The spiritual disciplines have been assumed by many to be the rubric by
which spiritual maturity is measured. The arguments are made that one
is not serious about their relationship with Christ unless one is engaged in
various spiritual disciplines. Donald Whitney argues that “Thus, as we
have seen in Hebrews 12:14, anyone who is not striving for holiness will
not see the Lord.”[1]So, Whitney argues for several disciplines by which
one is to grow in holiness: “Bible intake, prayer, worship, evangelism,
service, stewardship, fasting, silence and solitude, journaling, and
learning.”[2]Whitney writes, “the biblical way to grow in being more like
Jesus is through the rightly motivated doing of the biblical Spiritual
Disciplines.”[3] I have quoted Whitney verbatim not for convenience but
for the purpose of not being charged with hyperbole or exaggerated
conflation of Whitney’s argument. The argument goes: Without holiness,
one may not see the Lord; the spiritual disciplines are the way to grow in
holiness; therefore, one must engage in spiritual disciplines. The main
question I must raise is how did the body of Christ grow in holiness before
the 16thcentury when the Scriptures were not available in the common
language of most believers? Has this been the standard of growing in
holiness for all Christians at all times in all places? Any honest student of
Christian history would have to say no. Not only in church history, but this
also has not been the standard for the people of God in the Old Testament
either.
Now that I have said that, I must say that I believe that there can be many
benefits from Whitney’s list of disciplines, but I would argue that
historically the ordinary means of grace have been the standard of
growing in holiness. By “ordinary means of grace,” I understand them in
the traditional Reformed sense of the rightful administration of the Word
of God, the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s supper, and prayer. All
of which, other than prayer, happens primarily in the corporate gathering
of the church. With our emphasis on individualism in our current milieu, I
know my beliefs may be considered anathema to many. So, by
conviction, I believe that the areas I need to focus on are the corporate
aspect of worship and prayer. I attend a Reformed Baptist church that
agrees with these tenets. Every week, the Scriptures are read, prayers
are prayed, and the Lord Supper is administrated (yes, the Lord Supper
every week). I believe James M. Reinihan states it best:
Faith does not come by journaling, or contemplation, or silence, or walking
the labyrinth. It comes by hearing the Word of God – the voice of the
Prophet of the church, Jesus Christ speaks to us in preaching. Too often,
we fall prey to the latest fads and trends; we want growth, and we want it
now. But the best methods are the old methods – they may be slow and
seemingly dull; who really likes to be as the farmer, waiting after months
of toil and labor for the harvest, watching growth in the smallest of
increments? But he knows that the end result of his patience will be
delightful produce.[4]
There is no doubt that I will be considered a contrarian; that is not the
case. As Reinihan notes, we are too often enamored by the popular
evangelical culture rather than Scriptural remedies for our spiritual
growth.
[1]Donald S. Whitney, Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, Revised
and Updated (Colorado Springs: NavPress2014),3.
[2]Ibid., 7.
[3]Ibid., 6.
[4]James M. Renihan, “The Increase of Faith,” The Reformed Baptist
Theological Review 1, no. 2 (2004): 94.
