WARNING PREACHY…
In Packer’s Rediscovering Holiness he
writes of the Christian life being made up of three things, like legs of a
three legged stool so our spiritual lives in Christ also balance on three legs:
doctrine, experience, and practice. As I’ve
considered his words I think he is right.
As I contemplate my own life I realize that my spiritual life is a
delicate ecosystem which easily goes off and takes constant care to reset into healthy
order.
Doctrine…
Doctrine is knowledge about God and
ourselves that we learn from the Scriptures.
While there is much debate about how accurate all the details of the scriptures
are (I have no desire to discuss that now) the reality is that God has throughout
time and history miraculously maintained and provided for us the Holy Scriptures. I consider even a cursory look at the historical
development of the bible as an amazingly miraculous fact; as much so as my own very
existence. (When I look at my family heritage I realize how many of my
fore-fathers and mothers had to survive history in order for me to be born – if
even one grandpa or grandma (out of thousands?) had been killed or otherwise indisposed
at that moment, I could not have been conceived of.)
Experience…
Experience has to do with the many
ways that I interact with God and others: How I worship, why I worship, do I
worship? Is God Holy? Do I recognize myself as sinful in the
reality of a Holy God – and if so how penitent do I feel and how much does my
personal repentance factor in? How do I
treat others and situations which I experience as a matter of faith or by sight?
These questions only just touch on the
depths of the experience leg of my spiritual ecosystem. My experience is largely made up from my
doctrine as well as reinforced by my practices.
Practice…
My practices then come from my
doctrine and experiences and are what I do with my relationship with the Holy
Trinity, commitment to my family, friends, and church, and how I conduct my labor,
how I treat my communal obligations, and the sort. This is the part that got me thinking this
morning. I started thinking about going
to church this morning and joining in corporate worship; you know that bit
where we sing songs to Jesus and honor God?
I have no qualms with corporate
worship but I’m simply not good at it. I’m
so easily distracted that I never actually get to worship God because I am too
busy critiquing every physical aspect of the physical environment. Is it too bright or dark, warm or cold, loud
or quiet, do I know the song or don’t I, do I like the songs or don’t I, is
that person singing off key, and isn’t that dress too short or neck line too
low? I don’t try to be a jerk; it just comes
naturally.
The Ecosystem of my own Spirituality…
As I consider the three legs of my stool
I recognize that it is out of whack. I
feel pretty good about my doctrine (it’s an ever growing work in progress, but
it is growing), my experiences are sound I think (at least my doctrine informs
my experiential understanding of how I exist with God and others), but my (as
of right now) practices needs definite help.
For right now I’m dreading going to church because I know I won’t actually
worship – I seemingly can’t and I have a tough time balancing on my three
legged stool when one of the legs is missing.
The Holy Spirit’s Responsibility…
In the same chapter where Packer
writes about the stool he points out how it is the Holy Spirit’s work to do in
me what seems impossible to me. He
reminds me that the Holy Spirit of God does a transforming work and reaches
deeper than I can know. Also, spiritual
growth is a slow work, seemingly imperceptible to the naked eye, but like the
49 year old man that I am I know that I will continue to grow over the next
years; whether I can see that growth or not.
My job is simply to trust Him who is Holy and able.
So this morning I will go to church,
see some friends, and worship my God.
Yes I will struggle like the jerk that I am but I will trust that He’s
got this. And I will work on my stool in
my oh-so fragile ecosystem of faith.
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