Whitney, Donald S.Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life.Colorado
Springs, CO: NavPress, 2014.
I believe that Donald Whitney's main argument is twofold. His first
argument is for the importance and viability of the Spiritual Disciplines in
modern Christian life. His second argument is that the main goal of the
Spiritual Disciplines is godliness. As for the importance of the Spiritual
Disciplines, he argues for the disciplines meeting a real need brought by
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. (Whitney, 2) He claims that the Holy
Spirit creates in us a desire for godliness and that the disciplines are God's
means of meeting those needs. This is as much a need now as it was in
the past because the same Spirit dwells in believers of all times. His
second argument is that the main goal of these disciplines are to bring
about the godliness that is so desired by believers. This is evident in the
fact that it is the purpose of every chapter in his book. (Whitney, Table of
Contents) Whitney states "I will maintain that the only road to Christian
maturity and godliness (a biblical term synonymous with Christlikeness
and holiness) passes through the practices of the Spiritual Disciplines."
(Whitney, 4)
I absolutely agree with Whitney. He is spot on with his defense of the
disciplines in the life of every believer. He also walks the fine line of not
over or understating the subjects' importance to believers. He delivers a
biblical and sound defense for his assertions, and no one can ask for more
than that. I also agree with the author because I have lived his assertion.
There was a point in my teens that I knew that there was more to life in
Christ than three services a week and struggling through the KJV version
of the Bible. I was desiring to be more like Christ, but no one had any
answers besides pray and read. While these are disciplines, no one knew
how to teach me how. Eventually I went to college and godly professors
taught me how to pursue the Spiritual Disciplines and meet that need in
my life.
The first discipline that I need to strengthen is Evangelism. While I do
more of it then I used to, I need to make it more of an active part of my
life. I usually engage in evangelism passively. If someone brought it up, I
would seize the opportunity. I need to be more invested in service
evangelism in my neighborhood. I do it haphazardly and I need to be more
intentional. The second discipline I need to strengthen is the stewardship
of my time. I have it and yet I am not sure where it all goes. I am usually
rushing because I do not tell people “No" enough. The time I have been
given is a gift from God and I need to use it more faithfully. I am going to
practice telling people no and focus my time on what I can actually
accomplish. The third discipline that I used to be faithful in but have
gotten away from is silence and solitude. I am going to set my alarm
earlier in a valid attempt to wake up before my children. They are up
before me usually and it is hard to get away from them even for a few
minutes in the day. I will simply have to wake up earlier.
