Discipleship, Spiritual Formation, Spiritual Disciplines, Growth Plans....we have a lot of names for this journey. Personally, I like rhythms. Each person's journey looks different. Each person's way to grow, the way that they learn, the way that they express themselves are all different and beautiful in their own way. We like to come up with steps, programs, to help us grow, but too often it is a one size fits all and sometimes it just doesn't seem to quite fit. Also, most of the times, discipleship is what we learn in a classroom. It's kind of like the more you know the further along you are in this process of following Jesus. Yet, I am not sure if that completely sits well with me either. I can know a lot about the bible, but a lot of people around the world know a lot about the bible and yes even those from other religious backgrounds sometimes knows the bible better than us who are in the church. (Didn't the Pharisees also know a lot?)
I look at this journey like having a coach to work out at a gym. They don't give me 101, 201, 301 as a program to work out, but they listen to my needs, they look at my body type, they hear about my goals, my struggles and then develop something from there. From there, it becomes a rhythm of exercise, eating, and taking care of myself.
When my life is out of whack, when my spiritual life is messed up, it really means that the rhythms of my life are out of line. So maybe we should be asking what are the rhythms of this life? How do these rhythms impact the journey that we are on?
I look at this journey like having a coach to work out at a gym. They don't give me 101, 201, 301 as a program to work out, but they listen to my needs, they look at my body type, they hear about my goals, my struggles and then develop something from there. From there, it becomes a rhythm of exercise, eating, and taking care of myself.
When my life is out of whack, when my spiritual life is messed up, it really means that the rhythms of my life are out of line. So maybe we should be asking what are the rhythms of this life? How do these rhythms impact the journey that we are on?
