Spiritual Disciplines (Review)
I have a friend who teasingly responds with “have they made it into a move?” when I ask him about books he has read. He is in the throes of fatherhood at this stage of life, so his limited reading is no surprise. It therefore caught my attention when he jumped at the chance to ask me whether I had read Spiritual Disciplines by Don Whitney. It was a book I had not previously read, so I quickly bumped it to the top of my reading list. I’m wonderfully glad that I did.
Whitney began his book by noting that modern American often disdains the concept of discipline. People are more likely to think of the domineering parent punishing a child rather than the Latin origins of disciplina—the object of instruction, teaching, learning, and knowledge. Whitney gave a parable of a boy named Kevin who experienced an angelic vision of his someday performance at Carnegie Hall. Prior to the vision, he would aimlessly lounge around as he plucked at his guitar. But with a clear vision on his objective, he practiced with focus and intentionality. Whitney’s point was that the boy must remember what he will become to stay disciplined to work toward that goal. Similarly, Christians are to pursue holiness. This book’s key verse is 1 Timothy 4:7, “Discipline yourself for the purpose of Godliness.” While this may not seem like a theme that build into a page-turner, but there is a wealth of practical advice for anyone looking to live with more purpose.
Here are my notes and observations from Spiritual Disciplines:
Spiritual discipline should never be drudgery if we pursue it with the goal of godliness in mind. The image of the disciplined Christian is often dour. Yet it is Jesus in His joy and discipline that is to be our model.
Whitney quoted “Reading the Bible” by Geoffrey Thomas: “do not expect to always get an emotional charge or a feeling of quiet peace when you read the Bible...often you will get no emotional response at all. Let the Word break over your heart and mind again and again as the years go by, and imperceptibly there will come great changes in your attitude, outlook, and conduct. You will probably be the last to recognize these. Often you will feel incredibly small as the God of the Bible becomes incredibly great. So keep on reading.”
Psalm 119:24 “Your statutes are my delights; they are my counselors.” We need to memorize scripture and meditate upon it. One of the best ways to meditate on scripture is to ask questions about the text. By considering application of the text, it steeps within us to change us and shape our thinking. We are to dwell on God with our thoughts.
Reading the Bible, meditating on it, and praying are seen as three interconnected requisites for finding God’s power. Doing one without the other short circuits the others. The Bible—and thinking upon it—clarifies and focuses our prayers.
Whitney effectively distinguished between affection and duty. If you take your spouse out for an anniversary dinner out of duty, then it does not honor her. We must remember our affections. It is similarly so with worshiping Christ.
Public worship is critical for Christians. The Bible commands we are not to give up meeting together. Corporate worship is where we see dry bones comes to life (Ezekiel 37:4-6). A 2014 Pew Research survey suggests that regular church attendance is still steady despite the rise in Americans who have no religious affiliation. But sociologists, C. Kirk Hadaway and Penny Long Marler, suggest two points that undercut this finding. First, the Halo Effect is at play—people over-report their desirable traits like church attendance and voting and they under-report traits like drinking and drug abuse. Their second observation is that the definition of “regular church attendance” varies dramatically. Not long ago, church attendance meant participating in corporate worship multiple times per week. The current trend is to count once or twice a month as regular church attendance. As Hebrews 10 puts it, we are to “spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing…” There is nothing new with the issue of non-attendance, but it is hard to encourage each other without actually being together.
Worship and service must go hand-in-hand. Without worship as the starting point, our service will seem futile.
Whitney’s comments on stewardship were perhaps stronger as it relates to time rather than money.
Fasting is integrated with prayer. The former does not serve to convince God to answer our prayers. Instead, prayer sharpens our thinking and focus on discerning God’s will. “Just remember, your fast is a privilege not an obligation. It is the acceptance of a divine invitation to experience His grace in a special way.” We should yearn for days when God calls us to desire Him more than earthly food.
Wise men store up knowledge and never miss an opportunity to learn. Wise people seek knowledge. There is humility in wisdom because you learn how much more there always is to learn than what one person can learn in a lifetime. Break down Matthew 22:37: “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” We need to spend time learning who Christ is and what He did in order that we can be more like Him. The discipline of learning is critical. Inversely, remember Job 32:9, “It is not the old[a] who are wise, nor the aged who understand what is right.” Wisdom does not just happen as we age; it requires disciplined learning.
Pharaoh Ptolemy I Soter asked Euclid if there was a faster way to understand geometry than reading the 13 volumes Euclid wrote. Euclid gave the terse response, “there is no royal road to geometry [learning].”
When Paul discusses labor, he says we are to labor and strive—work until weariness. This is not striving for—as Kevin DeYoung puts it: "definitive sanctification” (cleansed by Jesus’ sacrifice—set apart in Christ). Instead it is striving for “progressive sanctification,” that is the Holy Spirit working in us to grow more and more like Christ.
Whitney concluded his book by referencing Pete Maravich, who became one of the most prolific basketball players in history. Maravich attributes his skill to obsessive repetition—practicing over and again until he got it right. Before his death, however, he regretted not having the same fervor for Christ through all of his days for it would have made him a better Christian.
Spiritual Disciplines is a challenging book—not in writing style or comprehension but in conviction. I consider myself a disciplined individual and am in many realms. But Donald Whitney encourages a comprehensive look at the practices that compose the reader’s life. Taken as a whole, this book and its recommendations could be overwhelming. But Whitney provides practical and approachable methods to proceed. As the aphorism goes, you eat an elephant one bite at a time. If a person were to attempt each of the steps Whitney recommends at once, it would be as overwhelming as sitting down to eat the entire elephant. Yet Spiritual Disciplines is a book I’ll go back to again as I continue pursuing a life of greater discipline, and I recommend it to those who desire to do the same.
