BitterSweetLife

Yesterday at church someone made the comment that Paul, the great theologian, must have had self-discipline down to a science. My reaction was, That means that for Paul it was not a science at all.

If Paul mastered the spiritual disciplines—and his life makes a strong positive argument—then he would certainly have grasped their purpose: to know Christ and “be found in Him”—“to know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings…” (Philippians 3:10, The Bible)

Paul would have broken through to the fundamental reality “hidden” behind the disciplines; he would know they are far, far from clinical. They smell of sea breezes and mountains, not disinfectant. When Paul’s alarm clock went off, he heard the voice of Christ again.

The disciplines only seem “scientific” until we begin to exploit them as intended. Then we realize the beautifully subversive point of their existence. As C.S. Lewis wrote:

Discipline…exists for the sake of what seems its very opposite—for freedom, almost for extravagance. The pattern deep hidden in the dance, hidden so deep that shallow spectators cannot see it, alone gives beauty to the wild, free gestures that fill it…

Me, I can’t wait to make the disciplines a science. Like dribble drills are a science in hoops. Like vowels are a science in reading. Like pleasant compliments are a science in love…that is, I can’t wait to prove that spiritual disciplines are not a science at all.