A couple of years ago someone in Seattle decided that alcoholics couldn’t change.[1] Taxpayers had been spending $50,000 per year on recovery programs, prison, and emergency room visits for each homeless alcoholic assisted by the city. Then, the city built a new $11 million housing complex to accommodate 75 homeless alcoholics at one time. But the new housing was not part of a larger plan to help alcoholics overcome their dependency upon alcohol. Instead, residents in the new $11 million project are allowed to drink all they want. There is no expectation that they will change their drinking habits or overcome alcoholism. The program’s executive director says that most alcoholics can’t change and thus recovery is no longer a part of the city’s new initiative.
The city’s action raises a critical question: Can people change? Many of us probably have a person in our lives about who we might say “no-he/she can’t change.” But when it comes to our own lives, I think most of us believe change is possible. And for many of us, the New Year brings a fresh dose of optimism about that change. We believe that the New Year holds promise for a life that was even better than last year. We believe that this year can be the year when we pay-off that credit card or mortgage, lose those ten pounds, form a meaningful friendship or romantic relationship, or overcome that nagging sin. We believe change is possible.
In some ways, this is one of the messages in a little letter from a mentor to his apprentice. In 1 Timothy we find an older man named Paul writing to a younger man named Timothy. Paul is the experienced spiritual mentor. Timothy is his apprentice, someone still becoming the person God created him to be. And while Paul attempts many things in his letter to Timothy, one of his goals is to call Timothy to a rich spiritual life and to show him how such a life is possible.
In 1 Timothy this rich spiritual life is summarized in one word translated “godly” or “godliness.” Paul uses those words more in this letter than in any of his other letters. It seems to be a kind of code word to talk to Timothy about the spiritual life. For example, Paul urges Timothy and all Christians to live “peaceful and quite lives in all godliness and holiness” (1 Tim. 2:2). He writes to Timothy about “the mystery from which true godliness springs” (1 Tim. 3:16). Paul asks Timothy to strive “to be godly” (1 Tim. 4:7). He writes to Timothy about the enduring value of “godliness” (1 Tim. 4:8). Paul asks that families put their “godliness” into practice by caring for widows in their families (1 Tim. 5:4). Paul warns Timothy about people who do not follow “godly teaching” (1 Tim. 6:3). These people, he says, but pursue wealth instead of true “godliness” (1 Tim. 6:5). Paul writes that “godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Tim. 6:6). Paul tells Timothy to “pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness” (1 Tim. 6:11).
This idea of “godliness” or being “godly” is contrasted in Paul’s letter with other ways of living. For example, after writing about “the mystery from which true godliness springs” Paul writes about people who abandon the Christian faith and people who are hypocritical liars (1 Tim. 4:1-2). Paul contrasts the family who puts their “godliness” into practice with families who do not provide for needy members of their family (1 Tim. 5:8). In the final chapter Paul contrasts those who pursue “godliness” with those who pursue wealth (1 Tim. 6:5-10).
“Godliness” is Paul’s codeword for the spiritual life you’ve always wanted: a life of genuine piety; a life of authentic reverence; a life that is peaceful; a life that is content with simple pleasures; a life that is holy and pure; a life full of compassion; a life that escapes the materialism of our time.
And Paul believes such a life is possible. It is possible for those of us whose lives may not yet fully be described as “godly” to change and to become “godly.” Paul certainly believes it is possible for young Timothy to experience this “godliness.” Paul believes that we don’t have to live the unfulfilling life which those around Timothy were living-pursuing wealth, neglecting their families, appearing to be religious but not practicing true religion. Paul believes that “godliness” is possible.
And we need to hear that. Some of us look with regret at our lives because of our lack of godliness. We scream at our kids too often. We look at pornography. We get further into debt. But the good news is that godliness is possible.
And Paul shows how that change happens. Listen to the instructions he gives Timothy in 1 Tim. 4:7-8: “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” Paul doesn’t just cast a compelling vision for Timothy about godliness. He spells out exactly how Timothy can experience that godly life. Paul uses imagery from athletics. He writes that the path to godliness is the same path an athlete takes: training. Train yourself to be godly. The word “train” is the word from which we get “gymnasium.” Paul wants Timothy and us to picture an athlete who is training for a competition. The big game or the big race is godliness. That’s the goal. The goal is to play in the big game or run in the big race. The goal is godliness. But how do you get there? Training.
And in that one line Paul is sharing the secret to spiritual change. It stands in stark contrast to the path that some of us take. Paul writes here of training. Too often some of us take the path of trusting. John Ortberg writes that many of us take the path of trying-we think that if we just try hard enough we can be godly.[2] But I think even more of us take the path of trusting. We simply trust that we already have the strength or the fortitude to just wake up and be godly-we just need to believe it. Most of us grow up between the American Dream and the Disney Dream which both say that your dreams can come true, you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to, and you have tremendous power if you only believe. Thus, some of us tend to trust that we have the power within us to just wake up and be the calm and caring presence we want to be in our families, be the compassionate person we want to be to the hurting, be the pure person we want to be regarding sexual morality, and be the prayerful person we want to be when it comes to God. We tend to trust rather than train.
But athletes are just the opposite. When it comes to achieving a significant goal like playing in the big game or running in the big race, athletes don’t trust-they train. They don’t believe they already have the power within them to play the big game or run the big race. Instead, they realize they do not have what it takes to achieve the goal. So they go into training. Over a period of time, they slowly build up more and more strength. Through the training they gain what they need to play the big game or run the big race.
I can illustrate from my own life. One recent December I ran in the Saint Jude marathon. About seven weeks before the race, I decided to enter the half-marathon. It was a big step for me. I had never run more than 3.5 miles in my life. I exercise regularly and run about once a week. But I’d never run more than 3.5 miles. And here I was signing up to run 13.1 miles. 13.1 miles was the goal. And it was a very daunting goal. The goal was almost 4 times longer than I had ever run before. Sometimes while driving to work I would count how long 13.1 miles was and it was depressing. It was like running from my Bartlett home to the church building. Sometimes I thought I was crazy to sign up for the marathon. And sometimes looking at this goal of godliness we can feel the same way. We can feel like it’s out of reach. We can feel like we’ll never be able to achieve that kind of peaceful, compassionate, and pious life. But Paul believes it’s possible. But not through trusting.
For example, I could have merely trusted that I already had the power within in to complete a half marathon. In fact, that’s what one person I know did. Ty and Judy are acquaintances of mine. Judy told me that the week before the Saint Jude Marathon she and Ty were out running. On this particular run of only 3 miles Ty was having trouble keeping up with Judy. A couple of days after the run, just days before the marathon, Ty said to Judy: “Hey, we should go run that half-marathon this weekend. It would be fun. What do you think?” And do you know what Judy did? She laughed in his face. She told him he was crazy. Ty wanted to take the path of trusting. He wanted to trust that his strength was already sufficient to accomplish the goal. But Judy knew the truth. He could barely run 3 miles. If he tried to run that half-marathon the next weekend, he wouldn’t stand a chance. Paul believes you do not have the power within you right now to be the loving father or mother you want to be, the sensitive and caring spouse you want to be, the servant of the poor you want to be, the pure and holy man you want to be, the prayerful and grateful worshiper you want to be. It takes training, not just trusting.
Cindy and Jesse, both friends of mine, knew that trusting was not the right approach to the marathon. Both of them talked to me about training for the marathon. They pointed me to a website which spells out exactly how to train for a half-marathon. Following the training regimen, I ran 3-4 days per week. And each week, the runs would get a little longer. Each week one run especially increased, designed to get me closer and closer to the goal of 13.1 miles. The first week of training the “long run” was 5 miles. It was a challenge, but I had run 3.5 miles before, so I was able to accomplish 5. The next week the runs increased, and the long run was 7 miles. The next week the long run was 9. The next week the long run was 11. Each week the long run increased a few miles. But each week my muscles were getting stronger and my cardiovascular system was getting healthier.
Make no mistake-that training was hard work. Ask the church staff. Some days I would come hobbling into work because my knees or my muscles were stiff. The week when my long run was 7 miles, halfway through the run, I twisted my ankle and fell. I raked my knee on the pavement and it started bleeding. I tried running again but my ankle hurt too badly. So I limped 3.5 miles back home. Training itself is hard work.
But the training paid off. Week after week my physical muscles grew. By the end of the training period my longest run was 11 miles. If someone had told me weeks before that I could run 11 miles, I would have laughed. But there I was finishing 11. And so, on the day of the half-marathon, the training kicked in. I reached mile 11 and was able to keep going. I ran the whole way into the crowded Auto Zone Stadium and crossed the finish line-13.1 miles.
Paul applies this principle regarding physical growth to spiritual growth. He tells his apprentice Timothy-train yourself to be godly. Establish habits that will, over time, strengthen your spiritual muscles so that you will eventually achieve the goal of godliness. Don’t simply trust that you can go out and run the full race-have deep spiritual insight, be free from lust, serve each person you come into contact with, live an uncluttered life, and experience the peace and confidence of a life entrusted to God. Go into training. Establish practices that will develop those parts of you. Train yourself to be godly.
What does that look like? How do you train spiritually? In general, that training involves what are called the “spiritual disciplines.” Spiritual habits and practices like prayer, fasting, Scripture reading, meditation, confession and others are how we train ourselves to become godly.
Specifically, there are three kinds of spiritual disciplines: private inward disciplines, private outward disciplines, and corporate disciplines. Private inward disciplines are those we practice in private and which have an inward focus. They include mediation, prayer, fasting, study, solitude, silence, chastity, and contemplative prayer. Private outward disciplines are those we practice in private and which have an outward focus. They include simplicity, frugality, submission, service, sacrifice, secrecy. Finally, corporate disciplines are those we practice with other Christians. They include worship, guidance, celebration, fellowship, confession. By practicing these spiritual disciplines, we become stronger. And, over time, we become more godly.
I’d like to encourage you to consider adopting a training program associated with Lent and Easter. For centuries, Christians have used the period before Easter as a training time. That’s Lent. It is a season of intense spiritual training in order to prepare for the Easter celebration. For forty days (not include Sundays) Christians would engage in spiritual disciplines like fasting. The period began with what is called Ash Wednesday.[3] Of course, you can do spiritual training at any time of the year. But for centuries Lent has been a prime training time.
I’ve developed a 12 week spiritual training program which includes Lent and Easter. During 12 weeks you’ll have the opportunity to practice some private inward disciplines, private outward disciplines, and corporate disciplines. Some disciplines will be practiced daily. Some once a week. Some once a month. And some only once during the 12 weeks. The training program allows you to choose disciplines, but provides some guidance in the choosing. For example, during the first 4 weeks you choose private inward disciplines to practice. During the 2nd 4 weeks you add private outward disciplines. During the last 4 weeks you add corporate disciplines. The program begins on Ash Wednesday. You can find details under “Training” on this website.
In the movie “Rocky,” a lackluster amateur boxer named Rocky is given the chance to fight the heavyweight champion, Apollo Creed.[4] Almost immediately Rocky goes into training. He knows that if were to fight Creed today, he wouldn’t stand a chance. So Rocky launches into a grueling and all-consuming training regimen. He drinks raw eggs. He runs mile after mile after mile. He even boxes frozen meat in a meat processing plant. Meanwhile, Apollo Creed takes it easy. He trusts that he already has what he needs to face this chump. Creed is engrossed with promotional details. He flies his barber in, confirms ringside reservations, and sends the mayor’s wife 200 roses. And in the end, the one who trusted receives a beating he never imagined from the one who trained. The spiritual life is serious business. Train yourself to be godly.
[1] Chuck Colson, “Bottoms Up: Is Change Possible?” Breakpoint newsletter (12-15-06).
[2] John Ortberg, The Life You’ve Always Wanted (Zondervan).
[3] http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/lectionary/FAQ/faq_year.htm
[4] “Rocky” (Chartoff-Winkler Productions, 1976), rated PG, written by Sylvester Stallone, directed by John G. Avildsen.
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