Spiritual Disciplines Series: Submission

I have posted 8 of these articles here, originally written in 2012 for the Center for Youth Ministry Training, and have 4 left. Re-reading each one of these is a humbling reminder of how much I still have to learn about "living into the depths," as Richard Foster calls it.

Just a reminder that these were originally targeted toward youthworkers in the church. But all of us need to grow in spiritual disciplines.... right?

Lastly: in the midst of this year's election insanity, I love reading again about the transformative power of submission. As Trump keeps declaring that we need to "win again," I will think of the downward mobility and call of the true Christian life.

Submission

As I write this I am finding myself sucked in, day by day, to the Summer Olympics of 2012. If I’m not careful, I find myself watching sports I have never cared about (or even heard of!), simply because I LOVE the heat of competition. Don’t we all? How many times have we been with students and jumped right in as they create bloodsport out of seemingly harmless games like Slug Bug or Foursquare? The human propensity for competition at all costs is evident in the Genesis story of Cain and Abel (further immortalized by Steinbeck in his magnum opus East of Eden), seen in classic films like Gladiator, and glorified in countless other myths, fables and stories.

My morning devotions often include some time reading through Common Prayer: A Liturgy for Ordinary Radicals, written by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, Shane Claiborne, and Enuma Okoro. A recent reading touches on a remarkable example of competition:

Ignatius of Loyola (1491 – 1556) was born to a noble Spanish family. As a young man, he joined the military, but a war injury ended his military career. While recuperating, Ignatius became bored and asked for novels about knights and battles. But all that could be found in the castle where he stayed were books on the life of Christ and the saints of the church. Legend has it that Ignatius read these stories in a competitive manner, imagining how he could beat the various saints at practicing the spiritual disciplines. He soon found that his thoughts on the saints left him with more peaceful and satisfied feelings than his daydreams about the noble life he had known before his injury. After his illness, Ignatius began practicing his competitive notions of rivaling the saints, and wrote about his experiences of Christian disciplines. His scribblings became the spiritual classic The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, used by Christians for centuries in the practice of discernment. 

I smiled as I tried to picture competing with the ancient saints in the practice of spiritual disciplines, imagining what a strenuous and crazy endeavor that would be! Nevertheless, as I write this ninth in a series of twelve articles on spiritual disciplines for youthworkers, I want to use this opportunity to remind you (and myself) that the pursuit of spiritual disciplines is not yet another burden to add to the pile of so many other “to-dos” in your life. Spiritual disciplines are not something to “excel” or compete in, but instead are great gifts learned from the faithful throughout church history as ways to grow in our eternal intimacy with Christ. As Richard Foster reminds us in The Celebration of Discipline,

The classical Disciplines of the spiritual life call us to move beyond surface living into the depths. They invite us to explore the inner caverns of the spiritual realm… We must not be led to believe that the Discipline are only for spiritual giants and hence beyond our reach… far from it. God intends the Disciplines of the spiritual life to be for ordinary human beings.

I bring up competition because I find myself most confronted in my tendency to jockey for position in this month’s spiritual discipline, that of submission. While every single one of the disciplines provides its own challenges, Foster tells us “of all the Spiritual Disciplines none has been more abused than the Discipline of submission. Somehow the human species has an extraordinary knack for taking the best teaching and turning it to the worst ends.” He goes on to point out that we can err in making a discipline an end in and of itself, rather than understanding that it is simply a tool to gain more freedom in Christ: “They are not the answer; they only lead us to the Answer.”

Submission is such a great challenge because it addresses my deep need to get my own way, because for me, getting my own way means that I “win.” Yet I am continually humbled by the realization that most of life is not about “success” or “winning” or “being the best.” In Christ, we are called to something entirely different:

If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. (Mark 8:34)

Don’t forget that self-denial does not permit loss of identity, self-contempt, or abuse, and that is where Foster has some harsh words for “a mutilated form of biblical submission.” Instead, he reminds us that in God’s gracious economy, self-denial actually leads to self-fulfillment, as described in the next verse of Mark 8:

For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. (Mark 8:35)

This is where I believe the gospel has the most impact, in addressing head-on the American notions of greatness and power. Foster states it succinctly: counter-intuitively, as followers of Jesus Christ, “Leadership is found in becoming the servant of all.” This has been the greatest challenge for me, yet also the deepest joy, in being a youthworker. We can only persevere in this calling as we learn to delight in the success of others. That requires ongoing pursuit of the spiritual discipline of submission.

In my early years I got “hooked” on youth ministry by seeing how much fun it was to directly touch the lives of students, be the “star” up front as I spoke at a camp, and lead singing in front of a crowd of hundreds. Such ego builders! Thankfully, a mentor named Stan Beard transformed my life when he taught me that true joy actually comes when I get to the point of investing in volunteers and younger staff, then feeling the satisfaction of seeing them excel. In fact, he said I should physically feel it in my gut as my soul wells up in love and spirit-filled pride to witness their development.

Unfortunately, I soon learned that my flesh would fight against this. Sure, as the years went on I pushed for my interns to take the reins of various projects and programs, but found myself inwardly envying the attention they received. Rather than want the success of others to exceed our own, I discovered I would still rather have the limelight. It is only in pursuing Jesus and his calling to mutual submission that I started to be set free to pour into others most fully.

Two Scripture passages have challenged me most in this regard:

Be like Jesus. As it says in Philippians 2:5, “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus…” who knew that being God himself was not a privilege he could cling to. Instead, he knew that he needed to leave the comfort of his world and enter the world of others. As we are told in the verses immediately preceding, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.” (verses 3-4) What I love most about these words are their authenticity; we are not to utterly ignore our own needs, but rather “take an interest in others, too.” In other words, don’t be a selfish pig! The Holy Spirit will teach us how to put others first and actually enjoy it. This is utterly crucial to our own spiritual formation as the years go on.

Seek after submission in every relationship. I find the most comprehensive description of submission to be in Ephesians 5, where Paul gives this thesis statement: “Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. (vs. 21),” then going on to describe the implications of this mutual submission for wives, husbands, parents, children, employers and employees. In my own journey, once I started submitting to the needs of my volunteer leaders and the parents of my students, I was humbled to realize that I still fought for my own way with my family, my colleagues, and even my friends! Yikes. In the last few years I have also grown in understanding the importance of submission to the poor and oppressed. Instead of feeling sorry for the homeless and the panhandler, I pray to have the eyes of Christ and see them as he does. Like me, they are created in the imago dei, the image of God, and they are my neighbors. I cannot be selective in whom I submit to, only deferring to or serving those I respect and like. Invite the Spirit to open your eyes to opportunities to submit in ways that will continue to bring you to the knees of the Lord.

One last thought: the act of submission becomes tricky in understanding its limits. Foster does a great job expanding on this, and I recommend you to his book for a fuller explanation. I will only mention that when it comes to situations where authority is abusive or destructive, we must act with wisdom and discernment. Our highest calling is to submit to the authority of God; beyond that, we must be prayerful and seek wise counsel in how and to whom we submit. (I've learned this lesson the hard way...)

Like all spiritual disciplines, that of submission is the practice of a lifetime. None of us will ever master it. As it says in Hebrews 10:24, “And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds…” Surround yourself with others who desire to take up the cross of Christ and live a submissive life, and enjoy the incredible fruits of intimacy with Christ in new ways.

Article originally posted here.

Spring has Sprung and a New Recipe Must Come!

Perhaps not the most poetic of blog post titles, but it makes my point... I had a few lovely vegetables sitting in my crisper and a bit of "hmmm... what to do, what to do..." buzzing through my head around 5pm. Then I looked through my saved recipes from Vegetarian Times and VOILA! This one popped out at me. I made a few small adjustments and I will brag share that dinner was mighty delicious!

Admittedly, I put leeks in the category of "grown-up" vegetables, as in, I did not willingly eat a leek (or, fill in the blank.... cauliflower, bok choy, fennel, turnip, beet, brussels sprouts...) until I was well into my 30's. But NOW I glory in such vegetables! Call me crazy, call me boring, but I prefer to call myself HEALTHY. Yessiree!

Decide for yourself, but I believe this recipe to be a keeper. And I have enough leftovers for lunch tomorrow. #ftw

SPRING LEEK HASH WITH POLENTA AND CHEESE

Serves 4

30 minutes or fewer to prepare
Though taken from Vegetarian Times, I imagine this would also be delicioso with a bit of chorizo or bacon. Just sayin'...

1 Tbs. olive oil
3 medium leeks, trimmed, halved, and chopped (6 cups) I used 2 leeks and 3 stalks of celery
1 shallot (my addition)
1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced (1 cup)
2 Tbs. minced fresh thyme, divided
¼ tsp. red pepper flakes I used chipotle pepper powder
½ cup low-sodium vegetable broth
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 Tbs.)
1 16-oz. tube prepared polenta, cut into 12 slices (or prepared from a box of polenta)
2 oz. crumbled aged chèvre (½ cup) I chose to use fresh mozzarella. Good choice.

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Heat oil in ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add leeks, bell pepper, 1 Tbs. thyme, and red pepper flakes; sauté 10 minutes. Stir in broth and garlic.

2. Arrange polenta slices over leek mixture in skillet; top with crumbled chèvre and remaining 1 Tbs. thyme. 
Bake 10 minutes, or until chèvre (cheese) softens.

What I'm Reading This Week 3-27-16

Having just come back from a few days of vacation, I caught up on some reading I have been wanting to do. I have to say, in the midst of a LOT of junk floating out there on the interwebs, there are still many interesting pearls to be found. Perhaps one or three of these links will interest you as well...

"Nones" and Religious Identity Today. A growing demographic in the US have been named "nones" - those without specific religious affiliation. They have been polled at 20% of the general population, and over 1/3 of those under age 30 claim this status. I have posted links about this subject before, but that is because this subject fascinates me... for multiple reasons. As someone who works with young adults, I continue to be surprised by their questions, concerns and doubts. I am working hard to pay attention to what they are saying before saying anything in response. This podcast is an opportunity to do that. One person interviewed leads the Nones club at Harvard Divinity School (which sounds like an oxymoron), but her comments intrigued me. Listen and tell me what you think.

The Best Way to Fight with a Teenager. Though I have not worked officially with teenagers since 2012, I'm not sure youth pastors ever retire! Just yesterday I sat for 3 hours in the hot sun at a track meet to watch a beloved teenager compete. (Old habits never die I guess.) All that to say, I still think about teenagers constantly, and have regular conversations with youthworkers about their students. This article comes from the New York Times, and I liked it perhaps mostly because the brought up the conversation! Three decades of working with students taught me something I wish I had figured out MUCH earlier: the only thing more difficult than being a teenager is being the parent of a teenager. Both parties (the teens and the parents) have never been in their positions before, and the unknown is so intimidating... I found that parents take this uncharted territory especially hard. I consider this article no more than a neutral conversation-starter, and a helpful one at that.

Rediscovering an Evangelical Heritage. In this (dreadful? harrowing?) season of presidential politics, I am beginning to think that the term "evangelical" has completely lost its meaning, and I find cynicism welling up in me like a volcano. But before I give up completely, I decided to read this book and finished it in a week. I cannot recommend it enough! The subtitle is helpful: "A Tradition and a Trajectory of Piety and Justice." This book is part theology and part history lesson, but it all adds up to a deeply encouraging reminder "from whence we came" as evangelicals. This is a second edition, released on the 40th anniversary of the original, and I found it timely and challenging. Take the time to read about the profound social and cultural movements of the 1800's that were driven primarily by evangelicals. You will be glad you did.

Shut Up and Sit Down: Why the Leadership Industry Rules. As someone bold (or silly?) enough to have "leadership development" in her job title, this was a compelling and at times, confrontational article. I greatly appreciated the opening call-out: "In politics and business, we lionize leadership. But how much do we really know about what makes a great leader?" The article goes on to give some pithy statistics and quotes; for example, since August, the word "leadership" was used over 100 times by candidates in the presidential debates. Then the author says this: “Leadership” sums up, in a vague way, everything that’s desirable and none of what’s not." Despite these discouraging words, I pressed on, and enjoyed the survey it provides within the realms of business, sociology, history and politics. I was left with more questions than answers, but overall the article definitely pricked my curiosity and conscience. Perhaps leaders will not be identifiable until after they are gone?

Speaking of leadership, I will end with a quote that has still got me thinking and grappling with the truths expressed within it:

Oscar Romero, Archbishop of El Salvador who was brutally murdered while leading the Mass in 1980, wrote, “It helps, now and then, to step back and take the long view. The Kingdom is not only beyond our efforts: it is beyond our vision. We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent enterprise that is the Lord’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is another way of saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us. No sermon says all that should be said. No prayer fully expresses our faith. No confession brings perfection. No pastoral visit brings wholeness. No program accomplishes the Church’s mission. No set of goals and objectives includes everything. That is what we are about. We plant the seeds that one day will grow. We water seeds already planted knowing they hold future promise. We lay foundations that will need further development. We provide yeast that affects far beyond our capabilities. We cannot do everything and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. This enables us to do something, and to do it very, very well. It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest. We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the Master Builder and the worker. We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future that is not our own.”

MORE Soup For You!

If you are a Seinfeld fan, try to use the Soup Nazi's accent when you say this post's title out loud! I can't think of a positive version of it though... what is the opposite of "NO SOUP FOR YOU!"?

I stumbled into a new recipe tonight and I tell you what, it was DELICIOUS. I fiddled with a couple of ingredients and changed some portions, and I do declare, I think it turned out splendidly. Try it yourself.

CHICKPEA SOUP with GOLDEN SPICES
a variation on the original by Mollie Kaizen ~~ she called it "hummus in a soup bowl"

Ingredients

1 can chickpeas (AKA garbanzo beans)
1-2 tsp olive oil
1 minced onion or shallot
2 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp salt
1 carrot, diced
4-6 fingerling potatoes, diced (or 1 small potato)
a few threads of saffron (not too much--literally a pinch)
1 tsp lightly roasted cumin seeds
1 tsp dry mustard
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
Black pepper and cayenne to taste
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
2 1/2 c broth

Optional for the top:

2 medium ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
a little minced cilantro, parsley or mint

a drizzle of Chinese sesame oil
a drizzle of sour cream, Greek yogurt or coconut cream

I ate this soup with some masa corn muffins; I highly recommend some sort of warm bread or muffins with this!

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot or Dutch oven. Add the onion/shallot, half the garlic, half the salt, and the carrot and potatoes, saffron, cumin seeds, sesame seeds and mustard. Sauté over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until the carrot and potatoes begins to soften.

Add the chick peas and 2 1/2 cups broth. Bring it to a boil, lower the heat, and cook, covered, for about 20 minutes. Add the remaining garlic and salt, along with the lemon juice, black pepper and cayenne to taste.

Puree the soup in a blender or food processor (or use a Cuisinart hand blender) until fairly smooth... though if you prefer your soup a little more chunky or rustic, just use a potato masher. (You might want to add a little extra broth if it seems too thick.) Taste to adjust seasoning.

Top with diced tomatoes, cilantro and a little drizzle of your favorite creamy topping.  Try to savor it slowly, though that will be difficult to do!

(The original recipe can be found here...)

Spiritual Disciplines Series: Service

When I first read Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline, I was surprised to find out that the work of service is considered a classic spiritual discipline. This helped me to reframe the whole concept of service: if I approach service the way I approach prayer, then I see how service is not only an act to care for others, but also something that will cause me to know God better.

Remember, these articles were initially written to guide vocational youth ministry leaders in how to pursue their jobs over time. Nevertheless, my hope is that the thoughts given here apply to each of us. The original article was posted here.

Thanks for reading. Hope it's a blessing to you.

SERVICE

This is the eighth in a 12-part series on spiritual disciplines for youth workers, based on Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline.

by Kelly Soifer

One of the most challenging moments in my career came at my 10 year high school reunion. At that point I was working for Young Life as an Area Director. I had become a Christian through the ministry of Young Life in Northern California, and was well known by my peers in high school as an active member. I moved down to Santa Barbara for college, and started serving as a Young Life volunteer leader during my senior year. After graduating as an English major and getting a job as an editor, I continued as a volunteer for another year and was then asked to come on Young Life staff. Since I was supervising other staff, running six clubs and overseeing fifty volunteers, I considered this a “real job” and a fulfilling one at that! But imagine my horror when we were standing around at my reunion, catching up on each other’s lives, and when I was asked what I was doing now, was greeted with, “Wait, you’re STILL in Young Life?? Isn’t that just for high school kids?!” I felt demeaned and disrespected, but had no quick comeback to defend myself.

Unfortunately, it did not get much better when I first became a youth pastor. When asked where I worked and I said, “the church,” people would pause and slowly say, “Um, like you’re…a nun?” Laughter would ensue, and I would explain that, no, I was not a nun, but a youth pastor. I’m sad to say that the confusion didn’t stop there. More questions like, “OK, so that’s on Sundays, but what do you do the rest of the week?” would follow. Initially I was shocked and even hurt by such questions that seemed to imply that I had some sort of pseudo-job and needed to grow up and get a real one.

Despite these somewhat scarring experiences, once I grew up a bit and stopped being so defensive, and realized that times like these were great opportunities to change people’s understanding of the role and calling of the youth pastor, I started having some fun with it. I would joke about being “professionaly holy,” and then help people understand that my workweek was actually very similar to that of many other people. I had to return a lot of phone calls, send zillions of emails, manage budgets, meet with “clients” (parents, students, leaders), go to staff meetings, travel for work (AKA camp!), plan events, keep office hours…you get the picture. It was fun to help people see that in many ways pastors are normal people.

However, while there are many “normal” and “typical” aspects to our jobs, there is one part that I think is a truly humbling and sometimes difficult challenge. Since our job—the way we make our living—is to serve, I have found that it can be far too easy to approach that service without a sacrificial spirit. Even worse, I have often fallen into the habit of relying more on my expertise and routines than on God!

Let me give an example. As a young and earnest youth ministry volunteer, before I left for camp I would diligently invite my friends at Bible study to pray for my students as we headed off. Personally, I would spend time thinking about what I wanted to talk to each student about during the week. Significantly, I would also have to give up a precious week of vacation to go to camp, and happily choose to make that sacrifice.

Years later, as the one who was paid to run the camp, it became far less of a ministry moment and much more of a giant project to manage with many moving parts. Rather than delighting in the joy and privilege of serving my Lord and Savior, sometimes I would just go through the motions to get a giant to-do list completed.

It saddens me to see those words in print. If I have learned anything in these decades of youth ministry, it is that service to Christ is a stunning and remarkable privilege. I am amazed that He allows us to participate—He could get so much more done without our bumbling efforts! As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:1, “Therefore, since it is by God’s mercy that we are engaged in this ministry, we do not lose heart. ” Powerful stuff! The second I think I am doing God a favor by serving Him, I have completely lost perspective. I am the one who benefits most by serving, regardless of how many times I am asked to complete the task, because everything done in His name helps to shape me for eternity.

Richard Foster, in his devotional classic The Celebration of Discipline, says this about service:

If true service is to be understood and practiced, it must be distinguished clearly from “self-righteous service.” Self-righteous service comes through human effort… True service comes from a relationship with the divine Other deep inside. We serve out of whispered promptings, divine urgings. 

He goes on further to say that "self-righteous service" requires external rewards, is highly concerned with results, is affected by moods and emotions, is insensitive and fractures community. Yikes! How can we avoid that?? Foster makes a masterful delineation between “choosing to serve and choosing to be a servant.” To choose to serve is to remain in charge, whereas choosing to be a servant gives up the right to be in charge. This teaches me that service is not an action, but a way of life. Consider these words:

Devotion is not a passing emotion—it is a fixed, enduring habit of mind, permeating the whole life, and shaping every action. It rests upon a conviction that God is the Sole Source of Holiness, and that our part is to lean upon Him and be absolutely guided and governed by Him; and it necessitates an abiding hold on Him, a perpetual habit of listening for His Voice within the heart, as of readiness to obey the dictates of that Voice. —Jean Nicolas Grou (1731-1803)

This quote says it all. All of my service, regardless of whether it is done “voluntarily” or as part of my employment, needs to flow from a deep-seated reliance on the Holy Spirit.

Ultimately, Grou’s words sum up the entire reason for these 12 articles on spiritual disciplines for youthworkers. All of our work—one-on-one times with students, car wash fundraisers, weeks at camp, Bible studies, wacky events, seminars for parents, meetings to plan events, staff meetings, crises — MUST flow from what Grou describes perfectly as “a conviction that God is the Sole Source of Holiness,” and that we can do nothing out of our own power. Unfortunately, the longer we keep at youth ministry and the more experience we gain can lead us into the temptation of self-reliance. But if we see each day as a new way to depend on Jesus, and that he will reliably supply enough “manna” for each day, we can grow in ways we never dreamed possible, becoming more and more like Him through the transforming power of His love and salvation.

Thus our main “job” is that of knowing and loving Jesus Christ. Out of this intimacy, our humble, Spirit-filled service can flow. Ironically, I have found that the best ways to sustain this is by doing the very things I did in my earliest, most naïve years of youth ministry that I described earlier:

Invite others to pray for you.

Do not take yourself too seriously. Let others whom you know and trust to walk with you in your work. Over the years I have sat with so many youthworkers who suffer deeply from isolation. Much of this is a difficult by-product of our work, but we can deal with it if we take the time to pursue colleagues and friends who “get it.”

Be diligent in setting aside time to engage in what you are doing.

Never allow yourself to “phone it in” or take a “been there, done that” attitude. I reflect on those early years, where I would set aside a few hours to pray and think through what each of my students needed from their week at camp. Why would I ever stop doing that? Yet going to camp year after year had a tendency to make me complacent. So I have worked hard to spend time preparing for camp with my newest leaders. Their excitement is contagious and always reminds me of the privilege of working with young people.

Sacrifice. Stretch.

Though I still spend the bulk of my service working with students, I have sought out ways to serve that are not connected to my role as a youth pastor. Currently, once a month I go with my weekly Bible study (an amazing group of adults whom I love living life with) to do laundry with the homeless. We call it “Laundry Love,” and over the past several months have built some lovely friendships with these folks as we bring rolls of quarters and detergent to a Laundromat and visit with them as they then wash their sleeping bags, blankets and clothing. This ministry is a challenge for me because it is outside of my “expertise” as a youthworker. But it is also reveals to me that I still have a lot to learn.

I pray that each of us will seek, for the rest of our days, to pursue this spiritual discipline of service, paying attention to the Other deep inside.

- See more at: http://www.cymt.org/service-spiritual-disciplines-for-youthworkers/#sthash.zJ045ATI.dpuf

Stuff You Might Use 12-7-15

If you're anything like me, I am constantly trying to stay on top a never-ending pile of emails, plus a lot of saved bookmarks related to resources and articles that might pertain to things I am working on. They all pile up, and sometimes I just erase everything, with some regrets.

As an early Christmas present, here's a shortcut for you to save a little time, with no regrets. These are 4 quick resources that might serve you and your work in some way...

Families and Digital Media - A Live Panel. Led by Fuller Youth Institute (FYI), here is an hour-long conversation about managing the screens of your family. Honest in their struggles and questions, I found this useful in that it just acknowledged the fuzzy boundaries we all face.

Schools Can't Stop Kids from Sexting - New York Times. This came out in November after there was a large group of students at a Colorado high school who apparently participated in some sort of photo sexting group. Both of these links put words to our struggles as we work with and/or parent young people, and perhaps give a few useful guidelines.

Gallup's Theme Thursdays. If you've spent any time with me, I will drop a comment or ten about Strengths Finder. While it's not a sacred text, I have found Strengths Finder to be a useful tool for building self-awareness, team dynamics and recruiting. This little gem of a link gives you access to podcasts related to the 34 Strengths. I have listened to each one from my Top Five, and have listened to a bunch of others in order to understand how to best encourage and give direction to those I am working with.

New Research on the State of Discipleship - The Barna Group. I will be the first to admit that sometimes I find Barna research on the church to be less than useful. But occasionally they provide some feedback on topics and issues that shed some light on things I am working on and praying about. I recommend you spend some time on this one -- it made me think about the vocabulary of spiritual formation these days, and also how we tend to pursue this on our own rather than with others. This one was helpful to me, and perhaps a little sobering.

In the midst of stunningly bad news from around the world, I found encouragement and hope in these verses from Hosea today. Do not give up. Press on:

Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord;

his appearing is as sure as the dawn;

he will come to us like the showers,

like the spring rains that water the earth. 

(Hosea 6:3)

Spiritual Disciplines Series: Fasting

I've posted half of the twelve articles here that were first released in 2013 on cymt.org. The original for this post is found here.

Spiritual Disciplines Series: FASTING

I have set many goals in my life—here are a few: learn biblical Greek, visit all the national parks with snow-capped mountains (I like alpine peaks), read everything written by C.S. Lewis, learn to cook well…some were easier to realize than others. But one goal I have never set for myself is this one: learn the spiritual discipline of fasting. I mean, really. Sure, it sounds godly to grow in prayer, or service, or worship. But fasting just sounded miserable to me!

Enough of true confessions. I’m here to tell you that I was flat out wrong. While there is nothing easy about fasting, it can reap profound benefits. Nevertheless, I will also admit to you that of the twelve classic disciplines examined by Richard Foster in his devotional classic Celebration of Discipline, fasting is by far the one with which I have the least experience. In fact, I am humbled to be writing about how to do it as a youthworker, because I still have so much to learn about it myself.

That being said, I still want to share a few things I have come to realize so far. First of all, it is something referred to with great frequency throughout scripture, but with surprisingly little explanation. It just seems to be a given that people yearning to know God better would practice fasting. As Foster says,

The list of biblical personages who fasted reads like a “Who’s Who” of Scripture: Moses the lawgiver, David the king, Elijah the prophet, Esther the queen, Daniel the seer, Anna the prophetess, Paul the apostle, Jesus Christ the incarnate Son. Many of the the great Christians throughout church history fasted and witnesses to its value; among them were Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Knox, John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, David Brainerd, Charles Finney and Pastor Hsi of China. 

Importantly, let’s not forget that fasting is not exclusively a Christian discipline. As Foster reminds us, “all the major religions of the world recognize its merit.”

OK, this sounds persuasive, you may be saying. But in the next breath you might be mumbling, “But what exactly is fasting?” We can start by defining what it is not. It is not a hunger strike, which is done to gain political power or attract attention. It is also not dieting, which is done for health purposes. Biblical fasting centers on spiritual purposes.

Let’s get more specific; Foster again is very helpful: “In Scripture the normal means of fasting involves abstaining from all food, solid or liquid, but not from water.” However, there is also seen in scripture what could be called a “partial fast,” which is a restriction of diet (a good example described in Daniel 10).

Unlike the hunger strike and a typical health-related diet, spiritual fasting is usually a private matter between the individual and God; then again, there are great examples in Scripture of group fasting (Joel 2:15, 2 Chronicles 20:1-15, Ezra 8:21-23) usually done in case of emergency or to gain spiritual focus for a serious problem. Fasting has also been practiced consistently by monastics, and even by John Wesley, who urged Methodists to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, per the instructions of the Didache, an ancient Christian text from the first century.

While all of these examples might be convicting to your soul, it is worth noting that “there are simply no biblical laws that command regular fasting.” (Foster) Nevertheless, I want to commend fasting to you as a youthworker. To do so, I must share what I have so far found to be the most significant (and humbling) lesson gained from fasting, again from Richard Foster: “More than any other discipline, fasting reveals the things that control us.” While I have fasted from food here and there over the years, usually in a group situation to focus in prayer over an important decision or crisis, I have mostly practiced fasting in other ways. I have found fasting from certain things to be crucial to my own spiritual growth at many junctures in my journey, and it has helped me to persevere in a career in which so many burn out.

To illustrate, here are three examples:

Fasting from words

Henri Nouwen, the Catholic priest, author and scholar who died in 1996, has taught me the most about this (find his slim classic The Way of the Heart if you would like to learn more). To fast from words is also to practice the profound spiritual discipline of silence. Arsenius, an early desert father, says it best:

I have often repented of having spoken, but never of having remained silent. 

In other words, we have become a noisy culture, and in many ways words have lost their creative, uplifting power. Instead, words have become so cheap and overused, and more often used as forces of destruction and sin. As it says in Psalm 39:1, “I said, ‘I will guard my ways that I may not sin with my tongue; I will keep a muzzle on my mouth as long as the wicked are in my presence.’” To fast for a day, or perhaps even longer, from speaking, can have profound effect. After a fast of silence, I am always reminded not only of how casual and sloppy I can be in my speech, but worse, of how little I truly seek to listen, both to God and to others.

Working with teenagers can be a noisy business. They are often so talkative, they love their music loud, and have grown up in a world of 24/7 news, music, internet, and cable. As youthworkers we are sucked into that cacophony of overstimulation. To pursue a fast from words (and this usually means being alone, too!) is to cultivate the soil of your heart and mind in some powerful ways. In silence I have learned so much about the “still, small voice of God” and about my own fear of being quiet. Yet in those times of spirit-filled calm, I have learned how to face those things I have been running from, and find that He is right there with me.

Fasting from technology

In some ways this could be considered part two of what I just described. If fasting from words brings us into silence, we must then consider fasting from the source of much of our noise, which is technology. During one season of Lent in years past, I fasted from all technology after dinner. As mentioned earlier, fasting itself reveals the things that control us, and while I had a sense that I flirted with addiction to email, I had no idea how deep the compulsion ran until I gave it up each day. While the first days were challenging, within the first week I discovered the beauty of reading again, of a full night’s sleep, and get this… the power of boredom! While I do not want to get bored every day, an occasional evening or even a day of aimlessness, in a life that is absolutely chock full of people, activities, and to-do lists, can be amazingly liberating to my spirit. Try it for yourself.

Fasting from spending

How did I come to practice this discipline? I backed into it. In February 2009 I resigned from a 15-year position as a youth pastor. This decision was the right one, but it was so difficult, nonetheless. I needed time to wait on God for what was to be next, and to recover from the jarring transition that it was, so I had saved some money to do so.

However, in my immaculate timing I made this decision one month before the historic financial collapse hit bottom! Amidst daily news of gloom and doom I tried not to panic, but also decided I needed to dramatically pare down my budget, not sure when I would be employed full-time again. Thus I declared 2009 to be The Year of Living Simply. I decided to buy nothing new (other than food). I refrained from spending money on entertainment—movies, books, music, eating out, and travel. I let magazine subscriptions expire. I stopped buying gifts and just sent cards (sorry, friends). This took a third out of my budget!

Let’s be clear—I am not advocating some dreadful legalism that disdains enjoyment. God wants us to enjoy his provision and his creation. But I was now recognizing how much of my joy came from stuff rather than from God himself and from the people and things he provided already.

Needless to say, I had more free time since I wasn’t busying myself as I had previously. I enjoyed quality time in conversation (rather than consumption) with friends and students. Monks take vows of poverty and/or simplicity—they hold belongings in common, because they believe that the more possessions you have, the more those things possess you! The only way we can really address the materialism we see in most of our students is to wean ourselves from it first.

I have not done a very good job of exploring the actual practice of fasting from food for spiritual purposes. If you would like to learn more about that, I commend Foster’s book to you. Regardless, I will end with his thoughts on the benefits of the spiritual discipline of fasting:

Fasting can bring breakthroughs in the spiritual realm that will never happen in any other way. It is a means of God’s grace and blessing that should not be neglected any longer.

- See more at: http://www.cymt.org/fasting-spiritual-disciplines-for-youthworkers/#sthash.GKLJsExi.dpuf