Spiritual Disciplines- Study
We are continuing with our sermon series on the spiritual disciplines. This week we are looking at the spiritual discipline of study.
My hope is that as we explore these that we will each take a look at our Rule of Life- which is our spiritual exercise plan- and update it. What is our plan for going as disciples of Jesus- what do we do daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally, yearly. What is our exercise plan? how are we purposely putting ourselves in the place where God can transform us.
When Jesus was asked what the greatest command was, he said,
‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).
If Jesus gave that as the most important command, then we should probably give that some serious consideration. What does it mean to “Love the Lord your God with all your mind”? I suspect it means something like- using our mental powers to gain insight and wisdom to grow as disciples of Jesus for the benefit of the kingdom as it expands on earth.
What we are aiming at is a life marked by wisdom. We want to be people who live wisely. We are called to be people who apply knowledge to our lives for the benefit of those around us.
Ironically, we can know a lot of information without being wise. I’m sure we have all met people who know a lot, but are really pretty clueless about life. If you spend much time in academic circles you will find people with PhDs who don’t really know how to be in a relationship, or how to control their anger. They have a lot of information, but their lives are a mess. They lack wisdom.
That’s not what we want. We don’t want to just pack our head full of facts. We want to aim at wisdom that helps us live life better. We want to engage our mind so that it takes on the shape of the mind of Christ.
The primary place for study for Christians is the Bible. We pour over the words that have instructed and inspired generations of God’s people. We internalize the words that shaped Jesus.
What we are aiming at is a life marked by wisdom. We want to be people who live wisely. We are called to be people who apply knowledge to our lives for the benefit of those around us.
Ironically, we can know a lot of information without being wise. I’m sure we have all met people who know a lot, but are really pretty clueless about life. If you spend much time in academic circles you will find people with PhDs who don’t really know how to be in a relationship, or how to control their anger. They have a lot of information, but their lives are a mess. They lack wisdom.
That’s not what we want. We don’t want to just pack our head full of facts. We want to aim at wisdom that helps us live life better. We want to engage our mind so that it takes on the shape of the mind of Christ.
The primary place for study for Christians is the Bible. We pour over the words that have instructed and inspired generations of God’s people. We internalize the words that shaped Jesus.
The Prayer Book collect for the second Sunday of Advent says,
Studying our Bible should be a daily practice for Christians. Just as we should pray daily, we should also read our Bible daily. That is the reason Morning and Evening Prayer put them together- Prayer and Bible reading. They are the daily food for our soul.
There are a variety of strategies we might use to read the Bible. For example, you might want to follow a lectionary, which is a schedule of reading that gives little chunks of scripture from all over the Bible. For each day, morning (p45) and evening (p66), a lectionary (click here for a lectionary p450; or here, or here) will give you a reading from a psalm, an Old Testament reading, an Epistle reading, and a Gospel reading. The lectionary is designed to help you read quite a bit of the Bible in a year (or 2), depending on the lectionary you are using.
Or, you may want to study one book in depth. So, every morning you read a chapter in Paul’s letter to the Romans. You might want to read it with a commentary. For example, N.T. Wright has a book called “Romans for Everyone”. He will give a chunk of Romans and then comments on it to hopefully make it easier to study. A good study Bible will be helpful for this as well. It might also be helpful to read a book like Gordon Fee’s “How to Read the Bible for all its Worth”, which gives advice about reading the Bible, generally. For example, as Christians, it is important to read the entire Bible through the person of Jesus Christ.
Studying only starts with reading. To study we need to read, re-read, concentrate on what is being communicated, understand it well enough to describe it to others, and also take time to reflect on the deeper significance of what we have read. … We also need to come to the Bible with a level of humility. We have to assume it has wisdom to teach us, rather than assuming it is an old dusty book from an irrelevant culture. As Christians we read with the sense that God can speak to us through these words.
I think it is helpful to mark up your Bible. Underline things that stand out to you. Underline patterns of words. Some people find it helpful to keep a journal or write in the margin of your Bible as you reflect on what you have read. Join a Bible study so you can hear the insights of others.
You might also want to go on a retreat to spend a few days focusing on a special part of scripture. For example, you might want to take a few days and go to Kingsfold in Cochrane and read and reread the Gospel of John. Or, you might want to go to Regent Audio, which is Regent College’s store where you can buy recording of their seminary classes. I have a number of those that I listen to as I drive or go for walks.
There is a lot more we could say about reading the Bible. I think some of the best advice I received when I first started reading it was to just do it. Even if it is just one paragraph that takes you 10 seconds to read, make sure you don’t end your day without some of the Bible. I was told, “don’t turn out the light without taking in the light”.
When i started I also found that I often didn’t understand what I was reading. The advice a wise person gave me was this. They asked me,
“BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.”That’s not a bad prayer before reading your Bible, even outside the second week of Advent.
Studying our Bible should be a daily practice for Christians. Just as we should pray daily, we should also read our Bible daily. That is the reason Morning and Evening Prayer put them together- Prayer and Bible reading. They are the daily food for our soul.
There are a variety of strategies we might use to read the Bible. For example, you might want to follow a lectionary, which is a schedule of reading that gives little chunks of scripture from all over the Bible. For each day, morning (p45) and evening (p66), a lectionary (click here for a lectionary p450; or here, or here) will give you a reading from a psalm, an Old Testament reading, an Epistle reading, and a Gospel reading. The lectionary is designed to help you read quite a bit of the Bible in a year (or 2), depending on the lectionary you are using.
Or, you may want to study one book in depth. So, every morning you read a chapter in Paul’s letter to the Romans. You might want to read it with a commentary. For example, N.T. Wright has a book called “Romans for Everyone”. He will give a chunk of Romans and then comments on it to hopefully make it easier to study. A good study Bible will be helpful for this as well. It might also be helpful to read a book like Gordon Fee’s “How to Read the Bible for all its Worth”, which gives advice about reading the Bible, generally. For example, as Christians, it is important to read the entire Bible through the person of Jesus Christ.
Studying only starts with reading. To study we need to read, re-read, concentrate on what is being communicated, understand it well enough to describe it to others, and also take time to reflect on the deeper significance of what we have read. … We also need to come to the Bible with a level of humility. We have to assume it has wisdom to teach us, rather than assuming it is an old dusty book from an irrelevant culture. As Christians we read with the sense that God can speak to us through these words.
I think it is helpful to mark up your Bible. Underline things that stand out to you. Underline patterns of words. Some people find it helpful to keep a journal or write in the margin of your Bible as you reflect on what you have read. Join a Bible study so you can hear the insights of others.
You might also want to go on a retreat to spend a few days focusing on a special part of scripture. For example, you might want to take a few days and go to Kingsfold in Cochrane and read and reread the Gospel of John. Or, you might want to go to Regent Audio, which is Regent College’s store where you can buy recording of their seminary classes. I have a number of those that I listen to as I drive or go for walks.
There is a lot more we could say about reading the Bible. I think some of the best advice I received when I first started reading it was to just do it. Even if it is just one paragraph that takes you 10 seconds to read, make sure you don’t end your day without some of the Bible. I was told, “don’t turn out the light without taking in the light”.
When i started I also found that I often didn’t understand what I was reading. The advice a wise person gave me was this. They asked me,
“do you remember what you ate 2 weeks ago for lunch on Tuesday?”
Of course, I had no clue. They went on,
“reading the Bible can be like that. It fed you for that day, even if you don’t remember it all. Trust that it has fed you and is working in you on a level you don’t quite understand”.
Of course, it is important to mention that we are to study more than the Bible. Psalm 19 tells us that,
Of course, it is important to mention that we are to study more than the Bible. Psalm 19 tells us that,
“The heavens are telling the glory of God” (19:1).
And from our Gospel reading it seems like Jesus, in addition to knowing the Scriptures in depth, also spent time studying the birds and the lilies of the field. He saw that there were lessons about our life with God to be learned from the natural word. In a sense, everything has God’s fingerprints on it, and so there is something to be learned about the artist. … slide In Philippians 4:8 Paul says,
“Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
There is a lot inside the Bible that falls into that description, but there is also a lot outside the Bible that falls in that category.
It is also important that we learn to study ourselves to gain insight into our character. If you have an interaction with someone and you notice you became quite angry it is important to take time to consider what it was that caused the anger to arise in you. Was there a value you hold dear that was offended? Was there an injustice you were being confronted with? Was your ego wounded? If we can understand ourselves better, it is less likely that we will walk through life in an unconscious way. We will be better able to shape our reactions. Hopefully, we will be able to limit our negative unhelpful reactions, and increase our helpful reactions.
We should also be willing to study relationships. Notice what healthy marriages are like. Learn how to develop strong friendships. We should study institutions and cultural movements. If we learn the ideas that have shaped history then we can put our own time and culture into context. We can see that the individualism we all assume is just the way people think is actually a part of a culture and has a history we inherited. (It's a bit like how no one thinks they have an accent). There are plenty of ideas that take root inside our heads just because we are born into our culture. The idea is never presented to us in a way that we can say if it is true or not, it is just there, like the air we breathe. … Just as we study ourselves it is important to study our surroundings, including the ideas that surround us. We do this with the ultimate end to become more effective disciples of Jesus.
We should also study the classic writings of Christians who have gone before us (I'll put a bit of a list below). We should especially study the lives and writings of the saints.
What information we put into our minds- what we focus our attention on- will shape our minds. If we watch 8 hours of reality television every day, that will shape our mind. If we play 8 hours of violent videogames per day, that will shape our mind. Just as the kind of food we put into our body will have an effect on the health of our body, so what we feed our mind will shape our minds. If we want our minds to be Christ-like, then we need to feed our minds in a way that match up with that goal. A Christ-like mind is a wise mind, and that is a mind that loves God. AMEN
It is also important that we learn to study ourselves to gain insight into our character. If you have an interaction with someone and you notice you became quite angry it is important to take time to consider what it was that caused the anger to arise in you. Was there a value you hold dear that was offended? Was there an injustice you were being confronted with? Was your ego wounded? If we can understand ourselves better, it is less likely that we will walk through life in an unconscious way. We will be better able to shape our reactions. Hopefully, we will be able to limit our negative unhelpful reactions, and increase our helpful reactions.
We should also be willing to study relationships. Notice what healthy marriages are like. Learn how to develop strong friendships. We should study institutions and cultural movements. If we learn the ideas that have shaped history then we can put our own time and culture into context. We can see that the individualism we all assume is just the way people think is actually a part of a culture and has a history we inherited. (It's a bit like how no one thinks they have an accent). There are plenty of ideas that take root inside our heads just because we are born into our culture. The idea is never presented to us in a way that we can say if it is true or not, it is just there, like the air we breathe. … Just as we study ourselves it is important to study our surroundings, including the ideas that surround us. We do this with the ultimate end to become more effective disciples of Jesus.
We should also study the classic writings of Christians who have gone before us (I'll put a bit of a list below). We should especially study the lives and writings of the saints.
What information we put into our minds- what we focus our attention on- will shape our minds. If we watch 8 hours of reality television every day, that will shape our mind. If we play 8 hours of violent videogames per day, that will shape our mind. Just as the kind of food we put into our body will have an effect on the health of our body, so what we feed our mind will shape our minds. If we want our minds to be Christ-like, then we need to feed our minds in a way that match up with that goal. A Christ-like mind is a wise mind, and that is a mind that loves God. AMEN
Recommended Books
25 Books Every Christian Should Read: A Guide to the Essential Spiritual Classics Renovare
50 People Every Christian Should Know: Learning from Spiritual Giants of the Faith by Warren Wiersbe
My Life with the Saints by James Martin
As part of learning to love God with our mind
Christians study what they believe so they can better serve the God they love
and communicate what they believe to others. The following are a few book
recommendations that may be helpful.
Bibles-
Most modern Bible translations are good. I tend to use
the following:
NIV (New
international Version)
NRSV (New
Revised Standard Version)
ESV
(English Standard version)
Some people avoid the King James Version (KJV) because
it uses older language and can be difficult for some people to read. There are
many other translations. Some translations are attempts to translate the ideas
rather than the specific words. Eugene Peterson’s “The Message” is such a
Bible. More license has been taken in this version and therefore it tends to be
as much a commentary on the Bible as a translation of the Bible.
Examples:
“You are
the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its
saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown
out and trampled under people's feet.” (Matt 5:13- ESV)
“You are
the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be
restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled
under foot.” (Matt 5:13- NRSV)
“You are
the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made
salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and
trampled underfoot.” (Matt 5:13- NIV)
“Ye are the
salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be
salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be
trodden under foot of men.” (Matt 5:13- KJV)
“Let me
tell you why you are here. You’re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the
God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste
godliness? You’ve lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.” (Matt
5:13- The Message)
There are many good study Bibles. These include a
translation of the Bible and also includes articles and footnotes that help the
reader understand the Bible better. Sometimes the note gives a clue as to the
original historical and cultural context. Sometimes the note gives insight into
the original language, or it might point the reader to an Old Testament passage
that was in the mind of the author as they were writing. Sometimes the note
helps to explain a difficult or confusing part of the text.
The Oxford Annotated Bible
The Spiritual Formation Bible
The Life Application Bible
Introductions
to Christianity
Mere Christianity by C.S.
Lewis (I tend to recommend everything Lewis wrote)
Finding Faith by Brian McLaren
The Case for Christ by Lee
Strobel
The Reason for God by Timothy
Keller
Reading the
Bible
The Story We Find Ourselves In by Brian
McLaren
The New Joy of Discovery In Bible Study
by Oletta Wald
How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth
by Gordon Fee
How to Read the Bible Book by Book
by Gordon Fee
You can Understand the Bible by Peter
Kreeft
The Blue Parakeet by Scot
McKnight
Eat This Book by Eugene Peterson
Being a
student of Christ:
Celebration of Discipline by Richard
Foster
Renovation of the Heart and Divine Conspiracy
by Dallas Willard
The Good and Beautiful God/Life/Community by
James Bryan Smith
A Guide to Christian Spiritual Formation by Evan Howard
The Imitation of Christ by Thomas
a Kempis
The Cost of Discipleship by
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Way of the Heart by Henri
Nouwen
The Mountain of Silence by
Kyriacos Markides
A Long Obedience by Eugene Peterson
Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft
The Screwtape Letters by C.S.
Lewis
The Living Church by John
Stott
Theology
A Primer for Christian Doctrine by
Jonathan Wilson
Faith Seeking Understanding by Daniel
Migliore
The Modern Theologians by Ford
The Moral Vision of the New Testament
By Richard Hays
At Home in a Strange Land by Andrew
Sloan
Heresies and How to Avoid Them by Quash
and Ward
A History of Christian Thought (3 volumes) by Justo Gonzalez
History
The Story of Christianity by Justo
Gonzalez
The Challenge of Jesus by N.T.
Wright
How on Earth did Jesus Become a God?
by Larry Hurtado
A History of the Church in England
by Moorman
The Story of Christianity by David
Bentley Hart
Anglicanism
The Accidental Anglican by Todd
Hunter
Welcome to Sunday by
Christopher Webber
Welcome to the Episcopal Church by
Christopher Webber
Anglicanism: A Very Short Introduction
by Mark Chapman
Apologetics
(this is a field of Christian study that attempts to address Christianity’s
critics)
Atheist Delusions by David
Bentley Hart
Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Kreeft
and Tacelli
Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig
Is God a Moral Monster? by Paul
Copan
The Apologetics Study Bible
Evangelism (how to speak to people about what you
believe)
Evangelism for Normal People by John
Bowen
More Ready Than You Realize by Brian
McLaren
I'm happy to make other recommendations. Feel free to ask me if there is a particular area you are interested in.
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