The Spiritual Discipline of Guidance

I'm back at the Corporate Disciplines, and Guidance is the discipline of this month. As a Christian who has grown up in Western culture (more specifically American culture), this discipline is more difficult for me to grasp.

In The Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard Foster, he does take the time to explain that while God does give individual guidance, He also calls for His followers to yield to corporate guidance. God leads His Body, not just individual parts.

How does God lead people? Through the Bible, reason, circumstances, angels, visions, dreams, signs, and also, through His Body. God guides individuals, but He also guides groups of people. We as individuals can learn a lot from the Christian group.

In the Early Church's history, believers met in Jesus' name to discern His will. They believed that when they were in unity, in line with the Scriptures, they were in line with God as well.

What does Corporate Guidance entail?
Fasting.
Prayer.
Worship.
Seeking God's will together.

How do we practice this Spiritual Discipline of Corporate Guidance?

We learn from those who have gone before us on this journey.

We learn from those contemporaries who are further along the road than we are.

We remember that while God does speak to individuals through signs, dreams, visions, His Word, and so on, He also speaks to individuals through His other servants (our fellow believers). When we are at a loss as to our next step, we can confer with trusted believers for guidance.

Some churches hold "meetings for clearness" where people gather to seek God's answer to an individual's question.

One church in the US has time in their services for people to share where they feel God is leading them. This is called "sounding the call." People can gather to talk with the person and "test the call." As they prayer and discuss together, some ideas are shelved and others are determined to be of God. People in the group who resonate with the call can join the "company of the committed" to help carry out this plan.

We can bring our personal matters to our church family (local branch of the wider Christian community) for discernment and prayer.

Foster goes even further and opens the door for (church) business meetings to be held as a kind of worship service seeking God's will. Yes there are facts to be gathered, presented, and discussed, but everyone will also be listening for Christ's guidance in each matter.

As an American and a Westerner, I am used to majority rule. Yet, this discipline challenges us to arrive at a point of unity as we listen for the voice of God.

Over the history of Christianity, people have sought the counsel of spiritual directors, or mentors if you prefer. A believer in this role helps guide a fellow believer along God's path. The spiritual director is normally further along in their walk with the Lord, which helps them have the experience and practice of listening for God's voice.

Foster classifies preaching and small group meetings as a form of spiritual direction. We also use the Bible as we prayerfully read it to be transformed into Christ's likeness.

There are dangers to Corporate Guidance.

Leaders can use it to "keep people in line" and avoid change. We should remember to be gracious and tender towards each other as we seek to discuss and discern the will of God.

The opposite danger also exists. The company of believers can dig in their heels and resist Spirit-induced change & activities as brought to them by their leaders. Foster goes on to say that we don't need to bring every little decision to the group for discussion; it is possible to take Western democratic ideals too far out of context to be useful. At the end of the day, we all should be seeking God's guidance & leading.

Another danger is to deviate from Scripture under the guise of "God's leadership." God is a God of order, not chaos. If our "word from the Lord" contradicts His written Word, then we must be off-track in some way.

As fallible humans, we will at times be held captive by our fears, prejudices, and own will. This can prevent us from reaching unity as a group. And sometimes, we are led to go off and do different things. If we are certain that we are being called to a place or a ministry, we must go, even if our friend is being called to a different place or ministry.

Above all, be gracious and pray for each other as we seek God's will.

The Spiritual Discipline of Fasting

This year, I've studied a Corporate Spiritual Discipline (Worship) and an Outward Spiritual Discipline (Simplicity), so now it's time for focus on an Inward Spiritual Discipline (Fasting). One might argue that it's a cop-out to choose to study the Spiritual Discipline of Fasting during Lent, or one could argue that it is effective to learn about Fasting during a time when one typically fasts. I opted to be in the latter camp, so Fasting was chosen for the month of March.

In The Celebration of Discipline: The Path to Spiritual Growth by Richard Foster, a biblical history & perspective of fasting is explained:
One could fast from all food (solid & liquid), but not water.
One could follow a partial fast which restricts part, but not all of the diet.
One could do a absolute fast from all foods and water, to seek God in a catastrophic situation, but this fast must be limited to THREE days. (or you will die due to dehydration)

Fasting often is a decision between a person and God, but there is a history of corporate/public fasts, both for religious reason or emergency situations.

Fasting is tied closely with prayer, but we haven't gotten to that discipline yet. Give it another 1-9 months for us to reach that topic.

In some church traditions, it is expected for pastors and/or church members to fast twice a week.

Regular fasting (i.e. fasting that occurs each week) can be a powerful experience, but it is wise to remember that our personal convictions are not Biblical commands. In other words, just because the Spirit convicts you to fast, doesn't mean that another person is more or less spiritual than you because they do or do not fast as well.

Foster describes what he calls "watchings" as something related to fasting, without being identical to the Spiritual Discipline of Fasting. Watching involves abstaining from sleep so that one can spend that time in prayer or other types of spiritual duties. Foster warns of the danger of taking a small part of Scripture and elevating it to a critical duty. Just because a few people in the Bible "watched and prayed" does not mean that every Christian needs to do this to "prove" their salvation.

As a person involved in an English as a Second Language (ESL) program, semantics (the study of the meaning of words & sentences) is important. Foster thought that the semantics of Jesus' teaching on fasting was crucial. Jesus said "when you fast" when He was teaching on this topic. "When you fast" and "If you fast" and "You must fast" all have different meanings even though only one word changes. But He was clear than when we fast, it should be in secret, so belay that social media post!

Fasting must be focused and centered on God. There are benefits to fasting, both spiritual and psychical, but if we seek the benefits more than we seek God, we are missing the point.

As we focus on God when we fast, we begin to see and learn what things have control over us. We receive the reminder through fasting that we are dependent on God for everything. Foster goes on to say that to fast is to feast on the Word of God. Fasting can help bring our life into balance as we are better able to seek first God's Kingdom and put things in their proper place.

This chapter ends with instructions on how to begin to practice the Spiritual Discipline of Fasting.

Foster recommends that we start with a partial fast for 24 hours (lunchtime to lunchtime), so that only dinner & breakfast will be influenced by the partial fast.

Then we can progress to a normal fast (still drinking water in reasonable quantities) for 24 hours.

Then we can progress to a 36 hour fast, impacting 3 meals. If God convicts you to try a longer fast, Foster recommends keeping it at 3-7 days, but no longer than 21-40 days at maximum. Longer fasts should be gently prepared for (no stuffing before hand) and gently broken (slowly add foods back in).

Now that we know more about fasting, may we make the time to intentionally seek God through prayer & fasting.