To Do or To Die?

So much of what I have heard over the years and often continue to hear from church pulpits is what I can do to become a better Christian, or how to grow in Christ, which on face value sounds good and which is also what I want to hear.  I want to know what I can do to become more like Jesus, closer to God, a better Christian who doesn't sin so much.  I want to become spiritually mature.  And sermons on self discipline, self improvement, with tools to make this happen, in the past, have made me satisfied, to a certain extent.  Knowing that all I need to do is meet with other believers, read my bible, pray and spend time with God getting to know him seems fairly straight forward.  Practising the disciplines that Jesus and his disciples lived would surely help me in becoming more righteous, and pleasing to God.  At the very least it would help me feel less guilty knowing I was doing something to contribute to becoming a godly Christian.

The danger with self improvement and becoming disciplined in the processes is that we become fixated on just that - SELF improvement and doing the things that we think will make us become more mature or more spiritual (as if that can actually be measured!).  We genuinely strive to do the best we can, and our desire is to become more like Christ.  Yet we fail miserably and we know it.  Still we confess our sin and continue on the journey of self improvement "with God's help".  It's a struggle, and we become burdened, disenchanted, discouraged and disappointed in ourselves and God.  This is because we have got this whole thing flipped inside out, upside down and totally backwards!

Wanting to become more like Christ, more spiritually mature and practising spiritual disciplines is not in itself wrong. However, believing that the right behaviours help us improve, become more spiritually mature and would move us toward God, sets us on a path where the focus of the Christian faith is about the growth of the Christian and not about the work of Christ. Instead of the Bible speaking about the beauty of God and the story of Jesus it becomes just a book of history, poetry, a narrative, rules to follow and an instruction manual for life.   Even worse, Jesus becomes our great example instead of our righteousness and redeemer.

"Martin Luther said, “Remove Christ from the Scriptures and there is nothing left.” The emphasis of the Bible, in other words, is on the work of the Redeemer, not on the work of the redeemed. As important as how we live is, the spotlight of Scripture is on Christ, not the Christian. “The Bible is not fundamentally about us. It’s fundamentally about Jesus.” (Tim Keller)"  

TULLIAN TCHIVIDJIAN |8:12 AM CT What Does It Mean To Be Biblically Balanced?  http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tullian/2012/05/28/what-does-it-mean-to-be-biblically-balanced-2/

We forget that our sinful nature cannot be reformed or retrained or improved.  It has to be and can only be put to death, killed, crucified.  We forget that Jesus has already done this and that HE is our righteousness and that when we fix our eyes on him, he is all we need.  We cannot do anything to get closer to God. It is He who comes to us. It is He who makes us righteous.  It is He who makes the change within our heart.  Hebrews 12 says Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith!  When we stop fixing our eyes on him, and start focusing on ourselves and what we must do, we don't grow or become more mature, we actually begin to shrink.

Tullian Tchividjian states in his interview on What is Christian Growth?, "When we stop fixating on our need to improve, that is what the Bible means about improvement.

When we stop obsessing over our need to get better, that IS what the Bible means about getting better." http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tullian/2012/05/24/what-is-christian-growth/ 

So does this mean that we don't do those things that we call 'spiritual disciplines' and 'good works'?  Of course not! We do them not because we can become like Christ, but because of who we are in Christ.  Spiritual disciplines remind us of what Christ has done, what is real, who we are, who has us. We don't need to fear rejection or disapproval because Jesus has taken care of everything and there is no condemnation for those in Christ.  We can live our lives not in fear of the law but in the freedom of the gospel.