4: Spiritual Disciplines: Are They Really Optional for Disciples?

CONTENTS:

• Iron Sharpens Iron (Prov 27:17)

• Bible (2 Tim 2:15)

• Prayer (Prov 28:9)

• Verses for Memory and Meditation (Psa 119:9-11)

• Call to Action

Reading a book may put some ideas into your head, but without the testing that comes through trials, which helps provide the motivation and fuel to fan the heart and spiritual gifting into action (2 Tim 1:6-7), your faith may remain an untested theory of what could be. If you doubt this, see what Paul has to say to Timothy for a pattern of discipleship:

1. First there is the implementation of a training regimen (1 Tim 4:7-8).

2. Followed by being an example (1 Tim 4:12).

3. Which initiates leading others by his practice and persistence in self-discipline and in his teaching (1 Tim 4:15-16).

The disciple needs to form a structured and strategic relationship with spiritual disciplines such as the Bible, prayer, verse memory, meditation, fellowship, and service. These serve to promote growth toward maturity. You do not want to be like some who are addressed in the letter to the Hebrews:

“For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil” (Heb 5:12-14, English Standard Version).

Iron Sharpens Iron (Prov 27:17).

Certainly, the example of Paul’s life with Timothy, expressed in 1 & 2 Timothy, is an excellent example for study. Their loving interaction as spiritual father to spiritual son, leader and apprentice, and as co-laborers in the gospel, is a New Testament example of how one is still equipped for ministry in the church today:

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17, English Standard Version).

Along with “sharpening” comes “guarding” the good deposit of faith, life, and doctrine that Christ has given you through the Holy Spirit (1 Tim 6:20; 2 Tim 1:13-14). Brown, Beeke, and Payne speak of Paul and Timothy guarding the deposit not only for themselves, but for every disciple, saying:

Not only is Timothy to follow the pattern of sound words so that the pure apostolic gospel will continue to be preached after Paul’s death, but he must also guard it against heresy (i.e., false teaching) and competing truth claims. This would require diligence from Timothy, for the church he served in Ephesus was under philosophical and theological attack, both externally and internally.[1]

So, let us move to some foundational spiritual distinctives that help a disciple be diligent:

Bible (2 Tim 2:15).

Studying to be “equipped for every good work” by the Scriptures (2 Tim 2:16-17, ESV) should lead to rightly presenting self before God and in “handling the Word of truth” (2 Tim 2:15, ESV) in your life and those you share it with. This leads to what I see in (2 Tim 2:24-26, ESV) as evangelizing others (“kind to everyone – stating the truth of one’s lost-ness and where they are headed is an act of kindness in love); “able to teach” (you can learn from experience in connection with the Word and instruct others); “patiently enduring evil” (See Phil 4:5; James 5:19-20; Jude 22-23); to “correcting... opponents” (Biblical counseling, v. 25b-26, ESV; See Rom 15:14).

Prayer (Prov 28:9).

It is amazing that people say they pray all the time, but they do not have time to read and study the Bible! However, God has something to say about this attitude: “If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination” (Prov 28:9, ESV). How often and how should you pray? Jesus said, “And when you pray...” (Matt 6:5), which he then goes on to give a model for how we should pray (Matt 6:9-15), and this includes fasting (v. 16-18).

Verses for Memory and Meditation (Psa 119:9-11).

Initially, I stated that I could not memorize Scripture; God proved me wrong. The Holy Spirit quickly began to use what I was storing up in me to move outward in evangelism and teaching. This later led to discipleship and being more effective in preaching because I learned to correlate passages in the Bible through memory and meditation work. Moses told Joshua just how important meditating on the Scriptures will be for a life lived in godliness before God (See Josh 1:8). Writing out the Book of the Law would later be important to Israel’s kings (Deut 17:18-20); apparently, very few followed through with this as the history of 1 & 2 Kings and 1 & 2 Chronicles shows! When you memorize and meditate on the Scriptures (Read Psa 119 in its entirety), the Holy Spirit will have something to work with in and through you to reach others (John 14:16-14a, 25-26; 15:26; 16:13-15).

Fellowship and Sharing (Gal 6:1-10).

Space does not allow for all that needs to be said here (Perhaps a future blog post is needed?). Suffice it to say, the church (disciples) are part of a new family, “the household of God” (1 Tim 3:15). You need to be present, active, and giving-receiving toward your brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers in Christ. (See where to go for extra help, a book by Joseph Hellerman[2] on the church as the family of God, linked here and in the helps section below). Then, actively engage his teaching with the teaching of the Scriptures; it will be an enlightening study! In the “Where to go to find extra help section, I will be giving you a couple of older resources, with one being past ten years old, but all are timely and immensely helpful for study by every disciple.

Call to Action.

If you find what I have written to be convicting, but you do not know how to proceed, find someone in your church who understands Biblical discipleship and ask to be taken under their wing. If they do not know what you are talking about, find someone in another church and get discipled! Then, start it rolling in your church. If this is not accepted... leave and become a member of the church where the disciple-maker worked with you and join the team!

Where to go to find the extra help you need:

Every believer – a disciple of Christ!

[1] Michael G. Brown, Joel R. Beeke, and Jon D. Payne. Second Timothy: The Lectio Continua Expository Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Reformation Heritage Books, 2022), 40-1, https://research.ebsco.com/linkprocessor/plink?id=853264d1-4957-3d0f-b286-1d6bb67d892f.

[2] Joseph H. Hellerman, When the Church Was a Family, (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2009).

[3] Adele Ahlberg Calhoun. Spiritual Disciplines Handbook: Practices That Transform Us, Revised and Expanded (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2015).

[4] Mark Dever, Discipling: How to Help Others Follow Jesus (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2016).