The kingdom of God and spiritual growth (4)
From my past pastoral letters, we can see that the pursuit of spirituality by believers is based on the fact that we are citizens of the kingdom of God. In Luke 6:43-49, Jesus pointed out the need for the people of God’s kingdom to pursue purity and cleanliness of the heart, for a good tree naturally bears good fruit. In order to cultivate characteristics pertinent to being people of God’s kingdom, we ought to engage in practices which renew and transform our inner being. These practices are generally referred to as spiritual disciplines.
Spiritual discipline is just like our eating habits. If we lack a balanced diet, for instance, we eat only high cholesterol food, and do little or no exercise, we will increase the risk of hypertension, high blood sugar and high lipid levels. In the same way, if there is a lack of balanced spiritual discipline, an imbalance in our spiritual life will result. As such, a range of different spiritual disciplines or habits are encouraged so that our spiritual life can flourish in an all-rounded manner.
In his book “Celebration of Discipline”, Richard Foster put forward three kinds of spiritual discipline, namely Inward Disciplines, Outward Disciplines, and Corporate Disciplines. Foster’s mentor, Dallas Willard, proposed two categories of discipline in his work “The Spirit of the Disciplines”: Disciplines of Abstinence, for example, solitude, silence, fasting, frugality, sacrifice; and Disciplines of Engagement, for example, study, worship, service, prayer, fellowship.
I prefer what Willard advocates, because the Disciplines of Abstinence help us counter the sins or inclinations of “reckless behaviour” (Romans 7:19b); and the Disciplines of Engagement help us deal with the sins of “laziness and neglect" (Romans 7:19a). This dichotomy of disciplines offers a way forward involving advances and retreats, and offensive and defensive approaches.
Different people prefer certain spiritual disciplines and avoid others. The point is we need to learn different spiritual disciplines so that we can have a balanced intake of spiritual nutrients, and to be able to “participate in the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). I hope that we can all reach higher ground in our spiritual walk this year.
神的國與靈命成長 (四)
從之前幾篇文章，我們看到，信主的人對屬靈生命的追求，是基於我們是神國子民這個事實。在路加福音6:43-49，耶穌提出，神國子民所要培養的，是內心的純正和清潔，因爲好樹自然會結好果子。而要培養出神國子民的特質，我們便需要有一些能夠更新轉化我們內心的練習，一般稱之為屬靈操練。
屬靈操練就像我們的飲食習慣一樣。若缺乏均衡的飲食習慣，如：只吃高膽固醇的食物，但又缺少運動，我們都知道這容易使人養成「三高」(高血壓，高血糖，高血脂)。同樣道理，如果屬靈操練不夠均衡，亦會導致屬靈生命失衡的情況出現。因此，我們需要不同的屬靈操練或習慣，好讓我們的生命吸取全面的養分。
傅士德在《靈命操練禮讚》提出三大類的屬靈操練，包括：「內在操練」、「外在操練」及「團體操練」。而他的啟蒙導師魏樂德，則在其《靈性操練真諦》一書提出了兩大類，包括「捨棄性操練」，如：獨處、安靜、禁食、簡樸、奉獻；「連結性操練」，如：研讀、敬拜、服事、禱告、團契。
我較喜歡魏樂德所提倡的，因爲捨棄性的操練，幫助我們對付「任意妄爲」的罪或傾向(羅7:19下)；連結性的操練則有助我們處理「輕忽疏懶」的罪(羅7:19上)。這是一個有進有退，有攻有守的進路。
然而，不同的人會偏愛某些屬靈操練，卻避免另外一些。重點是我們需要學習不同的屬靈操練，好讓我們有均衡的屬靈養分，叫我們「與神的性情有分」(彼後1:4)。盼望在新的一年，我們一同在靈命上有所長進。
