Discipline is the Only Way to Freedom

The Confessing Church Movement ^ | Unknown | Douglas A. Rehberg

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Discipline Is The Only Way To Freedom

By Dr. Douglas A. Rehberg, Senior Pastor, Hebron U.P. Church, Pittsburgh, PA

English journalist and author, G.K. Chesterton once wrote, "Christianity has not so much been tried and found wanting as it has been found difficult and left untried." When one looks around the church of Jesus Christ these days, one sees the truth of these words.

I am continually running into people who wish that they were more mature in their faith, more understanding of the Scriptures, more pious in their behavior. But what they don't realize is their unsatisfactory state is the result of a deeply held conviction that being a Christian is more a matter of preference than diligence. To put it another way, they believe that being a Christian is a lot like being an American - it's something you are born into, a state of being, rather than a state of living.

Now, surely being a Christian is a state of being. To be born again by the Spirit of God is nothing short of miraculous. Nicodemus was dumbstruck at the news that salvation was God's doing, not his. Becoming a child of God is not something we conjure up, it's not something we work for, it's the supernatural act of God transforming a sinner into a saint. The Father gives us birth, we respond. But it is that response, in which Christians must be continually engaged. Think of the statements of Jesus referring to being a disciple: "Take my yoke upon you", "learn of Me", and "follow Me". These are all words of response.

In fact, the word "follow" had five particular usages in the first century: a soldier's allegiance to his captain; a slave's devotion to his master; a client's deference to a hired counselor; a citizen's obedience to the laws of the state; and a student's deference to the wisdom of a teacher. Jesus expects His followers to follow Him in each of these ways. Each "following" requires a desire to discipline oneself to know Him.

Such words as "discipline" run counter to so much of what we consider "normal Christianity". Today, spontaneity seems a more appropriate characterization than disciplining. Several years ago Episcopalian Rector John Guest wrote, "'Discipline' has become a dirty word in our culture…I know I am speaking heresy in many circles, but spontaneity is greatly overvalued. The 'spontaneous' person who shrugs off the need for discipline is like the farmer who went out to gather eggs.

"As he walked across the farmyard toward the hen house, he noticed the pump was leaking. So, he stopped to fix it. It needed a new washer, so he set off to the barn to get one. But on his way he saw that the hayloft needed straightening, so he went to fetch a pitchfork. Hanging next to the pitchfork was a broom with a broken handle. 'I must make a note to myself to buy a broom handle the next time I get to town,' he thought…

"By now it's clear that the farmer is not going to get his eggs gathered, nor is he likely to accomplish anything else he set out to do. He is utterly, gloriously spontaneous, but he is hardly free. He is, if anything, a prisoner to his unbridled spontaneity.

"The fact is discipline is the only way to freedom; it is the necessary context for spontaneity." To which Jesus says, "Follow Me."

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True freedom is found only within discipline under God's Word.

[Dales]

Discipline is a problem and has been for a long time, not just in our Christian culture, but in the US altogether.

Not that I am a particularly disciplined person.

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Not that I am a particularly disciplined person.

I would never have known that! ;)

[ksen]

I had a brilliant reply to this article, but I got distracted with something else.

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LOL!

Excellent response!

[Commander8]

That's right, the best freedom is freedom from one's one impulses, how is this freedom achieved?
Discipline.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

And first we have to be discplined to LEARN God's Word.

Becky

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That's right, the best freedom is freedom from one's one impulses, how is this freedom achieved?
Discipline.

Exactly. The best analogy I've ever thought of concerns two ballplayers of great and equal strength, speed and abilities. The only difference between them is that one knows the rules of the game by heart, while the other only gives them a passing nod once in a while. There really isn't any question which one will turn in the better game day after day - the one who knows the rules well enough to play all out without crossing the lines.

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And first we have to be discplined to LEARN God's Word.

Good point, except that this becomes even more difficult in our post-modern world where so many don't even care to listen, let alone learn. Unfortunately, it's also true that our common words no longer mean the same things to the different camps, and communication is almost nonexistent.