E. Stanley Jones (1884-1973) devoted his entire life to the subject of conversion. He pointed out that there is a delicate balance between the activity of God and the response of God's children in the establishment and cultivation of conversion.
Conversion is the act of a moment and the work of a lifetime! It is a process of receptivity and response. Jones wrote: "You cannot attain salvation by disciplines--it is the gift of God. But you cannot retain it without disciplines." It is impossible to discipline an unsurrendered self, but when our self is surrendered to God and a new center formed, then we can discipline our life around that new center--Christ. Discipline is the fruit of conversion, not the root.
St. Paul noted (Col. 2:6-7): "As therefore you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so live in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith." The "rooted" means we are receptive and take from God as the roots take from the soil. The "built up" suggests we build as one builds a house--we form a character and life by wise planning and difficult effort.
To use a cliche, we trust as if the whole thing depended on God and work as if the whole thing depended on us! These are the alternate beats--the rhythm--of the converted Christian heart; receptivity and response--receptivity from God and response in work from us.
We can see in Christ's life some basic habits (disciplines) that helped to keep his journey vital and fresh:
1. "He stood up to read as was his custom"--he read the Word of God by habit, and in the context of the faith community (synagogue).
2. "He went out into the mountain to pray as was his custom"--he prayed by habit and entered into the context of solitude.
3. "He taught them again as was his custom"--he actively exercised his spiritual gift(s) and shared with others, for their spiritual benefit, what he had discovered for himself.
These simple disciplines were the foundation habits of Christ's life. They are as up-to-date as tomorrow morning. Those of us who are experiencing God's gift of conversion would do well to learn and live with these habits that keep our spiritual life vital and fresh!
May the vibrant experience of conversion keep God's fire burning in our hearts!
Your friend,
Duff
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1 comment:
Duff,
It is so nice to find you blogging and moving forward. You are not so easy to find, and we've both come a long way in our walk since Garden Grove. Nice to see you again, even if over the internet.
It took me until this year to really understand that faith is as much a gift as God's other promises. Glad to see much of your writing is based around Paul.
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