Class 3 Devotional: Spiritual Disciplines that Build Interdependence
Recap
In this week’s class on spiritual transformation, I (Sam), shared about what it means to be the spirit-filled family and 6 disciplines that position us to be filled by the spirit as a community. I did this by examining Ephesians 5:18-21, in which Paul instructs his readers to “not become drunk, but be filled by the spirit”, and describing the disciplines of love, holiness, discipleship, fellowship, evangelism, and hospitality. As we engage individually and together with these disciplines, it will naturally require us to transform parts of our character. It will be difficult to love if we are consumed by fear of others’ reciprocation. Stepping into the call of holiness doesn’t bode well if we prefer popularity, as naming and refusing to live for the idols of our present age certainly won’t elicit praise. For this devotional, I want to reflect on how applying these disciplines requires us to develop and maintain curiosity.
Curiosity about Disciplines
First, I just want to consider how curiosity helps our exploration of disciplines. For some, like me, disciplines quickly become a checklist. It can feel like new, increasingly exhausting add-ons to my already busy life. Now I can’t just read my Bible and pray, but also have to make a Sabbath happen, find 30 minutes of silence in my day, fast, sing praise songs, take a stand against injustice, resist the idol of consumerism, and get in 1000 spiritual push-ups, all in a day’s work. This is not the intention with spiritual disciplines. Instead of approaching them with fear of them all becoming necessary, I encourage us to look at them as gifts. A posture of curiosity aids us in looking at each discipline as a trail to be ventured, that may form us in new ways. Curiosity also helps us to not think of any one discipline as a “silver bullet” that will magically eliminate our spiritual maladies. We can experiment with different spiritual disciplines in ways appropriate to the life stage we are in, open to the new possibilities it may (or may not) reveal to us.
Secondly, I want to consider how we can develop curiosity in our disciplines, particularly those of interdependence. Let’s take a look at an example in the book of Acts to begin.
The Curiosity of Barnabas
In my recent reading about the apostle Paul’s life, I’ve noticed that curiosity was essential to him joining the Spirit-filled family. Saul, as he was called at the time, had been destroying the church and breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples (Acts 8:1-3, 9:1-2). However, Jesus himself confronted Saul in a transformational experience that led to his baptism and subsequent preaching that Jesus is the Son of God (Acts 9:3-20). This radical transition in Saul’s life understandably shocked everyone around him. The Jews in Damascus were baffled that this persecutor of Jesus’ followers was now confounding them with arguments for Jesus in fact being the Messiah (Acts 9:21-22). This change did not go over well with others. His previous comrades, the Jews who were against the disciples of Jesus, now planned to kill him (Acts 9:23-24). Naturally, Saul flees. He attempts to join the disciples in Jerusalem but “when he came to Jerusalem…they were all afraid of him, not believing that he really was a disciple” (Acts 9:26). The disciples in Jerusalem knew Saul’s reputation: that he had it out for them. Surely this was a plot to get on the inside, gather intel, and spring a trap to lock them all up. Nobody was going to touch him with a ten-foot pole. It was just too risky, so it was safer to assume that he was not truly a disciple. And then along comes Barnabas.
Barnabas takes Saul right to the apostles, to tell them how he had seen the Lord and risked his own life to preach the name of Jesus in Damascus (Acts 9:27). To do so, Barnabas had to strike up the courage to maintain curiosity. He didn’t let an assumption about Saul based on his past reputation stop him, but chose to hear Saul out, understand his transformation, and go the extra mile to advocate on his behalf. Doing so led to Saul’s reception and freedom to be amongst the believers in Jerusalem (Acts 9:28). Even beyond this, the story in Acts continues, noting a time of peace and strength the church enjoyed throughout the region, encouraged by the Spirit (Acts 9:31). Barnabas’ curiosity to hear Saul out and defend him with all the facts proved beneficial not just for Saul but the whole of the Spirit-filled family at the time.
Curiosity in Disciplines
By exercising curiosity and advocacy, Barnabas was able to display love to Saul, enabling him to join in on the discipleship and fellowship of the church in Jerusalem. As we seek to practice the spiritual disciplines of love, holiness, discipleship, fellowship, evangelism, and hospitality, we will similarly find a need for ourselves to become curious about others. Take love, particularly of our enemies, for example. With people we perceive as enemies, it is easy to believe we have them all figured out.
“They voted for that politician, and it really goes to show their bigotry.”
“Did you see his Facebook post? He clearly doesn’t care about biblical values.”
These, and other similar comments, are so easy to throw around. And with good intention! Sadly, I’ve said such things at times, defaming others with the intention to uphold truth or justice. However, these are often said without displaying the curiosity needed to really understand. I have found that, when I truly apply the discipline of love, I have to take the step into the unknown: why does that person or do those people hold a view so contrary to what I believe is right? I have found that, oftentimes, investigating further with genuine curiosity reveals the true humanity behind much of what anyone believes. Two people in a church can hold much different views of a particular topic while both attribute authority to God expressed in the Bible. This is not to say that both people are right (or wrong), but to love and to grow in discipleship demands curiosity about where another person is coming from. I know I’ve found that people I had previously counted out described a truth that I was previously blind to.
Takeaway
I encourage you to have curiosity about and in disciplines. Give different disciplines a shot. Let disciplines form curiosity about yourself and others as you practice them. And may the God of all wisdom reveal to you ever increasing knowledge of His love.