The Christian Life

In the page I am going to attempt to describe the day to day Christian life. Aspects are dealt with in other pages, such as ethics ("the Law") and the showing of love. The page on worship describes a key public element of the Christian life. The focus here will be on the personal aspects. It is clearly a hopeless task to give a complete treatment in a single page. There is simply more material than I can possibly do justice to. But I hope I can give you at least a taste of what is involved.

The Christian life involves a number of different aspects. Among the key ones are

• Fellowship with God
• Our relationships with others
• Obedience to God's commands
• Discipline

Many of these things are less visible and harder to talk about than other topics in these essays. However for most Christians they are most important. It is easy to talk about the Trinity, the appropriateness of baptizing infants, Catholic/Protestant differences about justification, and all the rest. The religion newsgroups are filled with such discussion. More conventional news is full of the political side, such as abortion and the rights of homosexuals.

But being a disciple of Jesus is primarily shown in less exciting and visible things, such as learning to live with others, the discipline of daily prayer life, fighting urges for anger, and maintaining sexual purity. These things are largely common to Christians from all traditions.

The Goal

Christianity is about personal relationships: with God and with others. When Jesus was asked to summarize his religion, he said that it was loving God and our neighbor. Everything else is a means to that end.

This page will discuss a number of specific techniques, including difficult practices such as repentance and self-discipline. I am concerned that the overall impact may be to make Christianity look like an unpleasant or dreary religion. It is not. The techniques I discuss here are means to an end. They are intended to promote growth, healing, and reconciliation. However the reason we discipline ourselves and all the rest is to improve the quality of our relationships with God and with other people.

This issue is dealt with clearly in the following passage from one of Paul's letters in the Bible:

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

One of the most important terms for Christians is "fellowship". This term covers our life together as Christians. This means first of all that we spend time together, in worship, educational activities, service to others, and just having fun. In addition to their primary goal, these activities help us get to know each other, and to develop into a community. The Bible refers to the Christian community using organic metaphors, such as a vine and a body. It talks about us sharing with each other and supporting each other.

When people think of Christianity they sometimes think of it as a set of prohibitions: "Why do Baptists not have sex standing up? Because it might lead to dancing." Fortunately, this is a joke. However sometimes Christians actually have gotten carried away with rules. Rules of behavior have turned into an end in themselves, rather than ways of protecting us so that we can develop better relationships. However good sense normally prevails in the end.

While rules should never be the focus of Christian life, they do exist. Many people find it hard to understand any kind of self-discipline and any kind of limits on behavior. But Christians do avoid some things in order to allow a deeper and more joyful kind of fellowship. The specific things they avoid will tend to vary over time, depending upon the circumstances. The joke above refers to the fact that at one time a number of Christian groups were opposed to dancing. At that time, the dances had become very sexually suggestive. Thus some Christians saw dancing as an occasion for men to see women as sex objects, rather than an opportunity to develop the sort of fellowship Christians want.

The Challenge of Sin

I believe that we would be involved in a process of growth and discovery even in a world without sin. However this is not such a world. Because of our inborn tendencies to sin, this process is also one of recovery from sin. As such it involves repentance (acknowledge of sin and turning away from it), healing, and reconciliation with both God and those around us. In Protestant theology this process is known as "sanctification", which means a growth in holiness.

The dangers of sin cause the whole process to be both more difficult and more dangerous than it otherwise would be. Because sin is deeply rooted, a growth in holiness involves a complete reorientation of our selves. Christian teaching and experience both see this process as like death and rebirth. In defeating sin, we are killing a part of ourselves, which the Bible calls the "old man".

This means that the process must be a disciplined one. I do not want to imply that it is unpleasant to be a Christian. There are many joys to be found. However like training to be an athlete (an analogy used in the New Testament, by the way), there is "no gain without pain". We have a regular job of looking at the messes we've made recently, and getting God's help to do something about them. This is a process that almost no one can maintain without discipline: regular scheduling, and some method of accountability.

Catholic tradition identifies seven particularly troublesome classes of sins (the "seven deadly sins"): They are pride, covetousness, lust, envy, gluttony, anger, and sloth. While no one is safe from any of these, those that pose the greatest challenge to the disciplined Christian life are almost certainly pride and sloth.

MAJOR COMPONENTS OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE

Prayer

Among the major components of the Christian life are prayer, repentance, discipline, study, service, and evangelism.

Jesus' life and teachings make it clear how important prayer is. In the Gospels, he is continually described as praying, particularly when things got difficult. Among the things Jesus said about prayer:

• It should be from the heart. God isn't impressed by long-winded or impressive prayers.
• Personal prayers should be in secret.
• Prayer is the necessary preparation for just about everything else.
• Your prayer won't be heard unless you've forgiven those who have wronged you.

Christianity is about personal relationships: with God as our father, with Jesus, with our family and friends, and even with enemies. Relationships are based on communication. Since prayer is the primary means of communicating with God, it is the basis for our relationship with him.

There are several kinds of prayer. One classification is by where they are done: public, family, and personal. All are important. In the page on worship I discuss prayers as part of worship. Jesus characterized the Jerusalem temple as a house of prayer. This shows the importance of prayer in worship. However Jesus also prayed with his disciples, and he often withdrew to a private place for personal prayer.

For Christians, the prototypical prayer is the Lord's prayer. Jesus taught this in response to a question from his disciples about how to pray. Here it is in the King James version:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

The last clause ("for thine is the kingdom...") is not present in the earliest manuscripts, and thus is omitted in more recent translations.

This prayer is used commonly both in public worship and in private prayer. It has the key elements of prayer, which are summarized by the acronym ACTS: adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. I have commented on these elements already in the page on worship.

People will sometimes ask why we need to pray, since God knows everything about us already. That might be true if the only purpose of prayer was to get God to do what we want. But it isn't. Sometimes what we want isn't quite right. In that case prayer may help us come to understand what God's will is. Sometimes we need guidance.

There is a difference between God simply doing something, and doing it in the context of prayer. Doing it when we have asked for it makes it part of our relationship with him. This is true even when dealing with other people. Often we can see something about a friend. But until they're willing to talk with us about it, anything we do is going to be somewhat impersonal, and not part of our relationship with them.

I believe it is for reasons like this that God often will not act until we've asked him for something. In fact prayer is a great privilege. It allows us to be part of God's work.

Of course prayer is not always a request for God to do something. Its most important effect is generally on us. Prayer is a way for God to lead us to understanding and to change.

Repentance

The term "repent" means "to turn around". It is our response when we realize that we have done something wrong, or when we recognize an attitude or approach that is not in line with what God would have.

Repentance is important because we are imperfect. One of the major goals for Christian life is to weaken the hold of sin on us, and to bring our lives into line with God's will for us. It would be wonderful to think that we make regular progress, without setbacks. But much of our growth occurs when we realize we've done something wrong, or that there is something that we need to change.

In repentance, we evaluate our lives in light of God's standards, and take the necessary action. In different Christian traditions, there are somewhat different ways of doing this. For Catholics, the sacrament of penance (or in more modern language: reconciliation) provides a structured environment where a priest helps us review our actions and motivations. For Protestants, repentance is often done in the context of private reflection and prayer, although many also use small groups or partners to help provide some structure.

Whatever method is used, we must do our best to bring to mind everything we have done wrong. This includes both things we did that we shouldn't have, and thing we should have done and didn't. As Jesus pointed out, these include not just physical actions, but attitudes. Seeing another person as a sex object can be just as harmful to us as actually having illicit sex.

These sins create problems both in our relationship with God and with anyone else who is involved. Thus we have to deal with both aspects. This means that we are expected to confess all of our sins to God, ask for his forgiveness, and also request his help in avoiding the same sin in the future. We will also need to ask for forgiveness from anyone we have harmed, and make whatever amends we can.

Avoiding the sin in the future is likely to require change. It may be changes in attitude, in approach, in behavior, or simply avoiding certain kinds of situations where we know we are likely to fall into old patterns of behavior.

Discipline

Christian life doesn't happen by accident. It requires planning and a consistent approach. Repentance is particularly difficult for most of us. We find it difficult to face our faults, and also to admit them to others. This means that if we don't take specific precautions, we're likely to "forget" to do it. These precautions are referred to as "discipline". In this section I'm speaking of self-discipline, not disciplinary action which a church may take against an offending member.

There are a number of different approaches to discipline. Most of them are based on regular scheduling. Christians generally set aside specific times each day for prayer and study, both individually and as a family. These times should include a serious review of our lives, so that we can recognize when we need to repent. They should include prayer. They should normally include some kind of study or opportunity for growth. For Protestants this normally means systematic Bible study, and often some other kind of devotional reading. There are a number of publications (including web pages) intended to provide daily devotional readings for this purpose.

Many Christian groups advocate practices aimed at something I'm going to call "accountability". The concern is that it is easy to become lax in carrying out the sort of pattern described above. Or we may not be sufficiently critical in our self-review. Thus it is often best to provide some objective control on the process.

The traditional Catholic approach to accountability is individual confession to a priest. By involving another person, we make it less likely that we'll slack off. Priests are also trained as spiritual counselors. Thus they may provide guidance in dealing with any problems, and in deciding how to carry out the necessary changes. Like any other method, this may work well or poorly, depending upon how it is done. It will work well if it is done regularly, with a well-trained priest, and if there is honesty on both sides. If it is done just a couple of times a year, and if the approach is superficial, it is probably not sufficient to create accountability.

Protestants typically do not use formal confession, for historical reasons that are beyond the scope of this page. However Protestant pastors are still available as counselors. Thus they may play some of the same role as a Catholic priest. I know of two major tools used by Protestants for accountability. One is a journal. The other is prayer groups and partnerships.

Spiritual journals seem to have been a specialty of the Puritans. However they are used by others as well. They can be a significant help in maintaining discipline and consistency.

The other major tool is prayer groups and partnerships. As with other tools, the key is meeting regularly, and sharing enough about your spiritual progress that each of you can gauge what is really going on, and help each other. This means that you will need to talk about your prayer life, your failures and successes, and generally what is happening in your life. It will require openness, honesty, and a willingness to probe enough to get the necessary detail. The term "accountability partner" is currently being used to describe this sort of relationship.

There is one other aspect to discipline: ascetic disciplines such as fasting. Most traditions have recommended voluntarily abstaining from certain kinds of pleasure. This is done because Christians recognize that the desire for ease or pleasure is one of the things that often leads to sin. Periodically refusing some particular pleasure can be useful as a technique to avoid falling into this kind of sin.

The most common ascetic discipline is fasting. Strictly speaking, fasting means abstaining from all food. However more commonly fasts are partial. They involve abstaining from meat, or eating less than usual. There are specific periods of the year when fasting is traditionally done. The most important is Lent, the period of time before Easter. Originally Advent, the period before Christmas, was also a period of fasting. Fridays have often been observed as partial fasts.

While fasting is the most common ascetic discipline, Christians may also abstain from other kinds of pleasure. In addition to the periods of fasting listed above, other fasts or types of abstinence may be used by individuals, communities, or nations. Often this is done as a way to help deal with a particular sin, either personal or communal.

Study

Study is a part of Christian life, because spiritual growth is one of the main goals. This study can take a number of forms.

For Protestants, the most visible study has always been Bible study. This includes both individual reading of the Bible, and group studies. Bible study is often done using some systematic plan, that guarantees coverage of the whole Biblical message. While there can certainly be academic study of the Bible, the sort of Bible study I'm talking about here is primarily devotional. An individual or group will take a passage from the Bible, look at its meaning in the original context, and then see how it might apply to them. This sort of devotional Bible study has been one of the major tools for growth and change. I've often heard it said that one of the best ways to get a church moving is to do a serious study of the Acts.

Of course other sorts of study are also possible. It's common for individuals and groups to study particular books, or to look at topical issues.

In addition to this sort of study, which is primarily devotional, it's worth mentioning Christian education and new member education.

"Christian education" refers to education done by churches about the Christian faith, Church history, ethics, and other topics which are important for Christians. In principle all Christians should be involved in Christian education. However it is most consistently done for children, particularly before "confirmation" or its equivalent. In the 20th Century, this education is commonly done on Sunday, in conjunction with the regular worship service. This is called "Sunday school". Of course where children attend schools run by the church, Christian education should be integrated into the normal curriculum.

There is a specific responsibility to educate new members. The term "catechesis" is used to refer to the education of new members. Similarly, the course of study for new members is often called a "catechism". In most churches, when an adult wishes to join the church, they are first asked to attend a set of classes covering basics of the Christian faith, as well as practical matters about how the particular church operates. The Roman Catholic Church has a particularly rigorous process of education for adult converts.

In most churches, children growing up in the church are at some point asked to make a commitment. Catholics regard this as the sacrament of "confirmation". This term is often used by Protestants, even when they don't regard it as a sacrament. For Baptist churches, baptism plays a similar role. In preparation for making this commitment, children are normally involved in special education. In many traditions this is referred to as "confirmation class".

Service

The discussion so far has focused inward, on actions that are primarily concerned with the spiritual life of an individual or group. However Christians are also committed to serving others. Jesus indicated that the primary way of judging someone's spiritual state was by looking at what they did.

This section is somewhat abbreviated, because Christian service is dealt with in two other pages, on the Law and showing love.

Those sections deal primarily with individual ethics and behavior. It's worth noting here that the Christian life includes everything that a Christian does. There are certain aspects of life that are specifically Christians, such as worship and prayer. However the Christian life also includes the way you do your job, and the way you treat your friends and family.

The term "vocation" is used to refer to your "job". This term has become watered down by overuse. Now that secular schools have "vocational guidance", people have come to think of the term vocation as meaning simply the work you do for a living.

However originally it was a theological term. Vocation comes from the Latin word meaning "call". Christians believe that God has a plan for each of us. This includes our daily work. Thus that work is seen as a calling from God. At least in Protestant theory, all honest work is an opportunity to serve God and our fellows. Being a humble laborer is just as much a vocation as being a pastor.

God knows what is best for us. Indeed most Christians believe that he has a specific intention for our lives. This means that when we have significant decisions to make, Christians will try to find God's will. Two of the most important places where we try to find God's will are in choice of husband or wife, and choice of vocation (except in cultures where they are chosen by parents). Christians will pray carefully about decisions of this kind. They will also consult with those who know them well (e.g. parents, friends, and pastor).

Evangelism

Jesus commanded his disciples to spread his message to the entire world. This is referred to as "evangelism". Christians practice evangelism in many different ways, ranging from "friendship evangelism" to sending missionaries to other countries. Evangelism is commonly combined with service. For example, missionaries often run medical facilities and teach.

People sometimes believe that Christians practice evangelism because they think all non-Christians are damned. That is not always the case. Many Christians believe that non-Christians will have an opportunity to be saved. There are effective missionaries who believe this. We do evangelism for the same reason that we sponsor famine relief and projects to help prevent hunger: we do it because we care about other people. Christians believe that being Christian makes a difference, both to individuals and to cultures or nations.

In order to be effective in evangelism, Christians need to have our own house in order. The most effective kinds of local evangelism are based on individual Christians providing attractive examples, and churches being welcoming and friendly. There are certainly groups that go around from door to door or preach in public. However Christianity normally spreads to friends and family. This kind of evangelism is based on Christians having lives that show God's love, and on finding ways to talk about what we believe in without being obnoxious.

Foreign missions has taken on a somewhat different style in the 20th Century. Missionaries sometimes thought of themselves as bringing the light to savages. The result could be a somewhat one-sided effort, which taught and preached, but didn't learn. It sometimes tried to turn other people into Americans or Europeans. In fact this stereotype was always a bit of an exaggeration. Missionaries always made an attempt to learn about the culture they were working in, and often acted as advocates for that culture. However 20th Century practice does its best to avoid any sort of one-sided "cultural imperialism". The goal is normally to establish a self-supporting indigenous Christian community, and to help them develop patterns of Christian life appropriate for their situation. Where local churches have developed, missionary activity, as well as humanitarian aid, is done cooperatively with them. One of the interesting results is that some former mission fields are now sending missionaries to the United States and Europe.

There is currently an effort to establish self-sustaining indigenous Christian churches in every cultural group by 2000. I don't expect to see complete success, but there is good progress.

Many of the remaining groups are in areas where evangelism is dangerous. People sometimes think that only the ancient Romans killed Christians. In fact the 20th Century has had more martyrs (people who died for their faith) than any other century. Estimates are that there are about 150,000 Christians being killed each year for their faith. This is a hard estimate to make, because sometimes deaths are part of conflicts that are partly religious and partly ethnic or tribal. However there are a number of areas where being or becoming Christian is dangerous.

The most consistent problems seem to be in Moslem cultures and in Communist or former Communist areas. Many Moslems regard conversion to another religion as an offense worthy of death. In some countries, the laws reflect this. Where people are actually killed, it is often the actions of extremists, without government involvement. But not always. In Communist China, the government insists on churches registering. Many Christian groups are unwilling to register, because it will result in State control. There are reports of varying levels of persecution for those that do not register. In a few former Communist areas, there appear to be attempts to establish the Orthodox church, with a resulting interference with Protestants.