Discipline–some people love it and some people… don’t. It’s one of the things I’ve been learning something big about this year.
In Mark 7, Jesus is hanging out with some Pharisees, when they ask Him a question:
“Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders….?”
At surface level, this question might look like, why are your disciples not disciplined like we are? But at a deeper level, the Pharisees are looking to criticize Jesus and his disciples. (Side note: imagine attempting to criticize Jesus! The Savior of the World! (extra side note: Jesus died on the cross for the sins of these Pharisees just like he died on the cross for your sins and mine too!!!! They hated Jesus and He loved them anyways!))
Jesus quickly draws their attention to the Old Testament book of Isaiah, and says “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written,
‘This people honors me with the lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
OUCH.
In Jesus’ day, this would be a real boom roasted moment.
Over the past few years, I’ve had this growing awareness that I lacked some serious self-discipline. I would set personal goals to try to grow in discipline, and I would never meet them. Friends—I couldn’t be disciplined enough to take the baby steps to be better. It was… bad.
So at the start of this year (i.e. Jan 1, i.e. New Years Day, i.e. prime time for life changes amiright???) I made a conscious decision to make a big change that would allow me to grow in self-discipline.
As the months went on, I began to learn SO. MUCH. MORE. about discipline.
For example:
- Giving up when it gets hard isn’t discipline, its actually the opposite.
- Discipline in small things allows greater discipline in big things.
- Being a disciple requires discipline.
Hebrews 12:5-6 tells us that the Lord disciplines those he loves–so we know that this is for our good. Think of it this way: it would be unloving for God to not discipline us. And our God, who does everyone because of and for the sake of love, wouldn’t leave us in the mess of un-discipline! (Hallelujah, amen!!!)
We are also given hope in Hebrews 12:11:
“For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.”
Present discomfort for future goodness.
W O W.
I read a quote one time that said, “do something today that your future self will thank you for.” Basically, suck it up now to have it better later.
Following Jesus—being a disciple—requires discipline. (The words are just three letters off of each other!!!) In other words: discipline is central to discipleship.
Think of the 12 disciples: if they weren’t disciplined to what Jesus taught them, they all would have gone their own stray way. In short, they wouldn’t have changed the world.
So what does discipline mean for us?
Well, there are the spiritual disciplines–and there’s a multitude of them. So practicing those in our daily lives looks more like discipline than it doesn’t.
There’s ways to physically discipline your body–through a workout regimen, a specific diet, or meditation.
There’s church discipline–which keeps a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching church in line with what a biblical Christian church should be.
Discipline can look like all sorts of things. But get one thing straight: it’s not rules.
Look back at Mark 7, when Jesus addresses the Pharisees. The Pharisees (a group of mostly well-intentioned people) had taken the commandments of God (the disciplines taught by God) and trashed them for the will of man. The rules and regulations that man had created in order to be “disciplined” pulled these people further and further from the God they sought to honor. Yikes.
So the point: I want to follow Jesus, not rules.
In growing in self-discipline, I’m growing in the ways I can follow Jesus more obediently, not in the things I can compare to others or the achievements I can put on my resume. It’s not about others, and it’s barely even about me–it’s all meant to be for and about Jesus.
