Just finished a great book on the spiritual discipline of fasting. I’ll post the review tomorrow, but the book got me thinking about the purpose of discipline in pursuing God.
Some people, like the Pharisees who opposed Jesus, saw discipline as something you did to better yourself and make yourself more impressive to others. Others believe the purpose of discipline is to increase efficiency and help you get more done.
I’ve come to realize that discipline is meant to decrease our appetite for things of this world so that our hunger for God increases. The things of the world may not be bad things at all; they may in fact be things necessary for survival, like food and sleep.
But we are lousy at doing things in moderation. Well, I am at least. I shouldn’t speak for you. I eat too much. I consume media that isn’t beneficial to me. I’m not increasing in my desperation for God and His Word to fill me up. Because I’m already full.
Is this what Paul could have meant when he wrote:
“‘I have the right to do anything,’” you say—but not everything is beneficial. ‘I have the right to do anything’—but I will not be mastered by anything. You say, ‘Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, and God will destroy them both.’ The body, however, is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. (1 Corinthians 6:11-13)
When Paul says, “but I will not be mastered by anything,” he sounds to me like a true leader. The only One he lives for is God, he doesn’t need anything else. He knows that his body is the Lord’s, and he only hungers and thirsts for what God can give.
Leaders, our lack of discipline has caused us to be mastered by things other than God Almighty. We can’t say with integrity, “but I will not be mastered by anything.” Until we are desperate for God alone, we will never be the leader God would have us be.