First and foremost, we must remember that God has called us to be and to make disciples of Christ not just converts or believers (Matt 28:19-20). Believers will believe as long as it is easy and fits their narrative, and converts will stay converted as long as it is convenient and not complicated. On the other hand, true disciples of Christ become new creations and are willing to die for their faith. It must be noted that disciples are MADE and not born!!!! That means it takes effort and work to become and to make a disciple.
Anything of value must be a discipline before it becomes a delight! A great example of this is physical exercise, i.e., working out. When you first start a physical routine, you are sore, you have to force yourself to do it, and it takes lots of work and effort on your part for it to become a reality. In time this discipline that started as hard work and effort becomes a delight and something very beneficial and valuable. At first, it is hard and arduous, but with continued discipline and time, it adds health and value, making it a delight. The same is true with Spiritual disciplines. When starting out, it has to be a discipline. Spiritual discipline takes purposeful and dedicated work and effort on our part. To be honest, it does not come naturally and must be something we work towards. But, with time and dedication, spiritual disciplines become a delight to our souls and add tremendous value to our lives. True disciples of Christ value true discipline because they understand that with that comes true spiritual maturity.
Recognizing the significance of being a disciple of Christ takes true spiritual discipline; then, balance in those disciplines becomes imperative! It is so easy to get out of balance! The three main elements of our faith, The Word, Prayer, and Worship, are not just required for us to grow and mature in our faith; they are essential to our faith itself. The Word, incorporates the reading of The Word, devotions, teaching/preaching, doctrine, and anything that has to do with getting The Word in us, thus Discovering God. Prayer incorporates petitions, meditation (listening for and to God as opposed to eastern meditation that empties the mind), waiting on and experiencing a move of God, i.e., a touch of the Spirit, along with Fasting to heighten those things, thus Experiencing God. Worship incorporates anything that exalts the Lord, thus honoring God. (We must remember, however, music, instruments and/or lyrics are not worship in and of themselves. They only become Worship when we use them to worship, praise, and honor God, exalting Him above all others.) Balance with these three elements of our faith is critical then, or we can become very unhealthy and even dangerous.
What happens when we get out of balance by prioritizing one element of our faith over the others? Before answering that question, we need to realize that we will be drawn naturally to one or more of these elements than the other or others. Let's use some examples to get clarification. Someone might be drawn more to music, which would allow Worship to be an easier discipline for them. Because of that, it would be more natural for them to focus all their attention on Worship and thus neglect the other two disciplines and elements of our faith. Likewise, there might be someone that is more drawn to learning, so The Word becomes of utmost importance to them. It would be easy for that person to give all their attention to The Word and neglect our faith's other disciplines and elements. Furthermore, there are those that are more drawn to experience, as they love to experience things. It would be more natural for those people to give all their time to Prayer and neglect the others. As you can see, it is easy to lean more toward one over the other. We must realize that it is NOT a sin or wrong to have an affinity more towards one over the other; actually, it is natural. We are all made different and will be drawn to different things. Yet, we must work and discipline ourselves to remain in balance.
So, what happens when we get out of balance?
So, what happens when we get out of balance? This is something that I have been praying about and meditating on for years, and I would like to share what I feel is a revelation from the Lord on this. I feel a simple chart on this would help to get a visual picture of the importance of balance.
The Word- Discovering God- Reading, devotions, teaching/preaching, doctrine, getting The Word in you. (Psalms 119:105)
- When it becomes "The most important" and the others are neglected, you quickly become legalistic, judgmental, and finger-pointing. This can easily turn into a feeling of inadequacy or a sense of being unworthy because with time, those fingers and critical attitudes get pointed back at you.
- When there is an insufficiency of The Word in your life, you remain shallow and immature. It causes a lack of faith, wondering, and spiritual drift. You can not know the true voice of God if you do not understand the God of The Word.
Prayer - Experiencing God- Petitions, meditation, waiting on and experiencing a move of God, i.e., a touch of the Spirit, along with Fasting to heighten those things. (Psalms 145:18)
- When it becomes "The most important," and the others are neglected, you quickly start to over-spiritualize everything. (i.e. A devil behind every doorknob, or everything has a spiritual meaning). This develops over time into a grandiose complex. (I have all the answers, or I am right, and everyone else is wrong.)
- When there is an insufficiency of Prayer in your life, you under-spiritualize things, stop hearing from God, stop seeing or experiencing God around you (move of the Spirit), which causes a lack of spiritual power and authority.
Worship - Honoring God- anything that exults the Lord above all others humbles us and causes us to become more aware of Him. (Psalms 100:1-5)
- When it becomes "The most important," and the others are neglected, these people get flaky. (Their heads are in the clouds) It becomes about the act of Worship instead of the true Worship of God. This breeds worship of the worship, and it then becomes about entertainment. Be careful as this can easily disguise itself as striving for excellence when it is just out of balance priorities. There is NOTHING wrong with excellence, but be certain that you are not neglecting our faith's other elements and disciplines.
- When there is an insufficiency of true Worship in your life, you soon become unaware of God and His goodness around you. This causes ungratefulness, lack of reverence, and you will eventually lose your fear of God altogether! A lack of true Worship is more than a slippery slope; it is a sure way to lose your awe of God.
You can see how easy it is to get out of balance and the detrimental effects that this would have on our walk with God. Additionally, this has unintended consequences for those around us as well. Balance in the elements and disciplines of our faith needs to be a significant priority in our walk with God. Why? It is more than just important or imperative; it is CRITICAL for our growth, maturity, and fulfillment in our walk with God.
Pastors, ministers, and church leaders, I implore you to share, teach, preach, or convey this message to the people you are entrusted with so they can "grow up" "become mature" and "attain the fullness of Christ" (Eph 4:7-16).
We are Better Together,
Pastor Josh Grimes, RED for OBE
