New Year's Clean-Up

For me, the first few weeks of January are all about cleaning up. As soon as New Year’s Day fades, the Christmas stuff must be cleared away. Each year, I notice that the Christmas stuff with which I deal falls roughly into three categories:

• There are things that will rot, spoil and become downright dangerous if left unattended. Things like that last piece of cheesecake I pushed to the back of the fridge or the dried up Christmas tree dangerously close to the fireplace.

• Then there are things that if not immediately tossed will lead me in the opposite direction of where I want to head. Half eaten boxes of nuts, candy canes and leftover Christmas cookies.

• And finally, there are things that, while appropriate for Christmas, begin to be somewhat inconvenient by mid-January. There’s nothing really wrong with them-- but maintaining them interferes with moving on to other things. The Christmas cards on the mantle keep me from dusting and distract me as I reread each one. The wreath on the front door drops needles that must be swept up every time I step out the door. And, of course, the outdoor lights are beginning to look a little silly.

I tackled all these things wholeheartedly the first couple weeks of January, determined to get my house in order. But it occurs to me that my life could use some determined post-Christmas New Year's clean-up too. Afterall, my life is post Christmas--Christ has entered my life just as He once entered the world--and it is now not just a new year but a whole new life. So what needs to be tossed out so I can move on?

• What is the truly dangerous stuff that must go immediately? Are there sins that I toy with? Certain daydreams? A tendency to lie? To gossip?

• And what are the things that, while not inherently sinful, always seem to head me off in the wrong direction and prevent me from growing? A particular set of friends? Some of the books and magazines I read?

• Finally, what are the things that still hang on from an old way of life? Things that slow me down and aren’t really becoming to a new blood-bought life? The amount of money I spend on clothes? The amount of time I spend obsessing about my body? A goal at work?

Got your list? I’ve got mine. Here’s to the New Year!

Small Steps to Spiritual Transformation

I'm currently reading Revolution of Character by Dallas Willard and Don Simpson, so, as always when I'm reading Dallas Willard, expect a lot of quotes:

I believe one reason so many people fail to immerse themselves in the life described in the New Testament is that is so unlike their own experience. This is true even though they may be quite faithful to their church and really do have Jesus Christ as their only hope. But the New Testament presentation of the life they are offered in Christ only discourages them. Instead of inspiring them, it makes them feel hopeless.

Why is this? Surely the life God holds out to us in Jesus was not meant to be an unsolvable puzzle! I suggest that for all our good intentions and strenuous efforts, we don't approach and receive the life Jesus offers us in the right way.
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Jesus invites us to leave our burdensome ways of heavy labor--especially our religious ones--and step into the yoke of training with him. His is a way of gentleness and lowliness, a way of soul rest. His is a way of inner transformation in which carrying our burden with him is easy and light (see Matthew 11:28-30). What we thought was so difficult about entering fully into divine life is entirely due to our failure to understand and take the small steps that quietly but surely lead to our transformation.

What are these small steps? In large part they are simply the habits we have been talking about in this blog. So don't get discouraged. Keep reading. Keep praying. Keep attempting to create oases of quiet in your life. These are the little things that will quietly but surely lead to your transformation into the image of Christ.

A Layered Approach to Spiritual Growth

What is my obsession with habits anyway? I’ll tell you how it came about. A few years ago I resolved for about the two hundredth time to make God and my spiritual growth a priority. I had failed miserably at this in the past, and I knew it was because my ideas were always too “big,” too unrealistic and didn’t fit well with the other things going on in my life. I would think ambitious things like, “I’m going to get up an hour early and study the Bible,” but at the time I was a working mom with toddlers and totally exhausted in the mornings. On top of that, because they were toddlers, my kids would hear me when I got up and immediately want to get up themselves…needless to say, no more quiet time at my house! I could go on and on about failed attempts at starting prayer journals, unread Christian books collecting dust on my night table, etc.

I decided that I needed to apply what I thought of as a “layering” approach: a couple Bible verses here, a quick prayer there, a sermon on tape during my commute, etc. I thought I’d add a bit more each month and that eventually these efforts might build on one another and amount to something—and, believe it or not, they did! Bible reading times got a little longer and I felt myself more eager to read as time went by. I found myself praying more frequently throughout the day, able to understand what Paul meant about praying without ceasing (not actually going that far myself, but at least understanding that such a feat might be possible and not thinking that Paul was totally insane and obviously didn't have kids or a normal job!) The point is, it all started with tiny steps that I could do here and there despite my busy schedule--little layers I could build into my existing day.

As I layered on more learning and more times with God, I realized that it helped when I turned certain layers into habits. I know the word “habits” sounds like the big, overly ambitious ideas that didn’t work for me in the first place, but I’m talking about really small habits, like “I pray for three minutes as I drive to pick up my son from sports practice. I do not turn on the radio,” or “I subscribe to an email devotional and make sure I read it before I start any other work on my computer.” When I did this I discovered that times with God or thinking about God were happening naturally and on “auto-pilot” throughout the day. They no longer took tremendous effort. They no longer had to be written on a “to-do” list in order for me to remember to do them. And of course, God was doing His work during this time period, meeting me more than halfway and growing my efforts. My baby steps and habits were really just acts of opening up more channels to Him, allowing Him more times to speak to me.

If you think this approach would work for you, think about a few little things you can do within your existing schedule—a few little habits you can establish—that will help you turn your thoughts more frequently toward God throughout the day. Over the next week or so, I’ll offer some more ideas that worked for me. And feel free to post comments on anything that has worked for you.

Showing Up to Learn

Several of my blogs lately have reflected something that I have been learning: that we grow not through our own self-effort but through the Holy Spirit’s effort in our lives. Yet as soon as I think I have grasped that truth, I am bombarded with teaching about how we need to work at our spiritual growth. Elisabeth Elliot’s devotional and Keswick’s Victory Call today both hammered home the work-at-it idea. Even the book I am reading, Mike Flynn’s How To Be Good Without Really Trying, despite its title, starts out with a longish discussion about how Christian faith is about doing and not just hearing!

So what am I to think? I come back to the idea that spiritual growth is about putting forth the effort necessary to put ourselves in the place that God can do the work in us (i.e., making sure we remain attached to the vine so the sap can flow and walking through the door into the room where God is working). I looked around for a way to explain this more fully to myself and God brought the following example to mind.

This time last year the school district told us that our daughter could start Algebra I in the fall if we were willing. Saying yes took a scary leap of faith since it would mean Callie would skip a year of math instruction—the Pre-Algebra year—that her soon-to-be classmates had already had. Although she had been a decent math student, she is clearly not a natural whiz at the subject. She could fail miserably. But we went ahead and in the fall I spoke to the Algebra teacher about our concerns that Callie did not have the necessary background to keep up with the class. The teacher told me to relax. “If she comes to class and does the homework, I will fill in any gaps. I am aware of her current level of understanding and I will keep an eye on her. If she has any problems, she can come to me during recess or after school. I am always available to her. I will make sure she gets through this class if she wants to.” At the time I remember feeling surprised that the teacher took on so much of the responsibility for Callie's learning the subject--and that she was so confident Callie would succeed--so long as Callie demonstrated a willing attitude.

And so began a year in which Callie demonstrated her willingness. She did the homework everyday. If she didn’t understand something, she went in during recess. I would estimate that she monopolized the teacher’s lunch hour at least twice a week all year long. She spent many hours over the course of the year alone with the teacher.

Callie not only passed the class, she got an A. Did she teach herself Algebra this year through the strength of her own efforts? No, there is no way she could have learned this material on her own or by natural instinct—she just doesn’t have that level of ability. But she deliberately put herself in the position that the teacher could teach her Algebra. Slowly, she was transformed from a person who didn’t even know Pre-Algebra to a competent Algebra problem solver--all she had to do was put herself into the hands of that teacher.

You get the point right? What God wants for us is to become Christ-like, but we don’t have the ability to achieve this transformation on our own. Our inability is not a problem because He is the one who is going to transform us--but He can only do so if we put ourselves in a position where He can do it. We have to make ourselves available to be taught.

This month, evaluate how fully you are putting yourself in a position to be transformed. Are you showing up to class everyday? Are you doing the assignments? Are you referring to the textbook frequently? Are you asking the teacher for individual help? How often? Use the Algebra example as a guide to asses whether the level of your efforts truly demonstrates a willingness to learn. I can't tell you how much effort is "enough" for you--it really is more a matter of how willing you are and how you translate that willingness into determined action that overcomes natural laziness and your desire to do other stuff like watch TV, etc. If Callie had shown up to class only half the time and opened her book only once or twice a week, what would the teacher have thought of her efforts? Would the teacher have made herself so available to help a student who skipped homework assignments because she was too busy IMing or watching American Idol? Callie probably would have ended the year knowing more about Algebra than when she started but I doubt she would have developed the cooperative and dynamic relationship with the teacher that enabled her to really triumph in the class.

We’ve got an incredibly competent and available teacher, but we have to show up in order to learn.