The Simple Complexity of Christianity

Anyone who’s done a study of religions knows they can be very complicated. They each have their own sets of principles and practices, rules and rituals. Anyone who says “All religions are basically the same” has never really given them a serious look.

 

The Bible states, “[God] has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). The plethora of religions supports that statement, as humankind is always seeking – and even inventing – ways to know God and determine what happens after this life comes to an end.

 

Despite their many differences, a central premise of most religions can be described as “Do this, do that; don’t do this, don’t do that.” And if the adherents follow instructions, maybe they’ll go to heaven or wherever else the specific religion states its followers will spend eternity. But that’s not certain.

 

Unlike other religions, however, Christianity doesn’t say we must do and not do certain things to gain God’s acceptance and be assured eternal life. Instead of “Do,” the most foundational principle of Christianity says “Done.” That is, Jesus Christ has already done everything necessary for us to experience a growing, eternal relationship with God.

 

In fact, Romans 5:8 declares, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Two-thousand years ago, when Jesus died on a lonely cross on a hideous hill called Golgotha, He became the atoning sacrifice for all humankind. The Bible uses the Greek term, “tetelestai,” to state that our sin debt is “paid in full” or as Jesus said in His final breath, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Amazingly, He even died for sins we wouldn’t commit until centuries later.

 

It's as simple as that. But at the same time, we’re confronted with what I’d call the simple complexity of Christianity. The Scriptures repeatedly teach that there is nothing we can do to earn God’s favor and be assured of eternal life. For instance:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).

 

Salvation, as followers of Jesus understand, is by grace alone. We can do nothing to earn God’s favor and love. Grace – receiving what we don’t deserve, and mercy – not receiving what we do deserve, are freely given.

 

Where the complexity enters in, however, is that we must respond. That is, just as a Christmas or birthday gift is of no value unless it’s received, we too must receive the Lord’s gift of salvation, forgiveness and eternal life. John 1:12 expresses it this way: “Yet to all who received Him, to those who believe in His name, He gave the right be become children of God.” 

 

Later in the gospel Jesus makes the famous declaration, “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). The gift is free to all who believe, but we must receive it.

 

Speaking to religious leader Nicodemus, who was trying to figure out exactly who Jesus was, He said, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again…no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit” (John 3:3-5).

 

The apostle Peter elaborated in one of his letters, explaining, “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God” (1 Peter 1:23). Again, this is not of our doing – it’s the sovereign work of God alone.

 

You’ve probably heard of someone being referred to as a “born-again Christian,” as if there are other kinds of Christians. In reality, referring to someone as a born-again Christian is equivalent to referring to a pet as a feline cat or a canine dog. You can’t be one without being the other.

 

At its heart, a key distinctive of Christianity from all other faith traditions is that of spiritual transformation. As Galatians 2:20 asserts, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

 

When we receive Christ and accept the gift freely given to us by the Father, a life-changing transformation occurs. As a similar verse tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

 

So, for us, it’s simple: All we must “do” is believe and receive the gift the Lord offers. The complexity comes in with the wonderful work of God making us into new creations, freeing us from the bondage of sin and enabling us to d become the people He has always intended for us to be. The question we each must answer is, ‘Have I truly received by faith this gift God has offered?’

 

If we have, then when Jesus says, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23), to obey can become as easy as breathing.

Spending Time with My Father – and My Father

My father died while I was still a young man. Over the years since, I’ve often wished I could have had more time with him. Because of his own background my dad wasn’t the most engaging, nurturing guy, but I never doubted his affection for me. Unfortunately, as a self-conscious, self-absorbed teenager, my focus was primarily on myself. I never thought much about getting to know and understand my father in a deeper way. 

Then college and career took me hundreds of miles away from home. There were no cellphones back then (can you imagine?), so I couldn’t just pick up the phone to talk with Dad. Long-distance calls cost money, and my job as the editor of community newspapers didn’t provide me with much of that. So, our communications were limited. 

Of course, in those “olden days” there was no texting, and no one had heard of email either, so we couldn’t exchange notes that way, even though Dad was an excellent writer. (I suppose I got my interest in writing from him.)

 

As a result, I missed out on learning important things about my father I would greatly value now. For instance, what his childhood was like, and what were his most memorable experiences growing up, including the Great Depression. He was a decorated soldier during World War II, receiving two Purple Hearts and a Bronze Star among other honors, but he never talked about what combat was like. I wish I could have talked with him about these things. 

 

The best thing about my relationship with my dad was the example he set by how he lived. He was a very hard worker, devoted to providing for his family, a man of faith, and always a person of high integrity. He taught me by action rather than words. Even in his quiet way, he fulfilled the words of Proverbs 4:1-6:

“Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding. I give you sound learning, so do not forsake my teaching…. Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them. Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you; love her, and she will watch over you.”

 

Yes, the days of being able to talk with and learn from my earthly father passed much too soon for me. However, I am more than blessed to be able to spend as much time as I desire each day with my other Father – my Heavenly Father – as I read and study His Word. From that perspective, Proverbs 4 and many other passages from the Scriptures have even more significance. They teach me about God’s heart, His character, His perfect values, His love for me, and so much more.

 

Repeatedly in Proverbs we read phrases like, ”Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction…” (Proverbs 1:8), “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you…” (Proverbs 2:1), “My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity” (Proverbs 3:1-2). Although they are written as advice from an earthly father to his offspring, being part of the Bible we also know they flow from the heart of God.

 

What a comfort and source of assurance it is to realize that while my earthly father would discipline me when he thought necessary to correct or redirect my behavior, my Heavenly Father does so in even more profound and understanding ways. 

 

As Hebrews 12:9-10 states, “we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best, but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness.”

 

Speaking to some of His followers, Jesus observed, “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” (Luke 11:11-12).

While my opportunities to get to know my earthly father were cut short many years ago, I’m so thankful that as long as I have breath I can continue to learn more about and grow closer to my Heavenly Father – and that learning process will continue for all eternity. 

The Malicious Myth of the Greener Grass

Have you ever been mowing your yard, glanced over at your neighbors’ lawn, and thought, ‘Why’s their grass so much greener than mine?’ Then a few days later you walk over for a brief visit and notice that up close, their lawn doesn’t look any better than yours? It has weeds and bare patches, too.

 

This tendency to compare what we have with what we don’t isn’t limited to front yard greenery. A friend or coworker might drive up in a new car and suddenly you feel a pang of envy. Your six-year-old sedan or SUV, which has been running perfectly well, doesn’t seem as nice as it did just minutes before. Even if you’ve paid off your car loan while they now have a huge monthly car payment.

 

You go to church as see that picture-perfect couple again. They always look adoringly at each other, their kids are well-mannered, and they just seem to have it all together. By comparison, you feel that with your marriage and family, if you ever had it together you must have forgotten where you put it.

 

Some folks always seem to have it better off than we do. Maybe it’s a more exciting job, or a nicer house, a more prestigious education, or more extravagant vacations. The list could go on. ‘Why them, and not me?’ we might be tempted to ask.

 

This could be why the very last of the commandments God wrote on the stone tablets He entrusted to Moses to pass along to the Israelites – the Big 10 – was a prohibition against coveting: “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor” (Exodus 20:17).

 

Even if we don’t have manservants, maidservants, oxen or donkeys, that doesn’t keep us from casting an envious eye at other things that someone we know has. ‘Greener grass’ seems everywhere we look.

 

Interestingly, this tendency isn’t limited to the human species. Years ago, I teamed with my friend, Ken Johnson, to co-author a book, Pursuing Life with a Shepherd’s Heart, about experiences he and his family had in raising a small flock of sheep on their little farm outside of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn. The focus of the book was to show how much sheep are like people – and vice versa.

Among the insightful illustrations Ken presented was what we could have called “The Case of the Greener Grass.” One summer the region where Ken lived was enduring a severe drought. His sheep had consumed nearly all of the grass in their pasture areas, so he and his family decided to build a temporary fence and let the sheep graze on the spacious yard beside his house.

 

After laboring all morning to make certain the new fence was sturdy and secure, Ken and his family went inside for lunch. Minutes later he looked out a window and saw all of the sheep lined up along the fence, their heads poking through it and straining for the ‘greener grass’ on the other side.

 

The grass just beyond their reach wasn’t any different from the grass they were standing on. To make matters worse, they were ruining the grass beneath their cloven hooves.

 

It seems one of the manifestations of what the Bible terms our “sinful nature” (Romans 7:25, Colossians 2:11) is our propensity to compare and covet what other people possess. Often to the detriment of ourselves and others.

 

Family counselor J. Allan Petersen termed this The Myth of the Greener Grass in his 1984 book, writing specifically about extramarital affairs – people ruining their marriages by the attraction of someone that seems more alluring and exciting. It’s a malicious myth, for sure.

 

Concerning this, in the midst of his sufferings and responding to his friends’ not-so-helpful advice, Job declared, “I have made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman” (Job 31:1). Refusing to look and compare can prevent a lot of unnecessary pain.

 

What’s the best safeguard against being seduced by the myth of the greener grass, whatever the context might be? I can’t think of anything more fitting than the counsel of 1 John 2:15-16, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.”

 

This is excellent counsel. The alternative is to be like the sheep, trampling the healthy ‘grass’ right where we are – our marriages, families, careers, our very lives – in the pursuit of the ‘greener grass’ that’s beyond our reach.

Wondering About ‘The Rest of the Story’

Do you remember Paul Harvey’s “The Rest of the Story”? In his long-running radio series, the popular news commentator told stories about a variety of people and subjects. A key element in each story would be withheld until the surprise ending, and then Harvey would always close with the tag line, “And now you know…the rest of the story.”

 

Reading the Bible, sometimes I’d like to know ‘the rest of the story’ about people we meet in its pages, particularly those who appear at significant moments in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. This came to mind recently while reading the account of Jesus and His disciples in a boat on the Sea of Galilee when, “Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat.” 

 

Exhausted from a busy day of teaching and ministering to the crowds, Jesus had fallen sound asleep, so the disciples woke Him up: ““Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!’ He replied, ‘You of little faith, why are you so afraid?’ Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm” (Matthew 8:24-26).

 

Amazing as that was, the same account in the gospel of Mark provides additional information: “Leaving the crowd behind, [the disciples] took Him along, just as He was, in the boat. There were other boats with Him” (Mark 4:36). Apparently, there were “other boats” on the sea at the time. So, we can assume that people in those boats also were terrified by the storm. 

 

Did they experience the same miraculous calming of the sea? And if so, how did they react? In His inspired Word, God chooses not to give us that information. We do learn how the disciples marveled at how Jesus caused the roaring sea to subside with just a few words, and that’s probably all we need to know. But it’s interesting to ponder how folks in those other boats might have responded.

 

The Bible doesn’t tell us everything there is to know about God and Jesus Christ. How could it? But it does tell us everything we need to know about the Father and the Son, which is challenging enough in striving for a stronger, more consistent walk with the Lord.

 

In concluding his gospel, the apostle John declares, “Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25).

 

This is one reason I find “The Chosen,” the groundbreaking film series about Jesus and some of His closest followers, so compelling. Through creative imagination, it presents plausible back-stories for key figures like brothers Peter and Andrew, Mary Magdalene, James and his brother John, Thomas, Nicodemus the Pharisee, and even a Roman centurion. We might describe Dallas Jenkins and his team as reverently reading between the lines.

 

Wouldn’t you like to know ‘the rest of the story’ about the rich young ruler we read about in Matthew 19, Luke 10 and Mark 10? He approached Jesus and inquired, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life” (Matthew 19:16). Can you imagine a modern-day evangelist being asked this question? He or she would quickly pull out the “Four Spiritual Laws” or open the Bible to the “Romans Road,” hoping to lead the individual to Christ. But Jesus had a very different strategy.

 

After talking to the young man about keeping the commandments, to which he stated, “All these I have kept from my youth,” Jesus matter-of-factly told him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me” (Matthew 19:20-21).

 

The fellow wasn’t expecting that! “When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth” (Matthew 19:22). Jesus didn’t chase after him and beg him to reconsider. So, what happened to him? Did he ever have a change of heart? The gospels don’t tell us. All we know is that Jesus told His disciples, “…it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God…. With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:24-26).

 

How about the individual commanded to carry Jesus’ cross to Golgotha when the Lord became too weak to bear it? Three of the gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke, identify him as Simon of Cyrene, a city in North Africa. All we know about him is that his sons were Alexander and Rufus (Luke 15:21) and he had just arrived in Jerusalem. 

 

Perhaps Simon was among the onlookers when the Romans pressed him into service. How did he feel when assigned such a horrific task? Did he realize whose cross he was carrying? Did he stay to witness the crucifixion? Since Luke identifies Simon’s sons, he likely was known to at least some of Jesus’ followers. Did this unwitting cross-bearer come to saving faith in Him?

 

It would be interesting to learn ‘the rest of the story’ of many others in the gospels as well, including the Samaritan woman Jesus encountered at the well outside the town of Sychar; people with leprosy or possessed by demons; the paralyzed man lowered by friends through the rooftop of a house in Capernaum, or the man who had been blind since birth.

 

Perhaps we’ll meet some of them on the other side of eternity. But again, God didn’t inspire the Scriptures as multi-volume tomes. In the Bible’s 39 Old Testament and 27 New Testament books we don’t discover everything there is to know about God – but they provide us with everything we need to know about the Lord, and how we can have a life-changing, eternal relationship with Him.

What matters most is the rest of our own story. Will we be like the rich young ruler, who went away sad upon learning the cost of following Christ? Will we be like Nicodemus, who hovered on the fringes of Jesus’ followers, trying to figure out what to do with Him? Or will we be like Peter, Paul and others who overcame their sinful pasts to become stalwart ambassadors for the Lord?  

The More Things Change, the More They Remain the Same

When I hear any discussion of social media, I have two distinctly different reactions. I believe social media have contributed significantly to the pervasive negativity and anxiety of our times, as well as a seeming groundswell of narcissism. However, social media serve a significant communications role and introduce us to a wide range of useful information we might not encounter in any other way. The trick is being able to distinguish between what’s useful and what’s unproductive.

 

William Booth
(Wikipedia photo)

Recently I came across one of the former, an intriguing quote by William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, that he made in the early 1900s: “The chief danger of the 20^th century will be religion without the Holy Spirit, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.”

What I find most interesting about this is not just Booth’s specific points, but that this seems equally true in the 21^st century. Increasingly we hear people talking in terms of the God they want, rather than the God who is. Rather than regarding the Bible as the authoritative Word of God, many feel they have the license to treat biblical teachings as suggestions to be interpreted, redefined and applied according to their preferences and the prevailing winds of culture.

 

Times do change, no doubt. Styles of fashion, social customs, even vocabulary. Technology has become a major factor in our ever-shifting approach to everyday living. And yet, as we read in Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Times may change, but our Creator God is unchanging. The same is true of His Word.

 

Even in biblical times there were those eager to distort and manipulate the Scriptures to accomplish their purposes. We see the apostle Paul warning two of his proteges, Timothy and Titus, to avoid the seduction of false teaching.

 

He cautioned Timothy, “The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:1). Do such stern words have a familiar ring for today?

 

I’ve previously referred to Paul’s prophetic words that, “the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine…they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear…” (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

 

For this reason, he later exhorted young pastor Tim to, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). I like how another translation phrases it: “rightly dividing the word of truth.” It evokes the image of a farmer plowing a field in straight furrows, rather than frequently glancing behind him and creating an uneven path.

 

The apostle expressed similar concerns to Titus, who was ministering to believers in Crete. Paul wrote of the qualifications for spiritual leadership, including faithfulness to godly teaching: “He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it” (Titus 1:9).

 

About the dangers of listening to false teachers, Paul declared, “They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach – and that for the sake of dishonest gain” (Titus 1:11). To counter this, he offered Titus this challenge: “You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1). 

 

Two thousand years later we find ourselves in similar circumstances. On TV, radio and from many pulpits, messages are given that seem straight out of the books of 1 and 2 Opinions. (They’re not in the Bible.) Seeking to be “woke,” or perhaps thinking that by diluting the message of the Gospel they can make Jesus more palatable, they’re promoting exactly what Booth warned against: a religion lacking the presence and power of the Holy Spirit; a Christ-less Christianity; forgiveness that requires no repentance; a salvation absent of becoming a new creation in Christ; a godless government, and no fear of eternal punishment for rejecting God’s gift of redemption.

 

We must never forget that we receive salvation and eternal life on God’s terms, not ours. As Jesus admonished, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). To state it another way, ‘Don’t follow the crowd. Follow Jesus.’

There’s Knowing – and Then There’s Truly Believing

We’re a people infatuated with information and knowledge. We’ve had encyclopedias, libraries and bookstores for centuries, meccas for everything we needed to know. But those are all “so-20^th century.” They’ve been succeeded by online search engines and digital resources like YouTube. 

Just about anything we need to know is literally at our fingertips by typing a few keys or clicking a mouse. Want videos on any kind of music? TV shows, old and new? How-to’s for such things as playing a musical instrument, growing plants, creating a costume, baking a cake, or making home improvements? They’re right there, accessible on the Internet. Everything’s on a need-to-know basis – if you need to know it, you can find it.

 

It's wonderful to have such a seemingly limitless storehouse of knowledge and information. Except when it’s not. Knowledge and information don’t always equate with truth and meaning. My father used to have a saying that, “Some people are so smart, they’re stupid.” There’s danger in being too enraptured with what we know – or think we know.

 

This is especially true spiritually speaking. There’s a wealth of knowledge available about the spiritual dimension of our lives; it’s tempting to think that the more information we absorb, the closer to God we become. But that’s not necessarily the case. Sometimes knowledge can actually become an obstacle to experiencing a genuine, intimate relationship with the Lord. 

 

The apostle Paul expressed this concern to his young disciple, Timothy, referring to people who are “lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive…ungrateful, unholy…lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:2-5). Then he made this amazing description of them as “always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth” (2 Timothy 3:7).

 

Kind of brings to mind a person who pursues one college degree after another, amassing an incredible amount of information but never putting it into practical use in the real world of work and everyday living.

 

But isn’t it good to grow in knowledge, especially in a spiritual sense? We have the Bible, Christian messages on TV and radio, a plethora of Bible study resources, conferences and retreats. We can never know enough, right? 

 

J.C. Ryle, an English evangelical Anglican bishop in the late 19^th century, expressed a concern similar to what Paul wrote to Timothy. He observed, “Satan is a master theologian. He’s talked to God, interacted with God, believes in God’s existence, and knows more about God’s attributes and abilities than most…and yet Satan doesn’t love God.”

 

Therein lies the rub, we might say. Knowledge about God doesn’t equal faith in Him and love for Him. I can read and even memorize portions of books about aerodynamics, but that doesn’t make me an airline pilot. A never-ending relationship with the Lord takes more than biblical information.

 

And there’s an even greater potential danger in our pursuit of knowledge about God. Later in his second letter to Timothy, Paul wrote, “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths” (2 Timothy 4:3-4). Strong words for sure.

 

Some might say in their own defense, “But I believe in God!” To that the apostle James would respond, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder” (James 2:19). The demons’ knowledge will be of no benefit for them in eternity.

 

This isn’t to disparage a desire to gain a greater understanding of God and Jesus Christ from the Scriptures. We are encouraged to grow in our faith, and one way of doing this is by reading, studying, meditating on, memorizing and living out what the Bible teaches. Paul admonished Timothy, “Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

 

We need to check our own motives. Are we genuinely seeking to know the God who is and learn how to become faithful disciples of Christ? Or are we attempting to twist the Scriptures in a way that conforms with what we want the Lord to be? Is our goal simply to acquire information we can feel good about, or is it to truly believe with unwavering, unshakable faith?

 

Jesus, speaking about those who are presented with the truth of the Gospel but refuse to respond, said, “To them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For the people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear...” (Matthew 13:14-16).

 

May we be abundantly blessed by God because we see the truth, hear the truth, understand with our hearts, and determine to live out the truth.

Who Gave Discipline a Bad Name?

Being sports spectators gives us the advantage of being able to admire and appreciate the skills of athletes who have trained countless hours to excel. Watching the recent Summer Olympics, for example, we saw gymnasts performing an array of flips, tumbles, spins and other feats that would leave the rest of us with broken bones and torn muscles.

 

We saw pole vaulters soaring to amazing heights. Discus and hammer throwers hurling heavy weights incredible distances, executing powerful spins that would leave most of us in a dizzy heap. Sprinters blazing at world-record paces, and runners battling through fatigue and pain over distances we wouldn’t even attempt.

 

How do they become so accomplished in their various events? I think of the pro football player who was asked how the pregame practice had gone. “Practice?” the player asked in amazement. “We talkin’ about practice?” Yes, practice – lots of it – is how gifted athletes hone their talents to become champions.

 

However, there’s more to practice than just repetition. Even though it seems to have gone out of fashion in the minds of many, it’s discipline. It’s the determination and resolve to be unrelenting in the pursuit of excellence and mastery. It’s putting in countless hours repeating basic skills so they become second nature, executed without having to think about them. 

 

Consider the virtuoso pianist who, decades after having begun playing, still spends time practicing the scales to maintain finger dexterity and strengthen muscle memory. Many of us marvel, wishing we could play the piano with such skill. But the truth is, which of us would be willing to discipline ourselves to invest the innumerable hours needed to become so skilled?

 

Most of us will never be championship athletes, celebrated musicians, or elite surgeons or scientists. But that doesn’t mean we can’t benefit from discipline in our lives. Somewhere along the line, discipline received a bad name. As if it’s some contagious disease no one wants to catch.

 

Discipline and punishment are often regarded as synonymous, but they’re very different. Punishment is designed to address wrongful behavior; discipline is intended to train and equip people to do what’s right. 

 

These days many parents are reluctant or unwilling to discipline their children, thinking even toddlers have enough sense to recognize right from wrong. The fact is, they don’t. This is why Proverbs 22:6 admonishes, “Train [discipline] a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” The role of parents is to love their children and provide for their needs, but also to discipline – correct them when they’re off course and train them in how to live, think and behave properly.

 

But discipline isn’t only for children. It’s something we all need and should embrace. The Scriptures explain it’s one of God’s primary means for guiding and shaping us. In Proverbs, one of the Old Testament’s wisdom books, discipline is often mentioned. One chapter, Proverbs 19, offers three significant references:

“Discipline your son while there is still hope…” (Proverbs 19:18). There may be a time when it’s too late for sound correction. Don’t wait until then.

“Listen to counsel and accept discipline, that you may be wise the rest of your days” (Proverbs 19:20). Rejecting well-intended discipline and godly counsel often leads to foolish decisions and regretful actions.

“Cease listening, my son, to discipline and you will stray from the words of knowledge” (Proverbs 19:27). Many a hard-headed individual has ignored discipline and correction and later had to face hard consequences.

 

Sometimes when we encounter adversity, we feel confused or angry. ‘Why is God doing this to me? Why’s He allowing this to happen?’ Before jumping to the conclusions that we’re being punished or that the Lord is mad at us for some reason, we need to consider what the Scriptures say about how He uses discipline in our lives:

 

“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastens everyone He accepts as His son. Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as His children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined – and everyone undergoes discipline – then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who…disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (Hebrews 12:5-11).

 

Sometimes a parent will deny a child something he or she wants; other times the parent will insist that they do something they don’t want to do. “I’m doing this for your good. It’s because I love you,” the parent will say. At the time the child may think, ‘Yeah, right,’ only to realize later the parent in fact did it for his or her good. Sometimes the best demonstration of love is discipline.

 

God loves us far more than any parent could. He gave His one and only Son to die on a cross to redeem us from our sins (Romans 5:8). If that’s true, why shouldn’t we trust that when He disciplines us, it’s for our very best – part of His process for training and transforming us into the people He wants us to be.

 

And if we also desire to become who the Lord wants us to be, we must learn to discipline ourselves. There are many good ways of doing this, but one of the best is devoting consistent time to reading, studying, meditating on, memorizing and applying the Word of God. Like the professional athlete who practices until certain skills become second nature, we need to make the Scriptures central to our everyday lives so that over time they become second nature for our thinking and behavior.