No says Romans 6 v.1. We are dead
to sin. Also the Christian life is a
life of discipline. To be a disciple,
today, is probably sneered at (the
spirit of the age says ‘do what you
want and enjoy life’). Discipline
however, is respected. (The
Buddhist religions have disciplines
which are highly regarded in
today’s society e.g. yoga, kungFu, tai-chi and other Martial
Arts.) To discipline yourself to the
teachings of Christ and the leading
of the Holy Spirit, is actually a
very exciting prospect. If we, as
Christians, disciplined ourselves
to Christian doctrine, praying,
discerning, hearing and doing the
will of God, our lives would be
exciting indeed. Jesus said, “I have
come to give you Life, Life in all its
fullness.”
But, believe it or not, Christians
can suffer with bouts of depression
(Watchman Nee, Martin Luther,
David Watson, C. H. Spurgeon and
in the Old Testament Jonah, Elijah
and David are examples).
So how do we live this life
of discipline in a modern
stressed-out world?
Martyn Lloyd Jones a medical
doctor and preacher gives us some
pointers in his book Spiritual
Depression (originally titled
“Miserable Christians”), suggesting
the battle is against the world, the
flesh and the devil – but mainly
the flesh. You are your worst
enemy! You war against the flesh
by keeping yourself healthy, to
the best of your ability, via regular
exercise and eating well. (St Paul
likens this to being like an athlete).
This is difficult to do when we are
depressed, but by being disciplined
we will overcome, and our mood
will lift. All Christians should
exercise, learn to cook and eat
healthily.
As Christians we are also duty
bound to work. This “protestant
work ethic”, is founded in the
security of knowing you are in
God’s will, meaning you are not
working in vain but towards
fulfilling your purpose on earth.
“Those who don’t work shouldn’t
eat,”are the words of St Paul. We are
to be hard working.
The other side of the coin is: - “you
can’t serve God and mammon the
god of money”. The rich young
man, in the gospel account, had
a problem with this - too much
money. When Jesus said, give all
your money to the poor, this was
more than he could stomach, and
he went away sad. We are to be
generous in our giving and see our
wealth as a means of serving the
needs of the poor.
Do not forsake meeting
together
St Paul also says “Do not forsake
meeting together”, we do not
function by being solitary
Christians. We were designed to
live as a community of believers
– the body of Christ. But should
we live in a Christian bubble? It
is astonishing to read Jesus being
accused of being a drunkard and
keeping the company of sinners.
Would Jesus be found in pubs
and parties, today? It seems He
probably would! It’s not the will
of God for us to be secluded and
live in monasteries or Christian
communes. But go into the world
– “you are in the world but not of
the world”. Though we are not to
become worldly and we are to live
sober lives, it is not necessary for us
to become tea-total. We must have
the character to be thermostats and
not thermometers!
Be thermostats and not
thermometers!
Do not live as the Gentiles [do]
giving themselves over to sensuality
so as to indulge in every kind of
impurity with a continual lust for
more. (Ephesians 4:19)
This can be a problem even for
Christians, pornography and
the continual thinking about sex
can take over your life – this is
obviously indisciplined behaviour.
The remedy for this is to stop doing
it! Time wasted in this could be
better spent doing more wholesome
and worthwhile activity. We are not
to be slaves to our sensualities.
We are not machines, we are
born of the Spirit, we now have a
spiritual dimension so we must
nurture it – take time to pray, read
the bible and discern God’s will for
our lives. Find out what God has
gifted you with, discipline yourself
and use it to His glory 8