ourselves from opportu-
nities to get to know our unbelieving neighbors; instead,
we should be seizing the chance to live in the world and
let our light shine. That will result in maximum impact for
the kingdom. We know that our bodies are like a tent that
will one day be folded up when we leave for our permanent
dwelling in heaven. Our unbelieving friends have no such
hope. We know that the whole of creation is creaking and
groaning in expectation of a new heaven and a new earth.
Our friends believe that the here and now is all we have.
So, while we run with them and share their commitment
to physical exercise, there will always be a difference.
We are able to affirm with them that our lives are full
of potential. They are powerful in their impact for good
or ill. But we also know that our lives are passing. We can
share this perspective with our neighbors and help them
see the eternal significance of the aging process: that our
lives are like the morning mist “that appears for a little
while and then vanishes” (James 4:14).
We jog with our friends not to stave off advancing
years but for the enjoyment of bodily exercise and to
honor our Creator in the process. But the striking dif-
ference is that our lives are purchased. We realize that
a healthy body with a sick soul is a tragic thing. For us,
the ultimate issue is spiritual, not physical: “You are not
your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor
God with your bodies” (1 Cor. 6:19–20).
INT EGR AT ING T HE BODY AND T HE SPIRI T
Eric Liddell had not compartmentalized his faith, as

his statement in Chariots of Fire that it pleased God to
make him fast gives evidence. He did not see athletics as
secular and Bible study as Christian. He saw the whole of
his life as under the control of God. For him and for us,
that includes athletics, music, poetry, art—whatever we
do as we exercise our gifts. When Paul told the Corinthi-
ans to run to win (1 Cor. 9:24), he was not referring to a
literal footrace but to the whole of life: “So whether you
eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of
God” (1 Cor. 10:31).
T HE TR AINING OF T HE TRUE DISCIPLE
In 1 Corinthians 9:24–27, Paul argues from the lesser to

the greater: if individuals are prepared to go into strict
training and deprive themselves of justifiable enjoy-
ments all for the sake of a crown of laurel leaves, how
much more should we be concerned to run the race of the
Christian life in such a way as to get an everlasting prize!
The Olympic athlete going for the gold must devote
himself to years of preparation. This will involve:
1. Diet. The athlete does not ask merely whether the

meal is nutritious but also whether it is allowed in
his training program.
2. Sleep. The athlete is in bed when others party and
out of bed to train when others sleep.
3. Hardship. The training is tough and demanding.

4. Sacrifice. Friendships back home cannot easily be
developed and sustained.
5. Commitment. Financial, mental, emotional—total!
Our pursuit of the spiritual prize is to be no less pas-

sionate. We should run not aimlessly or halfheartedly,
as though we signed up just to get a T-shirt, but as run-
ners who look to receive the “Well done!” from our Lord
and Master.
People will pay hard-earned cash for all kinds of gim-
micks marketed as keys to the perfect body—always
achieved with minimal effort. My current favorite is the
Belly Burner, a belt that is to be worn around the waist to
reduce unwanted fat simply as a result of being buckled
on. In the spiritual realm, there have always been purvey-
ors of the quick fix and the easy route to godliness. But
such offers are useless. The Bible does not offer a short-
cut to spiritual fitness.
T HE ACT IVI TY T HAT HINDER S
The writer to the Hebrews urges an approach to spiritual

progress that is aimed at the will rather than the emo-
tions: “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the
sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with persever-
ance the race marked out for us” (Heb. 12:1).
The athlete must divest himself of all superfluous
weight. Athletic wear is vastly different today from what
it was even a decade ago. The quest for the finest and the
lightest is undertaken in order to increase the speed and
efficiency of the athlete.
Once, in a small airport in Nairobi, I was shown the
single-engine planes that were being used to fly supplies
and personnel to the various missionaries in the region.
To prepare the airplanes for service, all the extras had
been removed. The upholstery on the seats, unnecessary
paneling, and any luxury items that would have taken
the place of something more vital had been cut away.
That is the way we should approach our Christian
lives. Many things that are perfectly fine in and of them-
selves may hold us back from achieving spiritual fit-
ness. We must be prepared to deal regularly with these
hindrances. Some of them will surprise us. Our love of
gardening, reading, or cycling may actually impede our
spiritual progress. Our commitment to our families can
also be a hindrance if it keeps us from worship, prayer,
and witness. The words of Jesus put our involvement
with our families into perspective: “If anyone comes to
me and does not hate father and mother, wife and chil-
dren, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—
such a person cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26).
T HE SIN T HAT ENTANGLES
One of the key reasons for the flabbiness of our spiri-

tual lives is that a generation of Christians is growing up
with little awareness of the necessity of dealing with sin.
There are sins to be rejected. These are the things that “so
easily entangle” us. We will not all be tripped up by the
same things; the source of our temptations differs ac-
cording to our personalities and circumstances. We must
learn where our personal weaknesses lie—and once they
are identified, we must be ruthless in dealing with them.
Earlier generations called this the “mortification of
the flesh”—that is, pronouncing the death sentence upon
sin and putting that sentence into daily effect by killing
all that sets itself against God’s purpose in our lives.
How is this to be achieved? Not by a slavish ob-
servance of external rules. Paul writes, “Such regula-
tions indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their
self-imposed worship, their false humility and their
harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in
restraining sensual indulgence” (Col. 2:23). That is so
because we need an internal mechanism if we are to “put
off [the] old” and “put on the new” (Eph. 4:22–24). And
that will come about only if we have been raised with
Christ to newness of life. It is our union with Christ that
makes the new life possible.
The power we need is the power that comes from the
Lord, who works in our lives to enable us to do His good
pleasure. Then we are responsible to work out what God
by His Spirit is working.
A SSESSING OUR PROGRESS
The most obvious way to assess our progress is to test

our lives against the plumb line of Scripture. We should
not assume we are spiritually fit simply because we feel
we are. I may feel that on the strength of my jumping

ability, I am ready for the Olympic Trials; however, when
my vertical clearance of three feet is held up to the quali-
fying standard, I discover how far I have to go!
Several years back, I was given a rigorous assess-
ment of my physical condition. I went through a battery
of tests, submitted blood work, answered an extensive
questionnaire, and then watched and waited as the re-
sults were fed into a computer. I was then given a report
based on the findings. It was frank in commenting on
even such matters as muscle mass and body fat! There
were five main categories in which I was rated. We can
also use them to assess our spiritual progress.
FUNCT IONAL C APACI TY AND HE ART R AT E
The first test was of my functional capacity—my aerobic

activity and heartbeat. The doctors checked my resting
heart rate and then monitored what happened in re-
sponse to various levels of stress. They wanted to know
how well I could sustain vigorous physical exercise, what
effect exercise had upon my heart rate, and how long it
took me to advance to the optimum rate for me to ben-
efit from the activity. They used a treadmill and at regu-
lar intervals increased the pace and the angle of incline.
It was no problem walking slowly on the flat, but quite a
different matter running flat-out uphill.
In the spiritual realm, how well do you think the
average church member would do in this area of as-
sessment? Howard Hendricks once described the local
church as a football game: twenty-two people on the
field, badly in need of a rest, and forty thousand in the
stands, badly in need of exercise.1 There is little doubt
that the majority of the exercise necessary for the local
church to function is engaged in by the minority of its
members. As with so many exercise programs, people
are often motivated by guilt to make staggering commit-
ments, which they quickly discover they are unable or
unwilling to sustain.
We need to learn where we are on this scale for two
reasons. First, we need to know when to push ourselves.
There is a level of activity that, although not harmful,
is actually doing you very little good. It is fairly neutral.
There are vast crowds who are apparently content to
function at this level in our churches. They appear regu-
larly on Sunday mornings to sit and listen, and then they
disappear for another week before returning to repeat
the process. Their aerobic function is flat. They do not
enjoy the benefits of a good workout. They miss out on
the privileges of service and fail to assume responsi-
bilities that then fall to others who are possibly already
overextended.
Second, we need to learn how to pace ourselves. In
distance running, this is very important. If we are able
to run ten miles at an average pace of seven minutes
per mile, it is crucial that we don’t begin to chase after
someone who is able to sustain six-minute miles. We will
be able to keep up for a while, but eventually we will be
unable to stay the course—and our average time will
reflect our mistake. So it is in the church: if we are to
run our race and play our part, we must always be “look-
ing unto Jesus,” as Scripture puts it (Heb. 12:2 kjv),
rather than looking at our brothers and sisters. Not
that we do not derive strength and encouragement
from their example; we do. But we are not called upon
to play any part other than our own. We must learn how
to accept our limitations as well as when to assume our
responsibilities.
STAT IC FLEXIBILI TY
The next test measured my suppleness and agility—

my stretching capacity and the ease with which I could
perform a series of exercises. This is clearly a matter of
significance when we think in terms of spiritual fitness.
Many Christians score well in some of the other catego-
ries, but fail when it comes to flexibility.
The issue here is the ability to distinguish issues that
truly matter from those that do not. We do not want to
be flexible about moral and theological convictions. The
great doctrines of the church regarding salvation, evan-
gelism, and spiritual growth really matter. So, too, do the
moral standards set forth in the Ten Commandments and
elsewhere in the Bible. The suggestion, for instance, that
the distinct roles God has given to men and women don’t
matter is not an example of flexibility, but of foolishness.
It is wrong to compromise our doctrinal convictions in
order to join hands with some who think we are too rigid.
But it is also wrong to be brittle about issues that
are not foundational to the faith. Once, when I was a
child in Scotland, our church planned a day cruise down
the River Clyde. A great crowd boarded the steamer on
a Saturday morning as we set off on our voyage “doon
the water,” as they say in Glasgow. In the midst of the
usual banter and high-spirited conversation, I began to
pick up a negative theme. The word that still stands out
in my memory is pertaineth. The men were quoting the
King James’s Deuteronomy 22:5—“The woman shall
not wear that which pertaineth unto a man”—and the
source of their agitation was a woman who had appeared
on the boat wearing trousers. Now, despite the fact that
the skirts of the other women were blowing in the breeze
and revealing more than their ankles, this poor lady was
being tried and convicted for her sensible attire. No, they
did not throw her overboard like some female Jonah—
but if a storm had come up, I have little doubt that some
would have suggested that as a possible solution. What
really made me wonder was how the men could adopt
such an inflexible position when some of their own
gender were on board walking around in kilts!
ENDUR ANCE
The third test measured my staying power: How many

repetitions of an exercise could I complete without be-
coming fatigued? Endurance is a key indicator of spiritual
fitness. Paul reminds the Philippian believers that he is
confident “that he who began a good work in you will
carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”
(Phil. 1:6). But what about the people who respond to
the gospel when they hear it preached, seem to make

such a good beginning, and then fall away? They have
been attending church, reading their Bibles, and pray-
ing—and then something happens, and we can’t find
them. The answer the Bible gives is that they are either
“backslidden” or false professors.
The backslidden believer has been compared to a
man on board a ship in the midst of high seas: he may
be knocked on the deck time and time again by the
waves, but he is never washed overboard. This is true to
Christian experience, if we are honest. The hymn writer
Robert Robinson put it well: “Prone to wander, Lord I
feel it, / Prone to leave the God I love.”2 However, even
though we may suffer temporary defeats in “a continual
and irreconcilable war,”3 the Bible declares that “sin shall
no longer be [our] master” (Rom. 6:14).
The instructions about restoration given in Galatians
6:1 and about winning back wanderers in James 5:19–20
speak to the reality of spiritual setbacks in the life of
the honest believer. In addition, Ephesians 6:10–18
speaks of the armor needed for the battle: the believer
needs to wear the “helmet of salvation” and think bibli-
cally about the struggles and difficulties he encounters.
(John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress is rich with illustra-
tive material when it comes to this.) As a result of grace,
we have been saved from sin’s penalty; one day we will be
saved from sin’s presence; in the meantime, we are being
saved from sin’s power.
The ground of our salvation is in the atoning sacrifice
of Jesus, but we should still give evidence of the work
of God’s grace in our lives. How can we tell if someone
is simply backslidden or is actually a false professor? As
long as he continues in sin, it will be impossible to tell.
Paul reminds Timothy, “The Lord knows those who are
his. . . . Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord
must turn away from wickedness” (2 Tim. 2:19).
Some years ago, a friend gave me a photograph of a
runner for my wall. Superimposed over the picture was
the phrase, “The race is not always to the swift but to him
who keeps on running.” So it is that our endurance is a
vital test of our spiritual fitness.
STRENGT H
I can tell you that my son was unimpressed when he saw

how little weight his poor old dad was able to lift for the
fourth test. My wife, for that matter, was not particu-
larly impressed either. This is an area of physical fitness
to which I need to pay attention. The doctors advised
me as to how I might correct this deficit with a series of
exercises.
The Christian faith is like a muscle: the more we ex-
ercise it, the more we build it, but when we neglect it, it
atrophies. It is in recognizing our weakness that we dis-
cover the strength that God provides. It is God who keeps
us strong to the end. King Uzziah of Judah had a dramatic
rise to influence and significance, but failed at this most
basic point: “He was marvelously helped until he became
strong. But when he had become strong he grew proud, to
his destruction” (2 Chron. 26:15–16 nrsv).
The Bible talks about becoming strong in good deeds

(2 Thess. 2:17) and of having our hearts, hands, and
knees strengthened in the cause of spiritual usefulness.
We need strength in order to exercise our spiritual gifts
(1 Peter 4:11). And we need, with Timothy, to be re-
minded to “be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus”
(2 Tim. 2:1).
All kinds of difficulties and trials will come our way
as we go through life. We are not (as we shall see in chap-
ter 6) exempt from pain, disease, or illness. The differ-
ence is that we are promised fresh supplies of strength
as we wait upon the Lord. Annie Johnson Flint captured
this well: “He giveth more grace when the burdens grow
greater, / . . . / for out of His infinite riches in Jesus / He
giveth and giveth and giveth again.”4
SO NOW WHAT ?
Well, the doctors gave me a copy of the report to take

home and read. They expected that I would give heed to
their recommendations. At the end of the day, it is not
very complex: plenty of fresh air, regular exercise, and
a sensible diet. That pattern works just fine for spiritual
fitness too: prayer is the fresh air, witness and worship
are the exercise, and a balanced intake of biblical instruc-
tion is the good diet.
Once when I was standing in the foyer of a local hotel
waiting for a friend to join me for lunch, a sign caught
my eye: “Fit for Life.” Here was a rack of brochures of-
fering a variety of resources guaranteed to move one in
the direction of physical fitness. Sucking in my waist, I
reached forward and picked up a few of the pamphlets.
Since then I have purchased an exercise bike, used it
rarely, and sold it. I have received a mountain bike as a
gift, and despite the passing of time, it’s still as good as
new. I have purchased and borrowed a variety of books
that provide the keys to health and fitness; they must be
around somewhere! But I have discovered that when I
plod around the city parks three or four times a week and
make sensible choices about what I eat, this unspectacu-
lar regimen makes a significant difference in my physi-
cal fitness. Fitness is begun and maintained not on the
basis of emotional surges, but on the basis of disciplined
commitment—and, as the Beatles put it, “I get by with a
little help from my friends.”
Spiritually, the issue is no different: an unspectacu-
lar commitment of the will to the right kind of intake
and the right amount of output will make all the differ-
ence. The journey to spiritual fitness is not a series of
100-meter sprints but a cross-country run that lasts for
the rest of your life. See you at the finish!
Chapter 8
Disciplined
Living in an Age
of Distraction
Strategies for Self Control
in the Digital Era
“We are a people on the verge of amusing ourselves
to death.”
—NEIL POSTMAN
I ’m writing these words from the Seventh Circle of Dante’s

Inferno.
Well, that’s what I call it. My kids call it “Chuck E. Cheese’s,”
and they think it is heaven. Right now, they’re running around
slapping buttons, whacking moles, spinning wheels, and shoot-
ing tiny basketballs into tiny hoops. I’m over here at the corner
table eating cheap pizza and trying to write something intelli-
gible. It isn’t easy to do amid the flashing lights, blaring games,
and shrieking children. (Oh, and did I mention there’s a guy in a
mouse costume running around high-fiving everyone?)
Pray for me in my hour of need.
As I sit here trying to concentrate, a thought occurs to me.
The outside world is becoming more and more like this place. No,
165
Your Future Self Will Thank You
there aren’t people running around in giant mouse costumes. I’m

talking about the distractions, the noise. Life has gotten louder,
chaotic, and more disruptive. And just like at Chuck E. Cheese’s, a
lot of the cacophony comes via screens.
There are the familiar diversions like TV, which, despite the
advent of the internet, Americans continue to watch on average
for more than five hours a day.1 Advertisements bombard us from
every angle, more than at any other time in history. In addition to
these distractions, the internet has spawned a host of tools—like
email, apps, social media, and online games—to grab even more
of our time and attention. The average American now spends
almost eleven hours a day staring at a screen.2 Throw in eight
hours of sleep (which we should be getting, but aren’t), and that
leaves a paltry six hours in which we risk making eye contact with
another human being.
Self-control has always been hard. In every generation,
Christians had to battle the flesh and the devil. But today the
battle is different. It now involves resisting online porn and in-
ternet trolls. It requires not blowing money you don’t have on
apps and one-click purchases. It means not frittering away hours
scrolling through your Facebook feed or crushing digital candies
on your phone. I’m not saying new media is all bad. It can enrich
our lives when used properly and in moderation. But we’d be fool-
ing ourselves if we didn’t recognize its drawbacks. If we’re serious
about developing self-control we need to be aware of how new
technologies tax our restraint.
I wish I could lecture you on the dangers of new media from
Mount Solitude, where I pass my days in silence and prayerful
meditation. But alas, I live in the proverbial valley, immersed
in the distracting technology that has become the hallmark of
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Disciplined Living in an Age of Distraction: Strategies for Self-Control in the Digital Era
modern life. Recently I saw a report showing the average Ameri-

can house now has seven digitally connected devices.3 I scoffed
at the excess, then started counting the devices in my own home
and came to a humbling realization: we have eight.
My online accounts have proliferated too. Every day I sign into
three different email accounts and I check them compulsively. To
modify a verse from the Bible, as a dog returns to his vomit, so I
keep checking work-related email, even on weekends.
Of course email is just the tip of the digital iceberg. There’s
also social media. I’m on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest
(hey, it’s for guys too), Google Plus, and LinkedIn, even though I
don’t remember signing up for those last two. Most of these ser-
vices are accessed through my smartphone, my ever-present help
in times of boredom. It continually dings and buzzes and beeps,
assuring me that I’m connected and popular and entertained. The
other day I got stuck in line at Chipotle for twenty minutes and
made a horrifying discovery: I didn’t have my phone with me.
I grew uneasy. My hand kept searching my pockets in vain for
the glowing device. I was shocked by just how hard it was for me
to stand there with nothing to do. I got so desperate I almost re-
sorted to talking to the people around me!
I may be exaggerating a little, but every so often I get a glimpse
of my digital dependency (usually when my devices are taken
away), and it’s not pretty. And I know I’m not alone. Americans
check their phones on average 150 times a day and stare at them
for approximately a quarter of their waking hours. I know that
any discussion of self-control would be incomplete without ad-
dressing this issue.
The church father Justin Martyr named four major challenges
to discipleship for the early Christians: sexual immorality, magic,
167
wealth, and ethnic hatred.4 Nearly two thousand years later, what
has changed? I don’t know about you, but magic isn’t a major
temptation for me. At least not the kind of magic that involves
wearing pointy hats and casting spells. But author Andy Crouch
noted that our technology makes a decent stand-in for the magic
that was so alluring to our spiritual ancestors.5 If you swap tech-
nology for magic, we pretty much have the same list today.
So how exactly do our magical technologies impact our self-
control? The first way: by shoving every conceivable temptation
in our face.
EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE
The internet hasn’t created any new temptations. It’s just height-
ened the ones that were there all along. It’s repackaged them,
thrown a fancy new bow on top, and
The internet hasn’t delivered them to your doorstep.
created any new It’s made sin more accessible. For
temptations. It’s example, in the past, getting a hold
just heightened of pornography was a risky, pride-
the ones that were swallowing enterprise. You had
there all along. to walk into a store, approach the
person behind the counter, and pay
money for a dirty magazine—all while hoping that no one you
knew witnessed the transaction. (“Well, hello Aunt Trudy. What
are you doing here?”)
Now thanks to the internet, sexual acts of every sickening
variety are a click away—and available to view in the privacy of
your home. I won’t rehash all the staggering statistics about online
porn, but one I saw recently hit me hard. Between 2015 and 2017,
168
humans watched a total of one million years of porn—on just one

website.6 One million years! What a sad statistic. It would be im-
possible to quantify the minds warped, the marriages wrecked, by
such habits. And on top of the destruction, what a colossal waste
of time!
I recently heard the story of one courageous young woman
who stood in front of her church to share her online struggle.
She wasn’t addicted to porn, but her digital activities had led her
into sin. After a bad breakup, she downloaded apps and started to
have inappropriate interactions with a number of different men.
“When I was having a bad day, instead of turning to God to fulfill
me, I went to a dating app. I knew there were going to be 50 mes-
sages on there from people telling me how great I am. I became
addicted to the attention of strangers.”
When she started dating a nice Christian man, she thought
her problems were over. But even after they got married, she felt
the pull of those dating apps. She was still using them to send
photos and have inappropriate conversations. “My husband was
telling me every day that he loved me, that I was beautiful, but
I was addicted to the constant messages from others.” Freedom
only came once she confessed her problem and made the hard
decision to delete all of her dating apps and social media ac-
counts. “I can’t even have a LinkedIn account,” she said. “It’s still a
struggle for me,” she confessed. “It’s an everyday choice I have to
make, to find my worth in God, to know and believe the promises
God has given to me.”
Initially, she assumed her challenge was unique. “Maybe I’m
a freak,” she said through tears. “What’s wrong with me? How can
I still being doing this? But then I started talking to other young
married Christian women and found out that I’m far from alone.”
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This isn’t the only kind of temptation the internet amplifies;

it offers up a host of other allurements as well. Social media is a
veritable minefield for the soul. A few years ago I interviewed a
group of pastors about their social media habits. One of the pas-
tors sat silently in the meeting. “How about you?” I finally asked
him, searching for eye contact. “Are you on Twitter?”
“Well, I used to be,” he said. “But I don’t do that anymore . . .”
Turns out he’d become so addicted to Twitter, his friends
staged an intervention of sorts. The microblogging platform was
draining his time and feeding his ego, so he had to let go, cold
turkey.
A writer friend of mine, Brandon Smith, also decided to
board the cold turkey train. He had thousands of followers on
Facebook and Twitter but didn’t like how social media fed his
desire for approval. “I’ve often lived day-to-day spending more
time looking at ‘likes’ and ‘retweets” than looking my own family
in their eyes,” he confessed.7
He also noticed it was souring his view of others. “Social
media feeds my propensity to be cynical and contrarian,” he
wrote. “Off social media, I’m generally joyful and accepting. On
social media, I’m generally annoyed and dismissive.”8
Quitting social media wasn’t an easy decision for Smith. As
a writer he realized deleting his accounts would deprive him of a
valuable way to reach readers. But Smith concluded that, for him,
the spiritual benefits were worth it. “I’m least like Christ when I’m
using social media. And I’ve finally decided to take Jesus’s caution
seriously, and cut out my own social media eye rather than lust
over the approval and acclaim of others (Mark 9:43ff).”9
These experiences may be the extreme, but they show how
platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram have a way of
170
appealing to our worst instincts. Somehow they fuel pride and in-
security at the same time. Even as we puff ourselves up by posting
flattering pictures of ourselves and spotlighting our achievements
(subtly of course), we feel a pang of envy as we see the latest ac-
complishment of a friend or colleague. Why don’t I have a house
like that? How are her children so perfect? Why did he get that pro-
motion? What am I doing wrong?
Of course a lot of this discontentment and insecurity is based
on a mirage. Sure, some people vacation in Tangier and eat sushi
on mountaintops, but most of the time their lives aren’t that
glamorous. More often they’re in the burbs eating microwaved
chicken nuggets and watching reality TV. They’re just choosing
to spotlight those moments to make their lives look as desirable
as possible to others. The problem, as one pastor puts it, is that
“we’re comparing our behind the scenes to everyone else’s
highlight reel.”10 And when we do that, we become miserable.
Just think of all the sins that stem from
unhealthy comparisons: envy, covet- Nothing fuels the
ousness, greed, and worry. Nothing comparison game
fuels the comparison game quite like quite like social
social media. media.
The internet creates a similar dy-
namic when it comes to generating conflict. The Bible warns
us against having “anything to do with foolish and stupid argu-
ments” (2 Tim. 2:23). That’s often the first commandment you
break when going online. There is a lot of solid, thoughtful ex-
changes out there—but they rarely get the clicks, the shares,
the millions of views, the endless scrolls of comments. Power-
ful algorithms actually favor more divisive exchanges because
they drive traffic. Therefore the content that “wins” online
171
draws us in with gleeful promises that so-and-so gets “owned”

at the three-minute mark. Or proclaims that one person “de-
stroys” another. Note how it’s never “makes a good point” or
even “wins the argument.” No, destroys! C. S. Lewis wrote the
following words about hell, but I can’t help think they make
for a pretty accurate description for a lot of social media:
We must picture hell as a state where everyone is per-

petually concerned about his own dignity and advance-
ment, where everyone has a grievance, and where
everyone lives the deadly serious passions of envy,
self-importance, and resentment.11
Equally ubiquitous are the online takedowns and diatribes with

click-bait titles that guarantee to overwhelm our outrage thresh-
old. “Your Jaw Will Hit The Ground!” We may laugh at these
transparent ploys to get our attention. Yet too often we fall prey
to the hyperpolarized, winner-takes-all, the other-side-is-Hitler
attitude. We stop conversing and start fighting. Emboldened by
the anonymity the internet affords, we end up saying things to
strangers we would never utter face to face.
DISTRACTING OURSELVES TO DEATH
There’s another danger lurking online and it has nothing to do

with explicit sins like lust, envy, or trolling—yet it’s also devas-
tating to our self-control. It has to do with what constant diver-
sions and entertainment does to us at a neurological level. It turns
out living in a Chuck E. Cheese world seriously undermines our
172
ability to concentrate and engage in more demanding intellectual

endeavors.
Recently the bestselling Christian author Philip Yancey made
a surprising confession: he can’t read anymore. Well, at least he
can’t read like he used to. Before describing his “personal crisis,”
he shared how he used to read: three books per week with an
entire evening dedicated to consuming classics from the likes
of Shakespeare and Dostoevsky. But something changed. “I am
reading many fewer books these days, and even fewer of the kinds
of books that require hard work.”12
What happened? In short, the internet.
The internet and social media have trained my brain to

read a paragraph or two, and then start looking around.
When I read an online article from The Atlantic or The
New Yorker, after a few paragraphs I glance over at the
slide bar to judge the article’s length. My mind strays,
and I find myself clicking on the sidebars and the under-
lined links. Soon I’m over at CNN.com reading Donald
Trump’s latest tweets and details of the latest terrorist
attack, or perhaps checking tomorrow’s weather.13
I was well aware of this phenomenon before I read Yancey’s con-

fession. I’d read The Shallows by Nicholas Carr, a book that ex-
plores how the internet fractures our concentration and shrinks
our attention spans. I’d also read a sobering study showing that
distraction from constant email and text messages resulted in
a ten point temporary drop in IQ, more than double the loss of
IQ points someone experiences while high on marijuana.14 But
somehow reading about Yancey’s experience was especially
173
unnerving. I expect the internet to dumb down those darn Mil-

lennials and “Screenagers.” But Yancey is sixty-something, and
a brilliant, prolific author. If his mind has been taken out by the
internet, what chance do the rest of us have?
I’ve experienced the internet’s powers of distraction in my
own life. Earlier I mentioned how challenging it is for me to write.
Even when I’m able to carve out time in my busy schedule, the
task itself can be excruciating. And the internet hasn’t made that
any easier. Even as I sit here tapping out words on my computer,
I hear the siren song of the web. I know that I’m just a click away
from checking my email or Twitter or watching NBA highlights
or reading the news. Mindlessly surfing the web would be such a
welcome reprieve from the arduous task of wrestling words into
sentences.
ADDICTIVE BY DESIGN
Why is the internet so addictive and distracting?

Because it’s designed to be.
In 2017, the founding president of Facebook, Sean Parker,
came out with some candid words about the social media giant
he helped create. Most people think of Facebook primarily as a
vehicle for reconnecting with old friends and family members.
Publicly, Facebook speaks in lofty terms about making the world
a better place and fostering community. But Parker said that from
the outset, the goal was different: “How do we consume as much
of your time and conscious attention as possible?” According to
Parker, “exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology” was the
way to accomplish this feat.
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We need to sort of give you a little dopamine hit every

once in a while, because someone liked or commented
on a photo or a post or whatever. And that’s going to get
you to contribute more content, and that’s going to get
you . . . more likes and comments. It’s a social-validation
feedback loop . . . exactly the kind of thing that a hacker
like myself would come up with.15
I don’t know about you, but I find this admission a little spooky.
The reason we get addicted to these platforms is no accident. They
are sophisticated tools designed to manipulate our minds. Parker
referenced dopamine, which is often called the brain’s “feel-good
chemical.” It’s released when you exercise, make a discovery, or
accomplish something . . . or when you do drugs or gamble. In a
famous experiment, rats could push a level to receive a dopamine
boost. The chemical was so powerful that the rats ignored sex and
food to keep getting a dopamine boost. They would even walk
across an electrified grid, receiving painful shocks with each step,
in order to reach the lever.16
Turns out we’re all a little ratlike when it comes to this power-
ful neurotransmitter. In one study, researchers used MRI scans
to study the brains of teenagers as they used social media. When
the teens saw that someone “liked” one of their posts or pictures,
the reward circuitry of their brains would light up. Lauran Sher-
man, the study’s lead author, reported “This is the same group of
regions responding when we see pictures of a person we love or
when we win money.”17 When the teens saw a large number of
likes on photos of themselves, the reward areas of the brain were
especially active, motivating them to post more often.
The researchers noted that brains of teens are especially
175
sensitive to rewards, but we are all subject to this dynamic. It ex-

plains why when we’re feeling down, we’ll often turn to social media.
If someone “likes” or shares one of our posts or pictures, the reward
area of our brains are stimulated. Of course, highs never last long,
so like gamblers pulling the handle on a slot machine in search of
the next payout, we keep hitting “refresh,” hoping for another like
or comment. Some platforms have been accused of intentionally
withholding “likes” to get users to log in more often.18 Social media
platforms are dopamine delivery systems.
We call dopamine the brain’s feel-good chemical, but that’s
not quite accurate. Dopamine doesn’t deliver pleasure; it makes
you anticipate pleasure. It produces a state of arousal and desire.
Dopamine floods your brain when you spot that chocolate cake
through the restaurant window or see a sexually alluring image.
Dopamine directs your focus toward the desired object and urges
you to pursue it. But that feeling of excitement isn’t exactly plea-
sure. In fact, if you can’t fulfill the desire, it makes you miserable.
Remember the poor rats that kept hitting the lever for more
dopamine? Researchers assumed that the dopamine hit must
have sent the rats to Cloud 9. After all, they preferred it to even
sex and food. But when they conducted a similar experiment with
humans, they discovered the truth. Like their rodent counter-
parts, the human subjects kept hitting the button to receive more
dopamine, but to the surprise of researchers they didn’t say it felt
good. It was just addictive. And it made them miserable, even as
they wanted more.19 This is what psychologist Kelly McGonigal
calls “the brain’s big lie,” that we “find it nearly impossible to dis-
tinguish the promise of reward from whatever pleasure or payoff
we are seeking.”20
Social media has capitalized on this deception. It doesn’t leave
176
you content and satiated. Often it leaves you feeling disconnected.

After a couple of hours on social media, you don’t feel happy or
satisfied.
Another former Facebook executive stepped forward recently
to spill the beans about Facebook’s impact. He was even more
condemnatory than Parker:
“The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that

we have created are destroying how society works. . . . We
curate our lives around this perceived sense of perfec-
tion, because we get rewarded in the short term—signals,
hearts, likes, thumbs up—and we conflate that with value
and we conflate it with truth. And instead, what it really is
is fake, brittle popularity that’s short-term and leaves you
even more . . . vacant and empty before you did it.”21
That description rings true with me. Even if you manage to

achieve a “fake brittle popularity” on social media, it often leaves
you feeling “vacant and empty.” And it’s designed to leave you that
way—it’s what ensures you’ll come back for more.
I’m not saying companies like Facebook and Twitter are
sinister organizations bent on ruining the world. They’re just
doing what companies do—trying to maximize value for their
shareholders by delivering audiences to advertisers. But it’s worth
noting that their ability to accomplish these goals involves cap-
turing as much of your time and attention as possible. Google has
taken the quest for our attention to absurd new heights. Begin-
ning in the early 2000s, they pioneered A/B testing that strained
even the patience of their engineers. They would test as many as
forty-one shades of blue on their homepage to see which color
177
Their sole purpose encouraged greater engagement with

is to steal as much their site.22
of your time as These are the lengths tech compa-
possible. You’ve nies are going to grab and keep your
been warned. attention. And it’s unprecedented. For
the first time in history, there are ge-
niuses armed with limitless funds, mountains of data, powerful
algorithms, and a profound understanding of human psychology.
Their sole purpose is to steal as much of your time as possible.
You’ve been warned.
THE TOLL ON YOUR SOUL
This constant distraction takes a heavy toll on your spiritual life.

The internet isn’t just after your brain; it wants your soul too.
When we talk about sin, we usually focus on understanding
temptation. And for good reason: knowing your vulnerabilities is
vital. It enables you to guard against enticements to which you’re
uniquely vulnerable. An alcoholic shouldn’t hang out in bars. The
shopping addict should avoid malls—and Amazon.com.
But while it’s wise to focus on temptation, we need to pay at-
tention to our state of mind too. We know that there are certain
things that decimate our willpower. Being tired, for instance,
leaves us more vulnerable to temptation. Ditto for being hungry
and stressed. The same is true for being distracted. It’s like a pick-
pocket who works with an accomplice. While one is distracting
you, the other robs you blind. You don’t even know what hit you.
Have you ever wondered why so many stores blast loud
music or provide other diversions? They want you to act on im-
pulse. It’s not in their best interest to provide a distraction-free
178
environment where you can think clearly and resist temptation.

Studies have demonstrated that even mild distractions, like trying
to remember a phone number, leave people more likely to make
unhealthy choices.
The internet is like every store on earth rolled into one. It
offers up an endless flood of distraction that wears down your re-
solve. Bombarded by this continual flow, we become easy marks
for temptation.
At the same time, it makes it harder to engage in spiritual
practices. Scripture reading is often the first to go. You may not
care about plowing through dense classics, but as a Christian,
you should care about reading at least one classic. Well, sixty-six
classics if you want to get technical about it—the library of holy
books we call the Bible. In chapter 6, we saw how Bible reading is a
keystone habit, a practice that pays dividends in multiple areas of
life. Yet let’s face it—reading the Bible
is difficult. It’s a big, daunting book. Contemporary
Yes, it’s the inspired Word of God and Christians tend to
filled with breathtaking beauty. But it live off “Scripture
was written in multiple genres over McNuggets” rather
thousands of years by people from an- than “feasting on
cient cultures. It demands discipline the whole Word of
to read and understand. God.”
I interviewed Glenn Paauw of the
Institute for Bible Reading about the Bible reading habits of con-
temporary Christians. One of his biggest concerns is how contem-
porary Christians tend to live off “Scripture McNuggets” rather
than “feasting on the whole Word of God.” To correct this habit
requires “big readings of Scripture,” he says. “We need to increase
the size of our Bible readings. Start reading the words around your
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cherry-picked passages. Then you’re immediately confronted with

context. . . . I’m a big fan of reading entire books of the Bible.”
Unfortunately, for people with Twitter-sized attention spans,
doing “big readings” of an ancient text is nearly impossible. The
internet trains us to skim instead of read. It also encourages what
cognitive scientists call “task switching,” a practice of shifting
your attention from one thing to another. The problem is that each
time you shift your attention—a practice the internet encourages
constantly—the brain has to reorient itself. The practice imposes
“switching costs” that slow your brain down and diminish your
ability to concentrate. Here’s how Stanford communications pro-
fessor Clifford Nass explained the impact of constant switching
on the brains of the subjects he studied. “People who multitask all
the time can’t filter out irrelevancy. They can’t manage a working
memory. They’re chronically distracted. . . . they’re pretty much
mental wrecks.”
Even when these habitual multitaskers got offline, the nega-
tive effects of the switching persisted. Nass continued:
The people we talk with continually said, look, when

I really have to concentrate, I turn off everything and I
am laser-focused. And unfortunately, they’ve developed
habits of mind that make it impossible for them to be
laser-focused. . . . They just can’t keep on task.23
Our brains are addicted to the novelty served up by the internet.

No wonder we struggle to quiet our minds and study God’s Word.
Hip-hop artist and pastor Trip Lee attests to this dynamic in his
own life: “The more time I spend reading ten-second tweets and
skimming random articles online, the more it affects my attention
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span, weakening the muscles I need to read Scripture for long

distances.”24
In his book 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You, Tony Reinke
connects our ability to engage Scripture with our willingness to
tune out online distractions.
To live an abundant life in this insatiable consumer soci-

ety, we must plead in prayer for God-given power to turn
our eyes away from the gigs of digital garbage endlessly
offered in our phones and tune our ears to hear sublime
echoes of an eternal enthrallment with the transcendent
beauties we “see” in Scripture.25
FAREWELL, SOLITUDE AND COMMUNITY
Another casualty of the digital flood is solitude. Once you’ve con-

ditioned your brain to require constant entertainment, quieting
your soul to commune with God becomes nearly impossible.
I sense this in my own life. When I try to carve out time for
meditation and prayer, I feel a strong urge to reach for my phone
or log on to my computer. I try to spend time with God but squirm
with restlessness the moment I’m deprived of external stimuli.
Connecting deeply with God takes silence, solitude, and concen-
tration. It might even mean we have to get bored. But as my friend
Skye Jethani says, “Boredom is a prerequisite to spiritual growth.”
That statement may sound wrong. In America, being bored is
among the worst things that can happen to you, but I think he’s
onto something. As unendurable as it may be for tech-addicts like
me, boredom just might be the answer. It can serve as a spiritual
reset, a blankness into which God can speak. Of course spiritual
181
practices aren’t boring. If we fully grasped what we’re truly doing

(communing with the God of the universe!) we wouldn’t be
bored. We’d be excited, energized. But for people whose imagina-
tions have been blunted by a barrage of digital stimuli, slowing
down will feel like boredom, at least at first.
The internet makes spending time alone and with God more
difficult. It also threatens our time with each other, straining at
the cords of Christian community.
A couple of years ago, I was out for dinner with my family
when I noticed a group of young people at the table next to us
bowing their heads. That’s refreshing, I thought. You don’t see too
many young people pausing to pray before meals anymore. I glanced
back a few minutes later and was surprised to see them still frozen
in the same position. That’s when it hit me. They weren’t praying;
they were on their phones. I marveled at the irony of the scene.
They were together but disconnected—at least from each other.
A pastor friend who leads a thriving urban church of mostly
twentysomethings told me about how big a challenge this kind
of behavior is for his congregation. “This is our church’s greatest
obstacle to discipleship,” he said, holding up a smartphone. The
young, affluent couples attending his church gave lip service to
the idea of community, but had trouble breaking away from their
digital devices to truly engage with each other. At the time of our
conversation, my friend was thinking of placing baskets in the
foyer of the church and having everyone drop their smartphones
in before entering the sanctuary. He knew the idea would be a
tough sell for his hyperconnected parishioners, but he was deter-
mined to find a way to wrest digital devices out of the hands of his
distracted congregants, if only temporarily. “I don’t know if that’s
the solution,” he said, “but we have to do something.”
182
BE THE TORTOISE
The people I’ve known who have had major moral failings all
had one thing in common: they were moving way too fast.
Their failures were tragic, but not surprising. We’re like cars—
far more likely to crash when moving at a high rate of speed.
Cramming our schedules depletes our willpower and leaves
us physically exhausted. It’s the perfect recipe for a moral
failure. Slowing down and resting replenishes our willpower
reserves.
Slowing down enables us to defeat temptation. Our
desires are strong, but short-lived. Sometimes by simply
waiting ten minutes or so, the desire will wane, enabling you
to resist giving in. Adopting practices that force you to slow
your pace also help. Spending a mere five minutes in medita-
tion or prayer boosts a person’s willpower for the remainder
of the day. Other studies have demonstrated that getting
sufficient sleep and relaxation are crucial for shoring up
willpower reserves.
No wonder Scripture repeatedly gives us commands
such as “wait on the Lord” or “be still and know that I am
God.” Our Creator knows that we need to slow down and rest.
When it comes to self-control, the tortoise beats the hare
every time.
WEAPONS FOR FIGHTING BACK
Like most parents, I struggle to get my kids’ attention. My six-

year-old boy is particularly difficult. He’s in constant motion.
Whether he’s playing tag with his sister, smashing toy superheroes
183
into each other, or pretending he’s a lizard that can scale vertical
surfaces, the boy is a blur. That’s fine; I’m pretty sure that’s what
little boys are supposed to do. The only problem comes when I
need to tell him something important. He’ll acknowledge my
words with a mindless, “Yeah, Dad” as he blazes by, but I know
he didn’t really hear me. That’s when I have to chase him down,
remove whatever toy is in his hands, put my hands on his shoul-
ders and look him in the eyes. Finally I have his attention.
I wonder if God feels the same way about His children some-
times. We’re so busy, so distracted. New technologies have filled
our lives with toys that keep us constantly entertained. Perhaps
truly communing with our heavenly Father involves letting Him
pull our toys from our hands long enough to hear Him again.
But how exactly do we do that? In order to protect ourselves
from self-control-destroying technology, we need to exercise self-
control in the first place.
Draw Bright Lines

We all want to improve our behavior. But often we pursue this
goal with vague aspirations, like “I’m going to try to eat better.”
Of course, objectives like this rarely work because they’re so
ambiguous. “Bright lines” are hard-and-fast rules that help you
avoid unwanted behavior. The term came from the legal system to
describe clearly defined courtroom rulings, but researchers found
the idea helpful for controlling conduct.
This is how it works. A vague goal like trying to eat better
requires you to constantly assess what you should eat and how
much. However, if you have a bright-line rule such as “No eating
sugar” or “No eating after 8:00 p.m.,” you’re far more likely to see
your eating habits improve. These rules may sound difficult but
184
they actually preserve your willpower. When you see a donut, you
know it has sugar, so it’s off-limits. You don’t have to sit around
wrestling with a decision. You don’t even have to think about it.
The Bible is filled with these sorts of “bright-line” rules. What
are the Ten Commandments after all, but a series of inviolable
laws designed to steer us away from evil? Jesus moved these bright
lines into the realm of the heart. He taught us to not even lust or
hate, knowing that those dangerous feelings are not only sinful
but lead to outward acts of sin as well.
We’re wise to apply this thinking to our lives, and not just to
avoid committing adultery and murder. Bright lines are especially
crucial for breaking bad digital habits.
My pastor, C. J. Coffee, is a bit of a Luddite. He doesn’t spend
much time online, isn’t on social media, and he has (gasp!) an
old-fashioned flip phone. He doesn’t opt for these restrictions
because he has something against technology. He does it to avoid
falling prey to pornography. Since becoming a Christian in his
late teens, C. J. hasn’t looked at porn—not once. You might think
that’s because he’s some sort of superman, but he says it’s just the
opposite. “I consider myself fundamentally weak in this area,” he
confessed. “That’s why I’ve taken extreme precautions to avoid
temptation.”26 He encouraged other people in our church to take
the same measures if they find themselves besieged by tempta-
tion. “If you’re a guy who’s getting tempted by images online, don’t
be proud,” he once thundered from the pulpit. “Set up controls on
your computer. Don’t access the internet when you’re alone. And
if you have to, get yourself a flip phone!”27
Even if you’re not falling to porn, bright lines are valuable for
limiting the influence of technology. Make hard-and-fast rules
like “No email after 6:00 p.m.,” or “No internet on weekends,” or
185
“No phones at the dinner table.” These bright lines are like levees,
strategically placed in your life to guard against the flood of digi-
tal distractions that threaten to overwhelm your soul.
Structure Your Time

I doubt any of us sits down to plan the week and thinks, Hmm
. . . I’m going to pencil in thirty-five hours for staring at my phone,
thirty hours of TV, and seven hours of mindlessly surfing the web.
Sounds ridiculous, right? We ’d never plan to spend our time like
this. Yet that’s what many of us do—week after week.
How do we bring sanity back to our schedules? By becom-
ing intentional about the way we spend our time. Of course that
doesn’t mean we say no more phones, TV, or computers. For most
of us, that isn’t feasible. If I said no to email, I’d lose my job! But it
does require applying wisdom to our online habits. One tool I’ve
found helpful comes from my friend Brett McCracken. Playing off
Maslow’s famous Hierarchy of Needs, McCracken came up with
the “Wisdom Pyramid”28 to give internet-addicted Christians a
way to think more fruitfully about the way they spend their time.
As you can see, McCracken puts social media and the inter-
net at the pinnacle of his pyramid—not because those are the best
uses of your time, but because they’re the least important. He ad-
vises prioritizing Scripture-reading and spending time with your
church family in order to keep your priorities balanced.
These are good guidelines. I’ve often referred back to it when
I sense that I’m inverting the pyramid in the way I spend my time.
Yet I also need more practical tools to help me allot my time
wisely. Ironically, many of these tools are technological.
For those struggling with online porn, there are a host of great
tools. You can download software like Net Nanny that will block
186
all porn on your computer and phone. There are other services,
like Covenant Eyes, that send a report of all your online activities
to an accountability partner. You may feel a little silly installing
software or paying for an accountability service, but it’s worth
it. Better to swallow your pride and spend a few bucks on a ser-
vice, than risk polluting your mind and soul with the evils of
online porn.
There are also small steps you can take to curb your digital
dependency. One is to disable color on your smartphone. The
former Design Ethicist at Google, Tristan Harris, explains that
opting for the “grayscale” option makes the apps on your phone
far less addictive.29 A few months ago, I did something simple that
reduced my tendency to waste time on my phone. I turned off all
187
the notifications. Did I really need to be alerted every time some-

one liked one of my tweets or Facebook posts? Must I know each
time CNN.com posts a new political story? Nope. Yet these dings
and beeps were continually pulling me away from more important
activities and sapping my ability to concentrate deeply. So I went
into my settings and disabled all notifications. I haven’t missed
them. The second thing I did: install an app (called Moment) that
tracks all the time I spend on my phone. It’s sobering to get an ac-
curate understanding of just how much time you’re spending on
your phone. Such tools help you prevent giving too much of your
time and attention to the internet.
Make Your Sabbath Tech-Free

Observing a Sabbath is crucial. Don’t worry—I’m not legalistic
about it. The Jews observed the Sabbath on Saturday. The early
Christians moved it to Sunday, the Lord’s Day, to honor the day
that Jesus rose from the dead. Today, we no longer live in tight-
knit, kin-based cultures, and everyone has different work sched-
ules. I don’t care if you observe Sabbath on Sunday, Saturday—or
Wednesday. But observing a Sabbath is wise, especially in our
hurry-sick world.
A couple years ago, our family started giving our Sabbath a
low-tech twist. We forbade the use of screens. We called it “No
Screen Sundays.” It’s a little cheesy, but somehow the allitera-
tion helped it stick. We don’t always observe it in our home, but
we try. And when we do, it feels like a little slice of heaven. The
kids aren’t zoned out watching cartoons, Mom isn’t texting, and
maybe most refreshing of all, Dad isn’t glued to his phone check-
ing email or Twitter. It’s a day to worship God, enjoy our church
community, and to be together as a family. Really together. “The
188
Sabbath prefers natural light to artificial light,” writes A. J. Swo-

boda.30 We’ve found this to be true in our home. When we power
down our devices and step outside into the natural light of God’s
creation, our souls are restored.
This is just a sampling of strategies I’ve found useful. You
may opt for different ones. The important thing is that we get
intentional about freeing our minds from the tyranny of technol-
ogy. Too much time in front of screens breeds impatience and
impulsivity. It leaves us depressed and distracted and discontent.
Compare those states of mind with the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy,
peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
and—self-control. The contrast could hardly be sharper. By limit-
ing our time online, we give God the space in our lives to cultivate
the virtues He longs for us to have, including self-control.
Self-Control Training:
Entry #8—Running
SO FAR I’VE FOUND MY SELF-CONTROL EXPERIMENTS challenging. Yet,

in one way, they’ve been easy. They don’t require movement. Reading the
Bible, praying, and fasting all demand discipline but you can do them all
while sitting perfectly still on the couch. As a fairly sedentary person—and
committed indoorsman—that’s something I appreciate.
But that’s about to change. The last discipline I’m going to try to
build into my life is running.
At a recent checkup, I noticed my doctor was hinting at some life-
style changes. And the hints weren’t subtle. “Sometimes we eat even
when we’re not hungry,” he said as he examined my shirtless torso. When
he asked me if I exercised, I proudly reported that I try to get out for a
189
walk a few times a week. “That’s perfect . . .” he replied. I smiled—then he

finished his sentence. “. . . if you were an eighty-five-year-old woman.”
Apparently he wasn’t impressed with my afternoon strolls. “You need to
get out there and do vigorous exercise,” he told me. “You need to sweat.”
That was another reason to start running—doctor’s orders. I was
excited. I was finally going to be that guy, the active, in-shape, tear-up-
the-tarmac guy. But these romantic notions evaporated when I actually
started running. Truthfully “running” is a generous term for what I was
doing. It was more like plodding punctuated by stints of walking.
One of my favorite movies is Chariots of Fire. It’s the classic film about
the famous Christian Olympic runner Eric Liddell who refused to compete
on Sundays. The movie opens with a famous scene of Liddell and his Olym-
pic teammates running in slow motion on the beach. At one point Liddell
explains his passion for running: “God made me fast. And when I run, I feel
His pleasure.”
I had Liddell’s iconic words in mind when I went out for my first jog.
But instead of flying over a track to the theme song from Chariots of Fire,
I found myself shuffling around my block to the sound of my own wheez-
ing. The only similarity to the movie: I too was moving in slow motion.
When I came home, I complained to my wife: “God made me slow. And
when I run, I feel His displeasure.”
I went for my runs in the evening, right after work. But after about a
week, they dropped in frequency. I was mentally exhausted from the day.
Plus I felt a little guilty about leaving my wife with the kids for another
half hour when she’d already been watching them all day. It was just the
excuse I didn’t need. Pretty soon I wasn’t running at all. If I’m ever going
to get in shape, I may need to try something else.
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CHAPTER ONE
The Arts and

the Spiritual Disciplines:
Two Paths to a Deeper Faith
ONE DAY I WAS SITTING IN THE LUNCHROOM where I worked, and

I was thoroughly engaged in reading a novel by Kurt Vonnegut. His
books have always made me laugh even as they challenged my think-
ing, and it must have been the snort of mirth I released that made Carl
determine that this would be a good time to interrupt me. “Whatcha
reading?” he asked, gently closing the Bible that sat on the table in
front of him as a sign he wanted to chat. Honestly, I didn’t want to
talk right then, as I was kind of lost in my book, but I knew the polite
response would be to answer him. So, I did.
“It’s a really great novel by Kurt Vonnegut,” I answered, holding it
up so he could see the cover.
“Hmmm,” was his only response, and I detected a disapproving
tone in it.
“Yeah, Vonnegut is so creative and such a great cultural critic,” I
offered.
15
Discovering God Through the Arts IntF.indd 15 10/15/20 4:09 PM

DISCOVERING GOD THROUGH THE ARTS
“Oh.”
“Have you read any of his books?” I asked, thinking it likely that he
had at least been assigned Cat’s Cradle or Slaughterhouse-Five at some point.
“Nope. I don’t really have time for reading fiction,” he explained.
“I mostly just want to read books that will help me in my life or help
me grow closer to God. Life is too short to read about things that never
really happened. I figure that if I mostly just read the Bible, I am going
to learn everything I need to know.” He knew that I was a Christian, so
I imagine he thought I would find this convicting somehow.
As we chatted further, I learned that he also didn’t go see movies
unless they had a strong Christian message (or at least no swearing
or dirty bits), that he rarely listened to anything other than worship
music, and that, outside the Bible, his reading was pretty much lim-
ited to popular faith-based books about how he could be a better
Christian or how he could overcome certain sinful tendencies that he
struggled with. Carl felt that it was dangerous to pay too much atten-
tion to art and culture, as it might cause a person to doubt or your
choices might cause others to stumble.
He was completely sincere, and I knew him to be a person who
tried to walk out the implications of his faith. I understood his passion
to place every area of his life under the lordship of Jesus. But I found his
thoughts to be a little short-sighted and actually not in line with what
the Bible teaches or with what Christians have believed down through
time. Such thinking, I suggested, could actually cut him off from tools
that God might want to use to help him in his spiritual growth.
After some back and forth, I could tell he had decided I was a lost
cause on this issue, at least until he could gather some more ammuni-
tion for arguing his views. So, he suggested we agree to disagree, and
he let me go back to wasting my time with my book. I gladly did so.
16

The Arts and the Spiritual Disciplines: Two Paths to a Deeper Faith
There have always been Christians who were suspicious about the value
of the arts. It is a conversation that Christians have been having since
the early days of the church. Some early leaders suggested that any
focus on the visual instead of the verbal or written was potentially dan-
gerous, and, quoting the second commandment, they warned against
making any “graven images” (Ex. 20:4–5 kjv). While that passage is
focused on forbidding idolatry, some were concerned that a revered
piece of art might easily become an idol. Such fears arose again during
the Reformation, based on a concern about the excesses of previous
centuries; their artistic creations may have, at times, brought people
perilously close to confusing the divine with a human creation.
In some cases, these artistic artifacts were believed to have spir-
itual powers as direct connections with the divine. Some thought,
for example, that touching a statue of the virgin or of a revered saint
could heal them of their diseases. In response, some of the Reformers
took a hard line and stripped their churches of all adornments, even
busting statues, whitewashing over frescoes, melting down gold fur-
nishings, and destroying religious paintings. Luther, however, sug-
gested a different approach. He was open to the arts as long as it was
clear that they were only symbols of divine truth, and not actually
direct channels of any divine power. He saw that art and music could
help people understand the new Reformation theology. He even col-
laborated with his friend, the painter Lucas Cranach the Elder, to
create new altarpieces with a more distinctly Protestant message to
replace the previous Catholic ones.
And outside the walls of the church buildings, Reformation
17

polemics on all sides were often carried out by the popular media of
broadsheets, paintings, and prints, made possible by the new technol-
ogy of printing and distributed to the common folk as visual tracts.
Or such art could be useful for explaining the meaning of the new
Protestant theology in simple terms, as in this wonderfully didactic
picture by Lucas Cranach. Such work was art as instruction.
WikiCommons
Allegory of Law and Grace by Lucas Cranach, Alte Pinakothek, Munich
Art as a helpful tool. Art as a dangerous temptation. Both views

of art survive into our own time. While some remain cautious, others
have seen the great power of the arts to move the human soul and
assist believers along their spiritual journey.
The Bible does not forbid using art as part of religious practice. In fact,
it encourages it. The prohibition against graven images, writes Francis
18

Schaeffer, “does not forbid the making of representational art, but

rather the worship of it.”1 The artist is free to exercise their creativity, but
must never confuse the work of art with that which it points toward.
The Tabernacle, and then later the Temple, were places where
worship took place for the ancient Israelites. As we read their descrip-
tions in the pages of the Old Testament, we discover that each was a
work of architectural artistry and each was embellished with elabo-
rate ornamentation. When God gave directions for what He wanted
these buildings to look like, He did not order up a straightforward or
simple design, nor did He instruct the craftspeople to only create the
expected religious imagery, but instead had them use images of natu-
ral objects such as flowers, trees, and animals. When building God’s
temple, King Solomon called for the walls to be encrusted with pre-
cious stones. The purpose of such ornamentation was not utilitarian.
Its purpose was that it be beautiful (2 Chron. 3:6).
The designs for the Tabernacle and the Temple are a good reminder
that God, the One who created everything, delights in creativity, and
sees it as a way of pointing toward His truth. And God takes art
so seriously that He handpicked a man named Bezalel to undertake
this work of creativity and filled him “with the Spirit of God, with
wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of
skills—to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze,
to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of
crafts” (Ex. 31:3–5). It was not enough, in God’s eyes, to create some-
thing functional; He wanted something that was exquisitely artful.
19

Art has been part of the Christian heritage from the earliest days.
Deep in the catacombs of Rome, early believers left behind images
that reflected their faith and their struggles against persecution. It is
really a miracle that any early Christian art still exists today, but some
has survived the intense persecution of the faith, the ravages of time,
and the suspicion of some early church leaders about the appropri-
ateness of representing the sacred in a visual form. In the early days,
there were no public places (no church buildings) to display art and,
for the first few centuries, scant financial resources in the churches
to patronize artists. With all the challenges, art went underground.
Literally. Creative believers left behind their pictures in these burial
chambers to celebrate the new faith.
Many of these images focused on Old Testament stories of deliver-
ance, such as the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace, the story of Noah
and the ark, Daniel in the lion’s
WikiCommons
den, and Jonah, whose three days

in the belly of a whale was seen
as a prefiguration of the three days
Jesus spent in the tomb before
His resurrection. Other images
illustrate stories of Jesus’ miracu-
lous healings or celebrate Him as
The Good Shepherd, Catacombs of
the Good Shepherd. There are, in
Priscilla, Rome.
fact, more than 120 instances of
the Good Shepherd image in the catacombs. This image was never
intended to be a literal portrait of Jesus, but it was a potent symbol of
His love and care.
As early as 215 AD, the church father Hippolytus allowed new
believers to become or remain artists as long as they didn’t make idols.
20

By the time of Gregory the Great (600 AD), a tradition of valuing the
arts as a way of communicating truth had become generally accepted,
though there would still be a drawn-out iconoclastic controversy,
which ultimately had as much to do with political motivations as
religious ones. Finally, when the rhetoric cooled and the dust settled,
the church came down on the side of embracing the value of images.
Gregory famously wrote, “Pictorial
representation is made use of in churches
Art helps us understand
for this reason: that such as are ignorant of
the complexities of
letters may at least read by looking at the theology and of life and
walls what they cannot read in books.”2 awakens our spirits to
He saw the arts as a way to educate the the wonder of God’s
Word and God’s world.
largely illiterate population of his time in
theology and spirituality. This perspective
was responsible for an explosion of visual art, sculpture, mosaics, and
church architecture in the centuries that followed. The views of such
thinkers might be encapsulated in this quote from Robin Margaret
Jensen, a prominent historian of early church art:
Art crystalizes, or perhaps materializes, certain points of

doctrine which, while based on scripture, are sometimes
more often encountered in theological arguments than
in ordinary daily experience. Images can make the bridge
between the material and the intellectual. . . . Visual images
also speak directly and clearly, even to the simplest believer.3
So artistic images continue to speak to us today, as well as other

art forms that comment on the Scripture text, reinforcing Scripture’s
power and bringing it to life with dramatic effect. They help us under-
stand the complexities of theology and of life and awaken our spirits
21

to the wonder of God’s Word and God’s world.

Music found an easier acceptance in the church because of its con-
nection with worship in ancient Israel. From the song of Moses (Ex.
15) to the poetic expression of the Psalms, there is a strong tradition
of valuing music in the Bible. The New Testament records that Jesus
and the apostles sang a hymn after celebrating the last supper (Mark
14:26), Paul and Silas sang in prison (Acts 16:25), and singing was
part of the early gatherings of the church (Acts 2:46–47). In Ephesians
5:19, Paul celebrates the value of “psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs” (esv). Many scholars even suggest that several Pauline passages
may be quotes from the hymns of his day, such as 1 Timothy 3:16 and
2 Timothy 2:11–13, which were used as quick summaries of key doc-
trinal beliefs. Then there is the book of Revelation, which is filled with
instances of worship and singing. Singing, it seems to imply, is nothing
less than a foretaste of heaven.
Martin Luther was a proponent of the great value of music in
the church. He recognized its ability to communicate the truths of
Scripture in a way that could stir the hearts of every man and woman.
In fact, he wrote that “next to the Word of God, the noble art of
music is the greatest treasure in the world.”4 He wrote at least thirty-
six hymns and made music and singing a centerpiece of worship. He
reveled in the joy that music could bring to the human heart, and
memorably said:
This precious gift has been bestowed on men to remind

them that they are created to praise and magnify the Lord
. . . one begins to see with amazement the great and perfect
wisdom of God in this wonderful work of music, where
one voice takes a simple part and round it sing three,
four, or five other voices, leaping, springing round about,
22

marvelously gracing the simple part, like a folk dance in

heaven with friendly bows, embracing, and hearty swinging
of partners. He who does not find this an inexpressible
miracle of the Lord is truly a clod.5
Each of the artistic disciplines we’ll be exploring in this book—

visual art, music, literature, poetry, architecture, filmmaking, pho-
tography, and more—cannot only be a source of enjoyment but also
a tool for spiritual growth and formation. The arts can change and
transform us within, which is why they are indispensable for our lives.
And hey, you don’t want to be a “clod,” do you?
Spiritual growth, as most of us can personally testify, doesn’t just hap-

pen. It requires that we make some choices and some commitments. It
requires that we engage with spiritual practices or spiritual disciplines
to guide us along the path to spiritual maturity. Our salvation may not
be primarily concerned with how diligently we pursue our life with
God, but our actual spiritual maturity is
most definitely connected to it. Spiritual
We practice our faith
disciplines are what we do that encourages so we might become
growth. That’s why, when we talk about more adept as disciples
our relationship with God, we often use of Jesus Christ.
metaphors of progression, words and

phrases that speak of our spiritual maturity as a walk, a journey, run-
ning a race, or moving through stages. When we stand still, we aren’t
going forward. We practice our faith so we might become more adept
as disciples of Jesus Christ.
23

If we want to become a better piano player, we must practice in

order to improve, and it’s the same for playing golf, cooking, painting,
or any number of skills at which we want to become more adept. We
get better by focusing on the skill at which we want to excel. Similarly,
the spiritual life also contains practices that will help us deepen our
connection with God and become the kind of people we really want
to be. Prayer, reading the Scriptures, meditating on God’s Word, and
fellowshipping with other believers are just a few of the practices that
keep us moving forward on the spiritual path.
Whereas religion is often concerned with structures, institutions,
and dogmas, growing spiritually is about deepening our beliefs,
becoming more aware of God’s presence, surrendering to His will,
searching for a more profound understanding, finding inner peace,
discovering greater freedom and contentment. And, ultimately, it is
about transformation. To move forward in the spiritual life is, as Paul
writes in 2 Corinthians 3:18, to be “transformed into his image with
ever-increasing glory” into a reflection of
Christ’s likeness. God wants to do the nec-
Discipline isn’t meant
to lead to guilt, essary interior work in our hearts that will
but to a life of more manifest itself in outward change. When
intense devotion. the inner life is strengthened, the outer life
changes for the better. Our relationship
with God is not just about “getting saved,” but about “being remade”
in the likeness of Jesus. Salvation is the event that begins the journey.
True spirituality is not about just believing the right things about
God, but about living out those truths in our daily lives.
Whether you are an artist trying to perfect your craft, or a believer
seeking a more perfect life reflecting Christ (Matt. 5:48), you must
show up every day and do what needs to be done. Even when you
24

don’t feel like it. And you must do most of the work yourself. You can’t
rely on your family, your pastor, or your counselor. No one else can do
it for you. And spiritual growth takes time and patience. You can’t get
good at playing the violin, for example, if you only put in half an hour
a week. Can you really expect to find more intimacy with God if you
just check-in with Him for a few minutes each week? Spiritual growth
requires some discipline. Discipline doesn’t mean getting caught up in
a long menu of shoulds. Discipline isn’t meant to lead to guilt, but to
a life of more intense devotion. At the start it may feel like hard work,
but the end result is worth the energy expended.
To be clear, God doesn’t love us more when we are disciplined.
Our goal in a disciplined life is not about earning salvation or gaining
His attention. It is about a desire to draw closer to Him, to deepen
our experience with Him, and above all, to change. When you show
up through the disciplines, things start to happen. Not all the time
and every day, but increasingly so when intimacy with God becomes
a focus for your life.
Discipline is also a critical part of the making of art. Artists must
master all the technical aspects of their work before a creative break-
through can occur. They must learn about line and color and compo-
sition, as well as shapes and shades. They must gather their supplies
and make certain they have the right tools at hand. Only then can
they create a beautiful work of art. So, in the spiritual life, you might
need to learn some basics so that your spiritual breakthrough can
happen. You might recite some great prayers from Scripture or from
believers through the centuries in order to give you the language you
need to express your heart to God. You might need to learn how
to deal with distractions that rob you of focus. You might want to
learn some breathing techniques that help calm and focus your mind.
25

These are all tools that you can use in a natural way once they become
part of your spiritual toolbox. The reason golfers spend a lot of time
swinging a golf club in practice is so that when they are standing over
the ball and getting ready to hit it, they don’t have to even think about
the details. It has become ingrained. Second nature. Spontaneity can
occur because of all the preparation.
And it requires a commitment to stay patient and keep moving
forward. “Spirituality,” writes Robert Wuthnow, “is less like a water-
color that can be finished quickly and more like a sculpture that
requires a long, slow process of chipping away without seeing any
immediate results.”6
But spiritual growth is not only about spiritual practices, for
which the arts can sometimes be a great companion and encourager,
but it is also about renewing our spiritual vision and passion, which
is precisely where the arts can have the most impact and influence.
The arts are, for most of us, already an important element of our
journey of faith. We may not, however, always be conscious of this
fact. The architecture of the places and spaces where we worship,
along with their stained-glass windows and the vessels for celebrating
the Lord’s Supper. The music we sing together or listen to a choir per-
form—hymns, gospel songs, worship choruses, anthems, and musical
interludes that occur during key parts of the service. The cross that
adorns most sanctuaries. In some traditions, the vestments worn by
clergy. The floral arrangements on the altar. Even the creative designs
of the bulletins we use are a reflection of our creativity. But we gen-
erally don’t give much thought to any of these. We take them for
granted. They are, however, some of the ways that the arts influence
our experience every Sunday.
All these elements may inspire us, move us, and delight us. Or
26

they may disappoint us or cause bafflement, boredom, or tears. But

they will have an impact.
Whether in a worship service or in our daily lives, beauty often
catches us by surprise. We don’t expect to be bowled over by it. Other
times, though, we intentionally seek it out. We might put on a favor-
ite record, attend a concert,
WikiCommons
visit an art exhibit, or tour a
natural site famed for its beauty.
The act of seeing, hearing, and
feeling leaves a mark on us, and
adds a memory that we can
revisit later, or stirs something
inside our soul.
Experiencing art is like fall-
ing in love. It demands vulner-
ability at the start, and it often
takes a lot of work to keep it
alive and growing.
Learning to appreciate great
art often takes time. One of the
signs of lesser art is that it can
Martyrs’ Window, Freiburg Minster
be accessed more immediately,
and you can pretty much grasp everything it has to offer very quickly.
Such art makes little lasting impact. It generally doesn’t stay with us or
haunt our thoughts like a more complex work of art might. Such art
is often created for propaganda purposes—to sell a product, arouse us
to political or social action, convince us of a religious commitment
or make us feel more comfortable about holding it. We glance and
then forget. We listen and then move on. But the best art, the kind
27

of art we will explore in this book, tends to take its time in impact-
ing us, just as spiritual formation does. It is a worthy goal to learn to
discriminate between the “just ok” and the “truly great,” to recognize
what is of lasting value, to probe more deeply into the ideas that gave
rise to it. This can involve a bit of study and reflection rather than just
expecting an immediate pleasurable response. Similarly, a sermon that
stirs up an audience through rhetorical flourish may not produce the
lasting results of one that causes us to have to question and ponder
what we already think we believe.
The arts want to create a conversation with you. Are you ready to
engage with them and see what they have to say?
QUESTIONS AND SPIRITUAL EXERCISES
1. When have you found the arts to be a useful companion to

your spiritual journey?
2. Ponder the way that you engage with the arts in your own
life. How often is it for distraction, decoration, and devotion?
When are such uses valuable and when are they not?
3. In what ways might the arts become a detriment to your

spiritual journey?
4. Which spiritual disciplines are a regular part of your walk with

God? How might the arts be a useful companion for them?
28

5 C H A P T E R 65
THE PATHWAY
TO HOLINESS:
“PUT ON”—SAY “YES” TO GRACE
Holiness means something more

than the sweeping away
of the old leaves of sin;
it means the life of Jesus
developed in us.
5
—LILIAS TROTTER 1
5
Not long ago, a family in my community began
experiencing severe respiratory problems. Investigation
led to the discovery that their sickness was being
caused by toxic black mold that had spread in their
house. Thus ensued a long, arduous process to remove
the poisonous substance.
As it turned out, the problem was so pervasive
that it could not be solved by a simple cleanup
effort; not even a major renovation would suffice.
There was only one way to deal with the contamina-
tion. They were forced to tear down the entire house
—piece by piece, brick by brick—all the way down
to the foundation. In its place they erected a com-
pletely new, mold-free house.
Virtually all the contents of the original house
H O L I N E S S
5 5 5
had to be destroyed. The owners didn’t want to risk

bringing any residual mold into the new house.
Sin is a toxin that contaminates to the core of the
human soul. When God saved us, it was with the
intent of cleansing us from every vestige of sin. He
does so through the lifelong process called sanctifi-
cation. As we have seen, that process—the pursuit
of holiness—requires something far more radical
than simple reform or renovation. It requires that we
put to death—mortify or “put off ”—the “old house,”
that is, the corrupt deeds and desires of our flesh.
However, that’s just the begin-
ning. God—the Master Architect
S IN IS A TOXIN and Builder—has drawn up plans
THAT CONTAMI -
to rebuild new, holy lives as we
NATES TO THE
“put on” the Lord Jesus and His
CORE OF THE
righteousness. To put off without
HUMAN SOUL .
putting on is like tearing down a
condemned house and thinking
your work is complete before the rebuilding is ever
begun. Putting off sinful practices isn’t sufficient to
make us holy. We must also put on righteousness.
For example, in Colossians 3 we are exhorted to
“put to death” unholy appetites, attitudes, and actions
(e.g., sexual immorality, covetousness, anger, slan-
der, obscene talk, and lying—verses 5–9). The old,
contaminated house must be eliminated. In its
place, God wants to build a new house as we “put
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The Pathway to Holiness: “Put On”
5 5 5
on” the qualities we see in Christ—compassion,

kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forgiveness,
love, peace, and thankfulness (verses 12–17).
As with putting off sin, putting on the heart of
Christ doesn’t just happen. We have to be inten-
tional about cultivating new patterns of godliness.
This can take place only by the power of the Holy
Spirit and the grace of God.
God has provided many different means of grace
to help us in the process of putting on holiness.
These activities and provisions are not an end in
themselves—they are simply means through which
we can draw near to God to receive and experience
His transforming grace in our lives.
I want to highlight six “means of grace” that have
been particularly significant in my personal process
of sanctification and spiritual transformation.
THE WORD
The Word of God is one of the most vital agents

of sanctification in the life of a believer. Jesus
prayed, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is
truth” ( John 17:17 NKJV).
God’s Word has the power to protect us from sin
and to purify us when we do sin. David understood
the necessity and value of the Scripture in his pur-
suit of godliness.
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How can a young man keep his way pure?

By guarding it according to your word. . . .
I have stored up your word in my heart,

that I might not sin against you.
—Psalm 119:9, 11
As I read Scripture, I often pray that the Lord will

wash me with His Word (Ephesians 5:26)—that He
will use Scripture to purify my mind, my desires, and
my will.
In addition to its cleansing properties, the Word
has the power to renew our
YOUR PROGRESS minds, to transform us into the
IN HOLINESS
image of Christ, and to infuse us
WILL NEVER
with Christian graces. When the
EXCEED YOUR
apostle Paul said farewell to the
RELATIONSHIP
leaders of the church of Ephesus,
WITH THE WORD
he commended them “to God
OF G OD.
and to the word of his grace, which
is able to build you up and to give
you the inheritance among all
those who are sanctified” (Acts 20:32).
Reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating
on Scripture—these disciplines provide weed con-
trol and fertilizer for the garden of my heart, guard-
ing and purifying me from sin and stimulating
growth in grace.
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5 5 5
No believer can withstand the assault of tempta-

tion and the encroachment of the world apart from
a steady intake of the Word of God. (Nor can we
feed on a diet of unholy reading material and enter-
tainment and expect to have pure hearts or to grow
spiritually.) Mark it down—your progress in holi-
ness will never exceed your relationship with the
Word of God.
CONFESSION
Though we don’t hear a lot about this gracious

provision in most of our churches, confession—
humbly, honestly acknowledging our sin to God and
to others—is an essential ingredient for anyone who
wants to live a holy life.
We cannot sin and just move on as if nothing had
happened, without our spiritual growth being
stymied. In fact, Scripture makes it clear that:
Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,

but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain
mercy.
—Proverbs 28:13
We may not be consciously concealing our sin,

but if we do not consciously confess it, we cannot
prosper spiritually.
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H O L I N E S S
5 5 5
David knew from painful experience what it was

like to live under the weight of unconfessed sin—a
burden that affected even his physical body and
emotional well-being.
When I kept silent [about my sin], my bones wasted

away through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.
—Psalm 32:3–4
Not until he was willing to step into the light and

uncover his sin did David experience the joy and the
freedom of being forgiven and clean once again.
I acknowledged my sin to you,

and I did not cover my iniquity;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
—Psalm 32:5
Many Christians are bowed down under the heavy

load of a guilty conscience, with its physical, emo-
tional, mental, and spiritual consequences—all be-
cause they do not regularly confess their sin to God.
Biblical confession is first and foremost vertical—
toward God. However, it also has a horizontal dimen-
sion. When our sin is against others, in addition to
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5 5 5
confessing our sin to God, we must also acknowl-

edge our wrongdoing and, where possible, make
restitution to those we have
offended.
Further, confessing our sin to C ONFESSING
OUR SIN TO
other believers as an expression
OTHER BELIEVERS
of humility can be a powerful
CAN BE A
means of receiving God’s grace:
POWERFUL
“Confess your sins to each other
MEANS OF
and pray for each other so that
RECEIVING
you may be healed” ( James 5:16
NIV). A couple shared with me
G OD ’ S GRACE .
recently that one of the key fac-
tors in dealing with sinful patterns in their lives has
been learning to humble themselves and walk in the
light by confessing their spiritual struggles, failures,
and needs—not only to God, but to each other.
What a wonderful provision God has made for us
to apply the cleansing blood of Jesus to our defiled
consciences and to be sanctified through the act of
confession.
COMMUNION
The Lord’s Supper is (or ought to be) one of the

most vital and sacred practices (hence the name
sacrament, as it is known by some) in the life of the
church and in every believer’s life. It is intended to
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H O L I N E S S
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be a time of corporate remembrance and proclama-

tion of the Lord’s death, which we are to observe
“until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).
Scripture cautions us against partaking of the
bread and the cup “in an unworthy manner”; those
who do so are “guilty of profaning the body and
blood of the Lord” (verse 27). In order to avoid such
serious offense, we are warned, “Let a person [first]
examine himself” (verse 28). The consequences of
failing to do so can be serious, or even fatal: “That is
why many of you are weak and ill, and some have
died” (verse 30).
I can’t help but wonder how many of the physi-
cal weaknesses and illnesses experienced by believ-
ers are the direct result of God’s discipline. Even
more sobering is the thought of how many individu-
als have actually had their lives cut short because
their hearts were not pure before God. Only God
knows.
The point is that the Communion service should
provide a regular opportunity and a powerful in-
centive for self-examination—making sure our con-
science is clear before God and others, and “judging
ourselves” so we will not have to come under the
chastening hand of God (verses 29–32).
The observance of the Lord’s Supper has often
been an occasion for needed introspection, confes-
sion, and cleansing in my own life. I remember
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5 5 5
arriving at church one Sunday morning several years

ago and realizing that we would be celebrating
Communion in the service. As I took my seat, the
Lord brought to mind a situation that had taken
place months earlier, involving one of the senior
members of our church. I had handled a “small
issue” in a way that could easily have wounded the
spirit of this older man. We had never discussed the
matter, but ever since, I had felt awkward whenever
I was around him.
As we began to sing the opening songs in the
Communion service, I knew that before I could par-
take of that sacred ordinance, I had to be sure my
conscience was clear with that brother. I slipped out
of my seat, crossed over to the other side of the sanc-
tuary where he was sitting, and knelt by his side. I
expressed my sorrow over what I had done, as well
as my desire to be right with him. He graciously for-
gave me, and I was then free to partake of the Lord’s
Supper with no known barriers between me and the
Lord or any other believer in that place.
THE BODY OF CHRIST
As a woman, knowing my physical limitations, it

would be foolish for me to go out walking alone, late
at night, in a dangerous part of town. However, it
would be an entirely different matter if I were to go
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H O L I N E S S
5 5 5
out in the company of several strong men who were

looking out for me and were prepared to protect me.
As Christians, we have not been left alone to deal
with our sin. God has graciously put us into a body
of believers who are called to look out for one
another and to stand together against the enemies
that would threaten our holiness. This family—the
body of Christ—is a vital provision God has given to
help us in our pursuit of holiness.
This is why it is essential for every believer to
be in a committed relationship to a Christ-centered
local church. Many believers today think nothing of
jumping from one church to another every time they
find something not to their liking. In fact, a growing
number of Christians don’t see the need of plugging
into a local church at all. Some are disillusioned
with their local church experience. They think they
can have an independent relationship with God or
that their spiritual needs can be met simply by plug-
ging into the Internet.
Being disconnected from the local church, for
whatever reason, is a dangerous way to live. Not
only do these “lone rangers” miss out on the bless-
ings of functioning within the context of the body of
Christ, but like lone sheep away from the safety of
the flock and the watchful care of the shepherd, they
are vulnerable to predators of every sort.
Each of us is accountable to God for our personal
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5 5 5
holiness. At the same time, God never intended that

we should battle sin single-handedly. I frequently ask
those in my circle of Christian brothers and sisters
for prayer or accountability in areas where I know I
am vulnerable to temptation or
sin. Is that a sign of weakness?
Yes, it is! The fact is, I am weak. N O BELIEVER
CAN AFFORD TO
And so are you. I need the body of
BE WITHOUT
Christ. And so do you.
CONSISTENT,
Is it sometimes hard to confess
DAY IN, DAY OUT
my need and ask for help? Ab-
ACCOUNTABILITY
solutely! It requires that I hum-
TO OTHER
ble myself and acknowledge that
BELIEVERS .
I don’t have it all together.
The very pride that keeps you
from taking off your mask and getting real is the
same pride that will cause you to fall into sin.
Humbling yourself by letting others into your life
and allowing them to help you and hold you
accountable will release the sanctifying, transform-
ing grace of God in your life.
We also have a responsibility to provide that kind
of accountability and help to our Christian brothers
and sisters. We cannot stand by on the sidelines
when we see fellow believers who are trapped in sin-
ful practices. Scripture requires that we get involved
—that we become instruments of grace in their
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H O L I N E S S
5 5 5
lives, that we actively encourage and help them in

the pursuit of holiness.
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who

are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness.
—Galatians 6:1
This kind of mutual encouragement and exhorta-

tion must take place on a daily basis. Why? Because
it takes less than twenty-four hours for our hearts to
become hardened or deceived by sin (Hebrews
3:13). It can happen to me; it can happen to you. No
believer is immune to sin’s lure. No believer can
afford to be without consistent, day in, day out
accountability to other believers.
CHURCH DISCIPLINE
This means of grace is actually a function of “the

body of Christ.” But Scripture has so much to say
about the purifying, restorative effect of addressing
sin corporately that it merits being singled out.
Whenever a believer refuses to deal with his sin
privately, his sin becomes a public matter that
requires the involvement and intervention of others
in the body.
One of the fullest treatments of this subject in the
New Testament is found in 1 Corinthians 5, where
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5 5 5
Paul instructed the church on how to deal with one

of its members who had committed immorality
and was unrepentant. In a public setting, the church
was to totally cut off all fellowship and normal social
interaction with this man and to “deliver [him] to
Satan for the destruction of the flesh” (verse 5).
By being excluded from the fellowship of believ-
ers, the man was symbolically removed from God’s
protection and was left vulnerable to Satan, who
could actually destroy his physical life.
The apostle Paul explained that such extreme
measures were for the good of the man himself (“that
his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord”—
verse 5). Further, they were absolutely necessary to
keep impurity from spreading like gangrene through-
out the church: “Do you not know that a little
leaven leavens the whole lump?” (verse 6).
This passage describes the most extreme step of
church discipline, which is to be taken only after all
other routes have been exhausted and rejected.
Matthew 18 provides further explanation of that
process, in which the offender is repeatedly urged
and given opportunity to repent. Seen from this per-
spective, church discipline is “a severe mercy.” It is a
gracious provision—not only for the offender, but
also for the body.
I attended a church recently that was exercis-
ing the final stages of church discipline with two
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H O L I N E S S
5 5 5
members of the congregation. As the situation

was addressed from the pulpit that Sunday, I was
reminded of the seriousness and
O UR HEAVENLY the consequences of sin. I expe-
FATHER LOVES rienced a fresh sense of the fear
US AND DISCI -
of the Lord and a renewed long-
PLINES US IN
ing for God to guard my heart
ORDER TO PURGE
from sin and make me holy.
US FROM SIN.
That church’s willingness to
exercise biblical discipline on
unrepentant members had a
sanctifying effect in my life and in that entire con-
gregation.
The fact that so few churches today practice the
process of church discipline has made it possible for
immorality and ungodliness to flourish within the
four walls of most of our churches. How we need to
reinstate this means of grace—for our own sakes, for
the sake of fallen believers, and for the purity of the
whole body.
SUFFERING
No one wants to sign up for the school of suffer-

ing. But suffering can be a powerful means of grow-
ing in holiness. In fact, the pathway to holiness
always involves suffering. There are no exceptions,
and there are no shortcuts.
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5 5 5
When our lives are all roses with no thorns or all

sun with no clouds, we tend to become spiritually
complacent and careless and to neglect serious self-
examination and confession. Affliction has a way of
stripping away the stubborn deposits of selfishness,
worldliness, and sin that build up in the course of
everyday life.
The psalmist experienced this sanctifying effect
of suffering in his life:
Before I was afflicted I went astray,

but now I keep your word.
—Psalm 119:67
Our suffering may be our heavenly Father’s loving

response to our sin—sometimes called chastening
(Hebrews 12:5–11). Suffering may also come in the
form of pruning, as God cuts away unnecessary or
unproductive “twigs and branches” in our lives so we
can bear more fruit ( John 15:2). We may be required
to endure pain for the sake of the gospel, or on behalf
of others (2 Corinthians 1:6; 4:11–15). Or our suf-
ferings may simply be the unavoidable pain associated
with living in a fallen world that awaits final deliver-
ance from the curse of sin (Romans 8:18–23).
Regardless of its cause, affliction is a gracious gift
from the hand of our heavenly Father who loves us and
disciplines us in order to purge us from sin and
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5 5 5
sanctify us. “He disciplines us for our good, that we

may share his holiness” (Hebrews 12:10).
In Peter’s first epistle, the Lord Jesus is set forth as
an example of enduring suffering with submission
and meekness, so we could be delivered from our
sin. The fourth chapter begins with an exhortation
that sets forth a powerful principle regarding the
sanctifying effect of suffering in the life of a believer.
Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm your-

selves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has
suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.
—1 Peter 4:1 (emphasis added)
Peter urges believers to adopt the same submis-

sive attitude Christ demonstrated when the will of
God required Him to suffer. As you suffer, he says,
you will be freed from the power of sin.
MAKING IT PERSONAL . . .
What are you doing to cultivate a heart for holi-

ness and to put on the character of Christ? The fol-
lowing exercise will help you assess which of the
means of grace we have considered in this chapter
you are actively using in your pursuit of holiness,
and which ones you may be neglecting.
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5 5 5
Don’t just skim through these questions—set

aside some time to respond prayerfully and thought-
fully, perhaps journaling your answers. If you really
want to be challenged, discuss your answers with
your mate or with one or more close friends of the
same sex who can help hold you accountable to be
more intentional in pursuing holiness.
1. THE WORD
5 Are you getting a steady, sufficient intake of
the Word into your life?
5 How has the Word protected you from sin in
the past month?
5 What passage(s) of Scripture have you medi-
tated on in the past week?
5 Are you getting more input from worldly
sources or from the Word of God?
2. CONFESSION
5 When is the last time you consciously con-
fessed your sin to God?
5 Have you committed any sins that you have
not confessed to God?
135
H O L I N E S S
5 5 5
5 Is there anyone you have sinned against to

whom you need to confess your offense and
whose forgiveness you need to seek?
5 Is there any sin you need to confess to other
believers to humble yourself, and so they can
pray for you?
3. COMMUNION
5 Do you take the Lord’s Supper as a matter of
routine? Do you adequately realize the seri-
ousness of this ordinance?
5 Before partaking of the Lord’s Supper, do you
examine your heart for unconfessed sin?
5 Have you been partaking of the Lord’s
Supper “in an unworthy manner”?
4. THE BODY OF CHRIST

5 Are you a committed, faithful member of a
local church?
5 When is the last time you asked another
believer to pray for you regarding a specific
sin or temptation in your life?
5 To whom are you spiritually accountable in
matters of personal and moral purity?
136
5 5 5
5 Are you consistently receiving exhortation

from other believers regarding your spiritual
life?
5 Do you know another believer who is
trapped in some sinful pattern and needs to
be spiritually restored? What part does God
want you to play in that process?
5. CHURCH DISCIPLINE
5 Are you under the spiritual authority of a
local church?
5 Does the spiritual leadership of your church
know that you welcome accountability for
your personal holiness? Would they feel the
freedom to confront you over any question-
able or sinful practices in your life?
5 Is there any practice in your life which, if
your church knew, would be reason for the
process of church discipline to be initiated?
5 Is there another believer whose sin you have
justified or covered, rather than being willing
to confront the issue or to allow others to
confront it as needed?
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H O L I N E S S
5 5 5
6. SUFFERING
5 How has God used suffering as an instru-
ment of sanctification in your life?
5 Is there any area of suffering that you are
resisting rather than embracing?
5 Is there any area where you may currently be
experiencing the chastening hand of God for
your sin? How have you responded to God’s
discipline?
SUMMARY
5 Name one or two of these six means of grace
that you need to be more intentional about
using in your pursuit of holiness.
5 List two or three steps you will take to allow
God to use these means more fully in your
life.
5 Share your response with another believer
who will encourage you to follow through on
your commitment.
NOTE
1. Cited in Draper’s Book of Quotations for the Christian World, ed.

Edythe Draper (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale, 1992), nos. 5748, 312.
138
CHAPTER 13
ON EARTH AS IT IS
I N H E AV E N
O nce Christ, the eternal God incarnate, enters the tempo-

ral, He brings the life of the Trinity into clear view. Eternal
secrets now spill into view. The divine dance between Father,
Son, and Spirit, which hovered over the primordial waters,
is now on display for those whose eyes have been opened. A
fifteenth-century French illustration captures with great intrigue
an interesting way to understand this divine relationship, pic-
turing God the Father and Jesus the Son, seated and facing each
other in a conversational pose. Between their faces with a wing
in each mouth, the dove, representing the Holy Spirit. The Spirit
the conversation, the relationship, the life between heavenly
Father and divine Son.
Having completed His work on the cross, and having
emerged from the tomb, Christ does not stay. Israel had been
shaped for forty years in the wilderness before they could enter
the Promised Land, and the resurrected Christ spends forty
days shaping His disciples, not for a place, nor for a trans-local
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S T R A N G E D AY S
utopia, but instead for life in the Spirit. Soon He would depart
because the Spirit, the guide, the Counselor must come. Those
who followed Christ must now become Christlike, His body
in the world. Christ had incarnated eternity into the world,
lived the life of God within creation, now the church itself must
incarnate life in the spirit in the world. Confronting the forces
of darkness that bind humans in the world, crucifying the flesh,
the way Jesus had on the cross. This was the post-exilic way
after the elemental forces of the universe had fundamentally
been changed.
The church has always borne witness to Christ’s overthrow
of elemental forces. And though it’s a quiet revolution, it’s a
revolution nonetheless. Historian Peter Brown writes of the
years in which the gospel initially spread and the early church
grew. The period, known as late antiquity, saw “a vast and anx-
ious activity in religion.”2 The traditional forms of religion, the
elemental forces, which since time immemorial had provided
solace, meaning, and guidance, had shockingly been rejected
by the Christians. No other religion ever had such a removal of
the distance between God and man. Christians have God living
in them.
The kind of direct life of God, accessible by the Spirit, now
seemed to drain life from the surrounding pagan religions built
around the elemental forces. The new religious mood seemed
to desire “a God with whom one could be alone; a God whose
‘charge’, as it were, had remained concentrated and personal
rather than diffused in benign but profoundly impersonal
ministrations to the universe at large . . . The new mood . . . ap-
pealed straight to the centre away from the subordinate gods of
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O n E arth as I t I s in H eaven
popular belief—to the One God Himself, as a figure of latent,

unexpressed power.”3 Dissatisfaction with traditional religion
grew, a desire for the kind of direct revelation, a hunger for the
spiritual battle Christians fought, in which evil and the invisible
dark forces behind creation were directly confronted.
Christians live life in the Spirit before a watching world.
We are not called to retreat from the world, nor to embrace it,
but to live on earth as it is in heaven. We are citizens of both,
but our citizenry in heaven, being eternal, usurps and entirely
alters our citizenry on earth. Our exile is life in the Spirit, but
that spiritual life is exceedingly practical. In this chapter, I’ll
provide a brief sketch of this kind of life. How do we live lives
of quiet, holy protest against the elemental forces? How do we
transgress the boundaries of this world and give our neighbors
a glimpse of the world to come?
T H E R OAR O F Q U I E T LIVING
Paul, using words like those of Jeremiah to the Babylonian

exiles, has this to say to believers in the early church about how
to conduct themselves:
Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord

Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to
walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you
do so more and more. For you know what instructions
we gave you through the Lord Jesus. For this is the
will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from
sexual immorality; that each one of you know how to
control his own body in holiness and honor, not in
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the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know

God; that no one transgress and wrong his brother in
this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these
things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned
you. For God has not called us for impurity, but in holi-
ness. Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not
man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
Now concerning brotherly love you have no need
for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been
taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is
what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Mace-
donia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and
more, and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own
affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed
you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and
be dependent on no one. (1 Thess. 4:1–12 esv)
I believe that though our current global moment is in so

many ways different from the early church’s, this kind of life
is the way forward. To live ordinarily and quietly, work with
our hands, embrace the rhythms and realities of daily life, is
seemingly mundane. However, it is actually how we engage in
the great spiritual battle against the flesh and the powers and
principalities.
One could be fooled by such a quiet life, yet when tuned to
a heavenly frequency, such a life resounds with a mighty roar.
For it is a call to live as the church, a creative minority, who live
in the world but experience it in a profoundly different way. A
way shaped by redemptive dislocation. As a people called to be
in the world but not of it, we gain a distance from the rest of the
166

world. We no longer live according to the elemental forces. We

refuse to bow to the lies and myths of the powers and princi-
palities. This crucial distance, this vital dislocation the Christ
follower experiences, sets our lives into new healing patterns.
Reframing Life as Discipleship

By choosing to follow Jesus and forsake all other gods, idols,
and authorities, we take on a new identity. We are adopted, jus-
tified, and made new. We also take on the identity of a disciple.
One who follows, mimics, and continues the master’s work. To
take on the identity of a disciple, we eschew other identities.
We are no longer just one of the crowd.
As disciples, we cannot choose passivity, nor do it all under
our own steam. Instead the disciple lives at a distance from the
crowd, as well as a distance from his own flesh. A disciple lives
under the lordship of Jesus, guided, counseled, and quickened
by the Spirit. In the “peerarchy” of contemporary culture,
where we look to our peers as the ultimate authority and guide
of our behavior and values, entering a hall of mirrors, reflecting
to each other a constructed, perfected self on social media, we
choose to take a different path. Loving our peers, but not bow-
ing to them. In the opinionocracy, in which we are told that all
opinions are valid, and which has descended into a deafening
echo chamber of never-ending voices, broadcasting into the
wind, we choose to speak the Father’s truth.
By following the way of the disciple, we choose the narrow
path that leads to life. We cannot take our cues from what
everyone else is doing. Life must be approached as a disciple.
We must ask, “How do we approach social media as a disci-
ple?” “How do I parent as a disciple?” “How do I date as a
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disciple?” “How do I use my money as a disciple?” This simple

question, “How do I live as a disciple?” reframes the whole of
one’s life, sends one to the Scriptures to seek guidance, wisdom,
and truth. Aware of our flesh, we become suspicious of our own
motivations and desires, approaching them through the testing
of prayer. The disciple realizes that he or she cannot live life in
the Spirit alone—deep, life giving, accountable, guiding spiritual
community is needed. The disciple is someone who understands
that the life of the Spirit happens within the redemptive social
environment of the church. The simple nuance of seeing oneself
as a disciple, called by Christ for a greater good, changes every-
thing. For disciples live out of a greater story.
Seeing the Whole Story

Humans have always told stories. Stories that do not just en-
tertain but that inform, teach, and shape. Humans have always
found meaning in the great sweeping narratives that inform
who we are, why we are here, and where we are going. The “end
of history” phase that followed the fall of Berlin Wall, as we
have learned, was shaped by radical individualism, consumer-
ism, and a self-esteem ethos. These factors, alongside a domi-
nant philosophical trend of postmodernism which rejected the
grand narratives which gave us meaning, saw the shrinking of
our narratives to stories of self.
Unparalleled freedom allowed us to seemingly write our
own scripts. However, as we have learned, the poverty of
meaning found in such reduced narratives that begin and end
with “me” has led many to seek larger stories, stories shaped by
the elemental forces—to find meaning in nationalism, or the
utopianism of globalism. Yet these stories are still too small for
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the gospel. The chaos and current of the world tear at them.
Still shaped by the elemental forces, human in origin, they
cannot contain the desire for eternity in the human heart. They
are not vast enough; they strain under their own pressures and
contradictions. The world is too large, too complex, buffeted
by chaos, confusion, and evil. Our ideologies, our conspiracy
theories, our religions cannot offer the viewpoint we need to
truly understand the world.
The Christian stands apart from the world. We have been
given access and insight to God’s grand redemptive plan. We
see the arc of history, we look back to the wonder of creation
and the origins of our fall, we see the historical record of God’s
dogged love. We see the cross, the hinge of history. We see the
obliteration of the fleshly elemental forces. The rise of a new
formation of people living by the Spirit, the church. The history
of Christian faithfulness and redemptive service and mission,
alongside the people of God, at times falling back into the se-
ductive arms of the elemental forces. We see the advance of the
gospel, the breaking out of the kingdom, the evangelization of
far flung nations. Crucially we see the true end of history, not
achieved by liberal democracy, a reembrace of blood and soil,
or via a technological-driven globalization, but by the return of
Christ, who will unite heaven and earth. This view is achieved
from the highest of mountains. It is a resource that transforms
our daily lives, giving us the grandest narrative that reorientates
what is important and what is simply passing.
The quiet life that Paul encourages us to live in his letter to
the Thessalonians gains an incredible magnetism when it is
lived in light of this great holy drama. It a resource, which can
169

be salt and light for those around us with a limited view. Who
fear the times, seduced by the sirens of the age, the personal
anxiety of a reduced story of self, and the cultural fear brought
by the battle of clashing and competing stories. The Christian
who lives by the grand story in our strange days becomes like
the men of Issachar “who understood the times and knew what
Israel should do” (1 Chron. 12:32).
Seeing the whole story, we understand that our age is not
as modern, unique, and progressive as it believes. Like all ages,
it is shaped by the elemental forces. Even in its secularism it is
thus ultimately religious. Thus with our heavenly viewpoint we
can become interpreters of the age, godly guides, merchants of
holy hope. Our age is an age of clashing stories. Do not under-
estimate the power of the story you carry within your heart,
the gospel that drips with goodness. For when a community of
people, called by Christ, living as the church, come together,
something truly wonderful happens.
The Social Architecture of the Church

The Christian understands the church as a vital resource
in fighting the flesh. As the borders go up, its common meal
of communion reorients us around our primary identity as
citizens of heaven. Communion reminds us of the freedom,
the reality of grace given to broken sinners, the ultimate social
equalizing force. Yet at the same time, the commitment that
church requires bites deep into our flesh, pulling us back from
running into a dangerous freedom. In our contemporary
culture, set around the needs of the individual, in which we
pick and choose where to spend our time at our leisure, where
formed as consumers we give but expect in return, the social
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architecture of the church reorients us away from a fleshly ob-

session on self. To be a truly redemptive force, a church needs
the commitment of its individual members—those who shape
their lives around its rhythms and calendar, who restrict their
options and choose instead to serve the bride of Christ.
The small commitment of regular attendance grows into the
commitment of loving brothers and sisters in Christ, which
blossoms into the service of those outside the church, love of
neighbor in sharing of good news and seeking of mercy and
justice. The opposite of the works of the flesh, Paul reminds
us in Galatians, is the fruit of the Spirit: “Love, joy, peace, pa-
tience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control” (Gal.
5:22–23). This fruit cannot be bought, or downloaded; instead
it emerges from an inner life, shaped by the reality of fighting
the flesh, of living by the Spirit in the church. It grows as it is
sown—lovingly, carefully, tenderly, painstakingly, slowly. It is
a shared crop, the result of imperfect people walking together
toward Christlikeness.
The church, in our strange days, needs to be embedded in
the soil in which it finds itself, speaking the local language and
reflecting its community. Yet it cannot give into its commu-
nity’s myths, most pressingly the myth of the self as god. We
need effective communication, eliminating unnecessary and
unessential barricades on the way to the cross, yet we must also
realize that we cannot lower the bar in order to leave the flesh
unchallenged. For such a church, as Paul explains in Ephesians,
is a witness, not just to her neighbors, but as an example of
God’s manifold wisdom to the powers and principalities of the
heavenly realms (Eph. 3:10–11).
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Freedom, Self, and Slavery

A life lived as a disciple, born out of God’s grand narrative,
shaped within the people of God, fighting the flesh, is a power-
fully magnetic force. Freed from being a slave to the elemental
forces, standing firm so as not to return to them. No longer
must we sacrifice at the temple. Instead, life in the spirit, our
freedom from the elemental forces, leads us to offer our lives as
“living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God,” our true and prop-
er worship (Rom. 12:1). No longer shaped by the formational
mechanisms of the world, we discover through life in the spirit
and the battle against flesh, “the renewing of your mind,” a deep
change as our lives come into alignment with God’s will. The
fear, the anxiety, the outrage, the virtue signaling, the desire for
borders, of the transgression of smashing borders in one’s own
strength, gives way to being able to “discern what is the good,
pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2). By disobeying
ourselves and obeying God we no longer march to the futile
drumbeat of the inflated self. We do not boast of self, shaping a
shiny, outer life, while our inner world lies broken. Instead we
boast only of Christ.
Even when difficulties come, when suffering visits us, when
we “are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed,
but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck
down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body
the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed
in our body” (2 Cor. 4:8–10 niv). Suffering and pain, loss and
grief—those things we fear, which we build our literal and
symbolic borders to protect ourselves from, do not overcome
a life lived in the Spirit. For when we are weak we are strong
172

(2 Cor. 12:10). Christ’s power is made perfect in weakness. So

instead of boasting of self, of building great temples to our own
greatness, of constructing walls to keep that which we cannot
control out, we live a life that is strong in God, when we are
weak. Such a life moves beyond contemporary and reduced
ideas of pleasure and happiness. It discovers something more
powerful.
Such a life—staggering, according to Paul—delights in
weaknesses, insults, opposition, and suffering. It embraces the
rebellion of joy. The offense of those who partied with Jesus,
causing the condemnation of the Pharisees, must not be read
through contemporary eyes, tainted by recent ideas of Chris-
tian stodginess. It was not the drunkenness, or possibly carous-
ing, that truly offended the Pharisees; it was the offense of their
joy. The idea that tax collectors, lepers, and women forced into
sex work could celebrate. Their lives were accursed. They were
destined to suffer and lament. How dare they be filled with joy? The
offensiveness of this joy lived in a life of difficulties and lim-
itations still exists today. Yet to many, to those filled with fear,
anxiety, and despair, the joy of those who have come to the
end of themselves is a light on a hill—a life lived in the Spirit, a
witness to the gospel.
Globalization and the Gospel

Freed from the slavery of self, and standing strong against
the temptations of falling back into the elemental forces, and
guarded against the temptation to run beyond Jesus into a
self-driven freedom, we are now in a unique and powerful
posture in our globalizing world. The clock cannot be turned
back, our communities and nations cannot return to being
173

sealed sanctuaries. They never really were. Instead, turning the

force of Babel against itself, the life lived in the Spirit enables
the church to spread the gospel on the back of globalization.
The Roman Empire, a social and political empire of idolatry,
centered around the worship of gods, and the power and drive
of humans, was turned against itself. Its common languages of
Greek and Latin used by the creative minority of the church
to communicate the gospel across the world. Its roads, high-
ways, and infrastructure facilitating apostolic steps. Its laws of
citizenship, its law and order, used to protect apostles even as it
martyred others.
Across the West, multiculturalism has brought the world to
us; the nations to be discipled are now brushing up against us
at the supermarket aisle. The church is becoming an example
of the future diversity of heaven. Fighting the flesh, wary of the
elemental forces, technology can again become a tool, placed
in its proper place. Air travel and the Internet become new
Roman roads for gospel passage. God working as He always
has in the muck and mud of history, moving the world toward
His purposes.
* * * * *
E. Stanley Jones is right when he says, “When we ‘receive’
the kingdom, then we work with the nature of things, we work
with the grain of the universe, we co-operate with reality, hence
life becomes effective and rhythmical.”4 The abundant life Jesus
spoke of that comes with entry into the kingdom life of God,
life becoming effective and rhythmical, is not simply a life of
pleasant feelings. Instead of preaching, teaching, and modeling
1 74

a caricatured Christianity that offers positive feelings and the

fruits of the achievement society, life in the Spirit and the road
to true biblical joy leads through a revolt against feelings being
the highest human good. Sketching out the vision of the church,
Paul speaks of a dynamic body of people, being brought together
in radical new ways, exercising gifts given by the Spirit, growing
in unity—a new humanity living by the Spirit.
A recently declassified intelligence document, which had
been written during the Cold War, explains to field agents the
kind of person who can be “turned” to commit treason and
spy against their own country. 5 Agents were instructed to keep
an eye out for those with emotional fragility, those who were
immature and insecure, seeking to make an impact in order
to gain a sense of worth, disconnected from a strong commu-
nity, accountability, and deep relationships. In the mid 1960s
such personalities were difficult to find. However, worryingly,
today these traits are ubiquitous in the contemporary self and,
as I described in the previous chapter, in the contemporary
congregation.
A growing cohort of Christians, shaped by achievement so-
ciety but attempting to live by faith, struggle to enjoy the com-
plete suite of pleasures, freedoms, and possibilities promised by
contemporary culture. Enslaved to emotions and the tyranny
of feelings, they discover the bankruptcy of such an approach
as they are tossed and swayed by the deceptive philosophies of
our day—political, cultural, and religious programs, which at
their roots fall back into the elemental forces, or post-Christian
humanistic flights into destructive freedoms.
Paul speaks to this temptation when he tells the early church
175

to adjust their life according to the reality of the gospel, “to

put off your old self, which is being corrupted by it deceitful
desires, to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to
put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteous-
ness and holiness” (Eph. 4:22–24 niv). Resilience comes from
putting to death in you that which is not under the lordship of
Christ. Meaning is found in the battle, the war between flesh
and spirit. The great hope of the church in our world, straining
in the tensions between place and non-place, freedom and
falling back into the elemental forces, is a people walking in the
life of God, being filled with His Spirit, crucifying the flesh dai-
ly, living as citizens of heaven and ambassadors of the kingdom,
reflecting Christlikeness. This is the purpose of your life.
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2
How Do
People Grow?
So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the
evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people
for works of service, so that the body of Christ may
be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in
the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature,
attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Ephesians 4:11–13
I BECAME A PASTOR in a roundabout way. I did not aim

my career toward ministry. I had a corporate job doing something
I enjoyed. I started going to seminary part time, but not with the
intent of becoming a pastor. Hunger was my motivation. I wanted
more than I was receiving from my church. I took my time, taking
two classes a semester. I completed my three-year degree (if done
full time) in eleven years. The president of the seminary joked
about my longevity during the graduation ceremony. I loved
seeing nuances in the New Testament in Greek. My eyes were
33
THE OTHER HALF OF CHURCH
opened by studying the growth of Christianity around the world.

Knowing more about God and the Bible satisfied my hunger. Still,
it left me wanting more character change. My knowledge and un-
derstanding had increased, but my character had not improved as
much as I had hoped.
Over time, I became more involved in a growing church,
eventually as a part of the leadership. I was asked to join the elder
team and I became friends with many of the pastors and elders.
While attending an intense men’s weekend with several pastors, I
felt connected and encouraged in a way that I had not for many
years. During that weekend, we worked on the darkest experi-
ences of our past with the support of other men. They looked us in
the eyes and blessed us. I was deeply moved.
Almost immediately, my pastor started recruiting me. “Why
not quit your job and do this for a living with our church?” The
“this” he was talking about was discipleship. Our church lacked a
plan for spiritual growth. We were good at getting people into an
auditorium and giving them a taste of the love and grace of Jesus.
We were scattered and unfocused when it came to the next steps.
The title of this chapter came from a question I often asked
God as the pastor of spiritual formation. I wanted to help our
people grow as Christians. When I saw the crowds streaming into
the lobby of our church, I wondered, How do I help these people
grow and mature? I also asked the question of myself.
I had the privilege of creating my own job description, and I
leaned on two Scriptures for help. The first was Matthew 28:18–20.
These words were particularly interesting because they were the
last commands Jesus gave His closest friends. This commission
was left ringing in the disciples’ ears after Jesus handed them the
keys of the church and left earth. He was reminding them of their
primary responsibility as His chosen leaders. He said,
34
How Do People Grow?
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to

me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, bap-
tizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything
I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always,
to the very end of the age.”
Over the centuries, these words were given a title, “the Great
Commission,” that clearly states the mission Jesus gave the leaders
of His church: go and make disciples.
According to Jesus, disciple making has two steps. The first
step is to baptize people. Jesus is using a literary device where he
is wrapping up the process of evangelism into one word. This first
step, baptizing, includes talking to our friends about Jesus and
telling them our experience of His love. We invite them into our
communities, our churches, our homes. We love them. We give
them a taste of God’s kingdom and share the good news of the
hope we have in Jesus.
When God opens the eyes of their hearts to His love and
salvation, a miracle happens. They are saved! They enter into a
relationship meant to be so transformational that they become
new creatures (see 2 Cor. 5:17). We celebrate salvation with a vivid
sacrament. Baptism is a symbol that we died and rose again from
the grave (see Rom. 6:4). We have a brand-new life. In the Great
Commission, Jesus combines this whole process into the word
baptize. This is the first step of discipleship.
The second step in the Great Commission is to teach people to
obey everything Jesus has commanded us. If you mistakenly think
that Jesus’ commission only applied to the original disciples, the
apostle Paul repeats the second step in Ephesians 4:12–13. Paul’s
restatement is the other Scripture I used to form my job descrip-
tion. Paul specifically directs this teaching to leaders—apostles,
35
prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. Their central respon-

sibility is to “equip his people for works of service, so that the body
of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and
in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining
to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
In this second step, leaders help their people grow to maturity.
Jesus and Paul expect the long slow work of character formation.
The goal of discipleship, when it fulfills its purpose, is maturity.
Any discipleship process that does not bring a person to maturity
has failed to achieve its goal. Christian leaders direct their people
in the process of spiritual formation until they become “people
who have the character of Christ.”1
I saw the Great Commission as my job description. It gave
me the “what” but not the “how.” I still needed an answer to the
question in the title of this chapter: How do people grow? As a
pastor I would sit in my office and ponder that question. Do I just
tell people what to do? Do I give them a list of the dos and don’ts?
Does everyone just need the right information? I quickly found
out that information alone was insufficient.
In spite of my unanswered question, I did my best to follow
Paul’s teaching in Ephesians 4:11–13. I started developing a path
for the people in our church to grow to maturity. My first step was
writing a short book on the basics of the Christian faith. We had
many brand-new Christians in our community. Many of them had
never read a single book of the Bible. They reminded me of myself
when I first became a Christ follower. I wanted to give them an
accessible introduction to the basics, so I called my book Basic
Training for Walking with Jesus.2 I made it easy to read. When I
was a new Christian, people often used religious words that I did
not understand. I was careful to explain words before using them
and assumed no prior knowledge of the Bible. We handed out
more than 20,000 copies, and the feedback was encouraging.
36
How Do People Grow?
For example, one man wrote to me saying that while reading

Basic Training, his young daughter sat down next to him. He was
surprised when she asked, “Daddy, would you read this book to
me?” A few chapters in, she said, “Daddy, I want to follow Jesus.
Can you help me become a Christian?” I heard many stories like
that. The results were encouraging. My little book helped people
grow. Sometimes.
Basic Training often helped people gain a stronger grasp of
God’s love and the new life Jesus offers. Other times, it didn’t seem
to work at all. Sometimes people who had read Basic Training
would act as if they had not read it. For example, I wrote a chap-
ter on forgiveness and how all of our sins have been forgiven in
Christ—past, present, and future. Often, people who had read the
book struggled to believe God had forgiven the horrible things
they had done. When I pointed out Scriptures that clearly taught
that God forgives us, it did not seem to help them. They needed
something more. If I evaluate my book, I would say that it worked
really well sometimes. The word sometimes began to bother me as
a pastor. Why does this work sometimes?
Dallas Willard and the Great Omission
In my search for answers, I devoured the books of Dallas Willard.

You may not be familiar with him, but Willard taught and wrote
extensively on the importance of transformation and discipleship
in the Christian life. Willard believed that spiritual formation is
the central task of the local congregation, the primary responsibil-
ity that Jesus gave Christian leaders.3 Our job as pastors, first and
foremost, is to build the character of Jesus into people’s lives. We
focus on changing people on the inside. Since our inner character
transformation drives everything else we do, discipleship must be
central.
37
Willard believed that Unfortunately, when he

looked at churches, he noted
spiritual formation is
a pattern of neglect. Spiritual
the central task of the formation was pushed to the
local congregation, the side by leaders who focused
on other priorities and proj-
primary responsibility ects. When this happened,
that Jesus gave character formation became
ineffective, watered down, or
Christian leaders.
dropped altogether. Christian
leaders often did not take character transformation seriously.
Poor character was the elephant in the church no one wanted to
acknowledge.4 Willard believed that obedience comes from inner
character transformation, what he called “the renovation of the
heart.” In his opinion, disappointingly few hearts were being
renovated.
The lack of discipleship was so widespread that Willard la-
beled this failure “the Great Omission.”5 He had a good sense of
humor and was making a play on words with the Great Commis-
sion. When he looked at the Great Commission and then looked
how churches were trying to fulfill it, Willard concluded that most
were focused on the first step and ignored or watered down the
second step. Churches were trying to reach lost people with the
good news of Jesus. Once people were saved, they were left in
permanent spiritual kindergarten without a path to maturity. The
modern church “aims to get people into heaven rather than to get
heaven into people.”6 Many pastors and leaders are not taking the
second step of the Great Commission seriously.
Dallas Willard’s mission was to put discipleship back at the
center of church where it belongs. He believed that leaders must
become “possessed” by the importance of discipleship. There
are many good things pastors can do, but discipleship is the one
38
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How Do People Grow?
thing pastors must do. All other activities and programs work best
when they flow from a robust maturity formed through disciple-
ship. When discipleship becomes the “exclusive primary goal of
the local congregation,”7 everything a church accomplishes is
done in the character of Christ.
Willard urged churches to create a “curriculum for Christlike-
ness,” a well-designed, intently pursued path to maturity.8 Every-
one in a Christian community should receive robust discipleship
training. He encouraged readers to ask their pastors something
like, “What is your plan for teaching our people to do everything
Christ commanded?”
Every group that takes its purpose seriously trains their
people. The military uses basic training that incoming civilians
must endure in order to become soldiers. Every professional
sports team has a specific and rigorous training program to turn
amateurs into professional athletes. Most churches have no such
program; this is “the great omission.”
As I read Willard’s books, I still wondered, How? How does a
church provide a path to maturity? How do we help people change?
How is a heart renovated? His answer was spiritual disciplines.
He said, “Disciplines are activities that are in our power and that
enable us to do what we cannot do by direct effort.”9 A simple list
of spiritual disciplines would include Scripture meditation, soli-
tude, silence, fasting, prayer, service, and celebration. As we make
spiritual disciplines a part of our intentional daily practices, they
will change us from the inside out. The changes we see may be
slow and involve hard work. But over time, we expect fundamen-
tal changes in our character.
After reading about spiritual disciplines, I immediately went
to work. I created a Bible reading plan for everyone in our church.
I also started training people in spiritual disciplines. During the
39
five-week training, everyone had a chance to practice. We focused

on different disciplines each week, and I helped them unpack
their experiences. By the end of five weeks, they had practiced
nine spiritual disciplines.
Over six hundred people went through the training, and
the results were encouraging. One woman commented after the
last week, “I had no idea this type of work existed in the church.
Thank you for creating this!” Another man credited the training
with saving his marriage. I was encouraged because people were
growing. Sometimes.
There’s that word again. If I’m honest, my results with disci-
plines were mixed. Some people were blown away by the changes
they saw in their lives. Other people seemed resistant, almost im-
pervious. Something was missing. The results were inconsistent,
and I wondered why. My quest to understand transformation still
had missing pieces. I kept wondering and praying. How do I help
people grow? Why don’t I see more character transformation? It
was around this time that I first had lunch with Jim Wilder. God
answered my prayers.
The Brain and Discipleship
When Jim Wilder explained to Bob, John, and me how the brain
works, we learned that character change requires full-brain en-
gagement. I realized the materials and trainings I created for
my church leaned heavily toward the left brain. I overlooked the
dominant side for character change, the right brain. Jim believes
that right-brain relational skills should be among the first things
we teach new believers because this is the pattern we see in Jesus’
life. Our love for Jesus (a right-brain attachment function) is what
produces obedience. We see an example of this in John 14:22–24:
40
How Do People Grow?
Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do

you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my
teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to
them and make our home with them. Anyone who does
not love me will not obey my teaching.”
Notice the order. Judas wonders why Jesus doesn’t reveal

Himself to everyone. Jesus says that He reveals Himself only to
those who love Him. Love is the first step. We love Jesus, and we
will obey. When we do not love Jesus, we will not obey Him. We
will see in later chapters that our loving attachment to Jesus forms
our character. A left-brain view of Jesus’ teaching would conclude
that we need to choose to obey, and this will prove that we love
Him. This is exactly backwards. If I want to obey Jesus, I need
to focus on right-brain skills that help me love Him and receive
His love. My behavior will then take care of itself. Our brains are
designed to change us through love.
The development of our relational and emotional life helps
our soil be more fruitful while the spiritual disciplines remove ob-
stacles to our growth. If I lack right-brain relational development,
the spiritual disciplines will be less effective. Even healthy seeds
will not grow well in depleted soil.
Now we see the common problem in churches, even when
taking the Great Commission seriously. We often focus on build-
ing our “personal relationship with Jesus” yet fail to integrate
people into a community.10 Full-brained discipleship contains
both. Half-brained Christianity emphasizes left-brained skills
(truth, doctrine, teaching, evangelism skills, ministry strategies)
and neglects right-brain relational and emotional skills. A full-
brained discipleship maintains both in balance.
When Christian leaders do not train people in love, relational
41
skills, and identity, this neglect produces a half-baked disciple-

ship. Most leaders, like me, have never developed their own matu-
rity skills. Churches are filled with leaders who are gifted at theol-
ogy, preaching, and vision-casting, but may not have relational
and emotional skills. Negative headlines reveal their prevalence
in ministry.
Dallas Willard wrote that pastors often focus on less impor-
tant tasks and push aside the most important job of discipleship.
This is a natural result of left-brained Christianity, which gravi-
tates toward strategies that are measurable—number of dollars,
number of people, number of campuses, number of small groups.
The slow, messy work of character formation, which is hard to
measure, is displaced by quantifiable goals.
If we try to measure the progress of Jesus’ ministry over three
years, the numbers would be disappointing. Yet Jesus never took
His eyes off of His primary responsibility. He spent three years
building up the character of twelve young men. If you are won-
dering whether discipleship is easy to measure, look at the results
of these three years. Even for the Son of God, the results were
often messy and disappointing. Jesus was teaching them how to
live in the kingdom of God on earth, and this is hard to plug into
a spreadsheet.
Dallas Willard affirmed my reality when he observed that
discipleship in the church often gets watered down or ignored.
Jim Wilder would add a third possibility. Our discipleship can
also be ineffective because it is left-brain dominant instead of
full brained. Left-brain discipleship explains the inconsistency I
saw as a pastor of spiritual formation. Practices seemed to work
for some people but not for others. What I realized later was that
the people who did not respond to training likely had right-brain
obstacles: low joy, isolation, a lack of loving community, poor
identity formation, and unhealed trauma. Each of these was a
42
How Do People Grow?
relational/emotional problem requiring right-brain development.

As a pastor, I did not realize that these obstacles even existed. I
was ignorant of relational skills and could offer my people encour-
agement, prayer, Scripture, and spiritual disciplines. For some, it
worked well; for others, not at all.
Let’s compare the experiences of Greg and Chris. Greg was
a new Christian who had never read the Bible. I put him on our
Bible reading plan, and I started meeting with him monthly. I told
him to bring any questions he had to our meeting, and I would
do my best to give him answers. His reading progress was up and
down. Some months, he was excited and had lots of questions.
Other times, he sheepishly admitted that he hadn’t done the read-
ing. I showed him grace and told him that this is normal but not to
give up. Not only did he not give up, but he grabbed three friends
and they all jumped on the plan together. After six months, he had
read through the entire New Testament for the first time in his
life. He commented, “Now, in church, when the pastor teaches on
a Scripture, I realize that I already know that verse! I am surprised
by how different I feel after reading the Bible every day.”
Similarly, I met with Chris. Unlike Greg, Chris grew up in a
Christian family. When I realized that he did not know much of
the Bible, I asked whether he would like to try the spiritual disci-
pline of Scripture study. I challenged him to start our Bible read-
ing plan. The reaction on his face surprised me. He looked like
I was challenging him to endure torture. I also detected shame,
even though I was happy to do it with him. He started to distance
himself from me, and I wondered what had happened. Later, he
shared several bad experiences he had with Christian leaders
pressuring him “to do things.” He had a block with reading the
Bible. I did not know how to handle that. Nothing in my seminary
education prepared me for this problem.
Chris had a low level of joy and painful memories of being
43
pressured to read the Bible. Memories tripped up his right-brain

processing when I challenged him to start a Bible reading plan. I
offered him spiritual disciplines but ignored developing his heart.
I set him up for failure. We will see in the next chapter that when
joy is low, our brain is not in a state that responds well to spiritual
practices, including reading the Bible.
As a pastor, I offered a full suite of left-brain strategies. I didn’t
know that right-brained skills existed. This explained the incon-
sistent results I saw in my church. I offered:
• Resources to help people learn theology (a predominantly

left-brained activity)
• I promoted a plan to help people study the Bible (a pre-
dominantly left-brained activity)
• I created a training to help people use spiritual disciplines
to help them grow (mostly left-brain-centered disciplines,
although some are unintentionally right-brained
disciplines, too)
These spiritual disciplines are important. Yet we will soon dis-

cover that fruit will be inconsistent when there is:
• Low joy
• Shallow relational attachments
• Unstable identity
• Weak community
I began to meet with Jim more frequently. We talked about

the theory of how people change, and I tried out some right-brain
skills. As I began practicing these new exercises, I realized why
spiritual disciplines worked sometimes and not others. If we take
into account the right brain, the mystery clears up. My training
44
How Do People Grow?
had neglected an important area of spiritual growth, and, as a

result, my people had not been nurtured according to the way
God designed the human brain.
The Start of the Problem
With my questions about how God designed us to grow and why

so many churches see so little character transformation answered,
I turned to finding out how we got here. Over the last four hun-
dred years, the cultural ground around the church has shifted.
Philosophical developments from the Enlightenment altered the
way we looked at ourselves as humans. The mind was elevated to
be the most important part of our humanity. This emphasis on
thinking and reasoning created an environment where knowledge
and science flourished, with many benefits for humanity. How-
ever, many Christians began seeing themselves as mostly a mind,
or as James K. A. Smith has coined it, “brains-on-a-stick.” 11 Per-
haps we should say “half a brain on a stick.”
Some pastors and leaders saw this philosophical shift as a
threat to God’s authority. Reason and skepticism replaced God’s
Word as the path to knowledge and fulfillment. However, many
Christian thought leaders agreed that our minds were the most
important aspect of our humanity.12 Christianity followed En-
lightenment culture and slowly became focused on correct think-
ing. The importance of teaching people to love by creating loving
communities was neglected. In this new world, it became more
important to be right than loving. The proliferation of denomina-
tional splits and the ongoing failure of Christian leaders point to
an overreliance of espousing right beliefs and neglecting maturity.
If you haven’t experienced people in church being right at the ex-
pense of being loving, you haven’t been paying attention.
Without an awareness of the brain’s role in forming identity,
45
Christian leaders gravitated toward left-brain strategies and ne-

glected right-brain loving attachments. Discipleship became un-
balanced. Christians thought of themselves as people with the right
answers. Truth and choice became the recipe to get into heaven.
Pastors primarily prepared for preaching positions through educa-
tion, not character formation. Like their pastors, most Christians
possessed truth, but weren’t trained how to love well.13
The Industrial Revolution intensified the problem by break-
ing down the relational bonds that held families and communi-
ties together. The last several centuries produced a society that is
less relationally connected. Multiple generations no longer lived
and grew old in the same towns. Grandparents now visited their
grandchildren several times a year instead of being integrated
into their upbringing. Parents worked outside the home. Chil-
dren grew up in childcare facilities and schools. Families seldom
worked together. Watching screens increasingly dominated our
relaxation time, replacing face-to-face interaction. Right-brain
dominant relational skills were slowly being lost. The practices
that transmit these emotional and relational skills have been in-
terrupted. Culture was losing its full-brained relational skills as
the church followed along.
Dallas Willard the Prophet
I saw the effects of this relational breakdown in churches where I

was involved. Often I felt like I was swimming against the current
trying to keep character formation as our central task. “Bigger and
better” was like a siren call to abandon the messy work of disciple-
ship, developing relational skills, and pursuing inner transforma-
tion. I saw leaders being swayed by the appeal of bigger meetings,
more campuses, and more small groups. These goals were not bad
in themselves, but they were accompanied by an unstated change
46
How Do People Grow?
in priorities. Discipleship, which these churches once champi-

oned, was slowly pushed off to the side and watered down. Even-
tually, spiritual formation was de-resourced and discontinued.
The great omission triumphed again.
Dallas Willard was prophetic. He wrote about the tendency
for churches to lose interest in discipleship. In Renovation of the
Heart, he wrote that the survival and success of the institution
becomes the priority instead of spiritual formation. “Discipleship
to Christ is either dropped altogether,” he writes, “or is redefined
as devotion to the institution.”14 Even if a church gives lip service
to spiritual formation, too often leaders are not willing to do the
hard work it involves. After all, if we are changed by information
(good sermons and Bible studies), why put effort into spiritual
formation that is slow and messy? Pastors and elders often feel
pressure to get fast results that look impressive. Discipleship does
not excite a leader whose eyes are fixed on numbers. Dallas saw
this so often that he once complained to a friend that many people
were reading his books and talking about spiritual formation, but
few were actually doing it.
In modern thinking, character is transformed by truth, correct
thinking, and good choices. However, this formula does not trans-
late into character formation. I do not want to imply that truth and
choice are unimportant. The error is believing that thinking (by
itself) forms character. What started with an elevated view of the
human mind has developed into the great omission. This failure
of our churches is a natural result of half-brained Christianity. We
now see how philosophical15 and anthropological priorities in the
last four hundred years have led to an endemic lack of character
transformation in the Western church.16
47
Soil
It might sound like a humiliating experience for me to realize I

was a half-brained Christian. Admittedly, I was a pastor in charge
of helping people grow who didn’t know how to help them. I can
see how that might be embarrassing. Quite the contrary, I was
elated. When I realized that my training was ignoring half of my
brain, I also realized that there was an entire half of my brain
just sitting there waiting to be trained! I finally had answers to
the puzzling inconsistency I saw in myself and others. The neu-
roscience of character transformation taught me to use my entire
brain. I was excited to experience a full-brained faith and eager to
share it with others.
As of the writing of this book, my wife and I have been prac-
ticing right-brain skills for two years. I will explain our training
in a later chapter, but the results we see in our lives are surprising
in a particular way: I find myself spontaneously acting more like
Jesus, without even thinking about it. I am growing again like I
did my first eight years as a Christian.
This book is not about the specifics of our training17 but
rather the relational environment required for training to work. I
am writing about relational soil. Many churches and families are
trying to grow in depleted soil. The relational nutrients are run
down and exhausted. In order to find out how the great omis-
sion becomes the Great Commission again, we will look at the
four building blocks of healthy soil. When these four nutrients are
missing, we see shriveled, fruitless plants. There is little transfor-
mation, because the parts of our brain that work to grow our char-
acter are malnourished and underdeveloped. Like in my tomato
garden, healthy soil is essential for vibrant growth.
Not all growth is good. There is a relational disease that
spreads like a weed in depleted soil. We must examine an invasive
48
How Do People Grow?
weed in the church, and you may The four ingredients

wonder why. What do weeds have
so essential for
to do with character growth? We
will see that the four ingredients so Christlike character,
essential for Christlike character, when absent,
when absent, present the ideal soil
for growing narcissism. Left-brain
present the ideal
communities not only produce soil for growing
meager character growth, but pro-
narcissism.
duce a garden where narcissism
thrives and spreads. Half-brained churches and families end up
growing the wrong thing. I see a surprising opportunity here. The
same soil needed for character growth is simultaneously resistant
to narcissism.
As in my garden, the place we start improving the harvest is in
the soil. Fortifying the soil of our Christian communities will in-
volve rethinking our way of living. In the next chapter we will look
at the first ingredient—the often misunderstood concept of joy.
When we fail to understand how people grow, we lose

track of the central task Jesus gave the church. Having
no plan for transformation produces Christians with
poor character who try to do good ministry. Jesus did
the opposite. He started His ministry by preaching about
a transformed inner life that drives the outer life. A
transformed inner life then drives everything we do.
49
GROUP DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. Have you ever attended a church that had a well-developed

intentional plan to build your maturity?
a. If so, what worked and did not work?
b. If not, why do you think a maturity plan was absent?
2. Read Matthew 28:18–20.
a. Up to now, how did you think we learn to obey every-
thing Jesus commanded?
b. How have you taught others to obey?
3. Read Ephesians 4:11–13.
a. How have you been built up to maturity as a Christian?
b. Who equipped you (over the years) as your spiritual
leaders on your path to maturity?
50

Habits For Our Spiritual Growth

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StagesoftheSoulSource.indd 5 9/16/21 10:26 AM

1. Stages of the Soul, chapter 1:

2. How to Grow, chapter 7:

3. Made for His Pleasure, chapter 1:

4. Your Future Self Will Thank You, chapter 8:

5. Discovering God through the Arts, chapter 1:

7. Strange Days, chapter 13:

8. The Other Half of Church, chapter 2:

StagesoftheSoulSource.indd 9 9/16/21 11:04 AM

There are far, far better things

L ife is a pilgrimage—a journey to our eternal destination.

extraordinary life filled with deep meaning and purpose. This

glorification (seeing Christ face to face in eternity). I was

first so we will change. What motivates us to grow in our

thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage:

During this transformation, God is co-creating with each

The five-stage model presented in this book follows the life of

His purposes. This stage involves a more profound inter-

last season of the journey culminates in giving up his very

Underlying Assumptions of the Stages of the Soul

• Jesus is our model of life, character, and conduct; our

CHARACTERISTICS OF EACH STAGE

Each stage includes a section describing the characteristics

be confronted with all the aspects of ourselves that are not

Quite simply, this is a model of following the pattern of

STAGES STAGE ONE STAGE TWO

Our First Love— Obedient Love—

Suffering We perceive we suffer as a result We perceive we suffer to receive

Movement to Hunger for knowledge Coming to the end of our

STAGE THREE STAGE FOUR STAGE FIVE

Persevering Love— Sacrificial Love— Intimate Love—

We find, through total surrender, We love God by offering We are completely

We perceive we suffer to be We suffer to show Christ’s glory We share in Christ’s sufferings.

Coming to a profound sense of Coming to a realization Coming into a deeper realization

Beyond campus, Borden was involved in the local mission in

explain the impact that Borden’s life had on others. Borden

THREE CORE HABITS

Nearly every area of life can be boiled down to some core

One of my friends is a former paramedic. When he began

The instructor agreed, sort of. There was more to learn—not

In July 1961, thirty-eight members of the Green Bay Packers

more advanced without mastering—or being mastered by—the

Core Habit One: Reading or Listening to the Bible

Ask one hundred church members if they have read

Pick a format. Pick a good Bible version that’s both accurate

“Nobody ever outgrows Scripture,” said the British preacher

Core Habit Two: Prayer

what’s on our minds and asking for His

control over my heart and life or the hearts and lives

Once every day, I spend some time in prayer. I journal about

able tool for learning how to use Scripture in our prayers.

Core Habit Three: Pursue Worship and Fellowship Within a

• We need it—“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope

We need public worship and smaller group interaction as we

I’ve sometimes noticed in the gym that Charlene is struggling

I’ve never met anyone who’s encountered God’s grace and

wooden floor, refinishing a fence, and repainting a house. Dan-

• No matter how much we grow, we’ll never grow beyond

• Pursue worship and fellowship within a church commu-

Questions for Personal Reflection or Group Discussion

• Pick one of the three core habits listed above.