The Lost Art of Spiritual Disciplines

“In themselves, spiritual disciplines can do nothing; they can only get us to a place where something can be done.” –Douglas Rumford

It is no mystery that we live in a busy world. This busyness has in fact shaped much of our faith. 

Today we live fractured and compartmentalized lives. Our schedules are so powerful, they’ve even squeezed themselves into the fabric of our thinking. Now our lives are divided between the 9-5 work compartment, the 6-9 life compartment, and the Sunday faith compartment.

This is a problem when we’re called to live out our faith every day.

As I entered into the real world, I saw this as a deep problem. I didn’t want to break up my life, forget my beliefs until I picked them back up again on Sunday. Instead, I wanted to live out my beliefs every day, have them inform everything I do.

To do this, I knew I needed space to reflect on my faith. I knew I needed intentional practices to keep my faith at the forefront of everything I do in daily life.

This is when I was introduced to spiritual disciplines.

In seminary, I was a Spiritual Formation major, so I dealt with spiritual disciplines a great deal. But to be honest, I’m a practical man, and I didn’t see the practicality behind them. But once I left into the real world, I saw that spiritual disciplines help keep faith central in my life.

Spiritual disciplines are not an end in themselves. They are not something I practice to be a better, more pious Christian. I practice them because they allow my faith to have better impact, in my life and in the life of those around me.

You see, in our busyness, a mindfulness of our character and spirit was the first thing to escape us. We exchanged it for an obsession with our productivity and production.

But spiritual disciplines help intentionally reintroduce matters of character and practical faith back into our workweek. By allowing us the space to reflect on our character, we can make a better impact in the world—not out of what we do, but who we are, the beliefs that shape and define us.

I say all this because I want you to join me.

I want to bring a life of character and faithfulness back into the spotlight. I want us all to live out of our beliefs so we can make a true difference in the world. I want us to live healthy and wholesome lives because it is out of the health of our spirit that we change the world.

Will you join me? Let’s bring back spiritual disciplines.

If you are confused about what I mean with spiritual disciplines, check out the Character category of JesusHacks. Here I will talk about disciplines such as gratitude, controlling the tongue, rest, focus, and discerning God’s will.

Photography by Mikaela Hamilton