Daniel Rose: The Pastor Next Door

The Spiritual Practices of Engagement

Spiritual practice is about preparing us to . These practices include practices of abstinence and practices of engagement. We can align these ideas with Jesus telling his followers to deny themselves and take up their cross daily (Mark 8:34–38). The practices of abstinence are how we practice denying ourselves. The second kinds of practices are those of engagement, the taking up of our cross.

In the American church we have largely focused on the practices of engagement. Because these are more straightforward and more “normal” I’m going to summarize them in one post.

Study

The first practice of engagement is study. This encompasses the study of Scripture, theology, doctrine, and apologetics. As followers of Christ our most direct way of growing in our knowledge of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit is through study, specifically the Scriptures. The Scriptures are ancient texts. They come from a variety of authors, cultures, and times. This means that as we engage in study we need to identify the genre, historical setting, and cultural context for what we are studying. This can be done relatively easily with a quick Google search.

From there, we can focus our attention on five questions: 1. What do I think is important? 2. What do I not understand? 3. What do I learn about God (the Father, the Son, and the Spirit)? 4. What do I learn about people? 5. How do I need to respond?

If we simple worked our way through the Scriptures asking these five questions we would walk away with significant insight and hopefully life change.

Prayer

The second practice of engagement is prayer. By spending time in prayer we are engaging with God in a most personal way. As we pray we are able to do so in faith knowing that God the Spirit is even praying on our behalf.

How do we pray? That is a question that I get asked often. In my own practice I do a couple things. I tend to pray through what is known as the Lord’s prayer from Matthew 6:9–15. As I work my way through each verse my mind and heart tend to be directed to where they need to go. I will also often follow a pattern known as “A.C.T.S.” This is an acronym that stands for adoration (adoring God), confession (acknowledging my sin and embracing forgiveness), thanksgiving (thanking God for all that God has provided), and supplication (praying for myself and others).

Worship

Worship is where we turn our attention to God and offer praise. This an important aspect of our spiritual practice as it forces us to move from a self-centered position to that of God-centered. Worship can be private (see adoration above) and/or corporate.

Corporate worship is significant because we are explicitly commanded in Hebrews to not forsake meeting together. If you are a follower of Jesus you have a responsibility to connect in community on a regular basis. Typically this is centered around the Lord’s table and the preaching of the Scriptures. Sadly, the people of God have split over these two things. Protestants tend to emphasize preaching over the Supper and Catholics/Orthodox tend to emphasize the Supper over preaching. What we see in the Scriptures is a dual emphasis of Supper and preaching.

Celebration

Tied to worship is celebration. The Scriptures are full of feasts. The people of God have historically been a feast people. Celebrations are used to remember the works and story of God. In other words, a significant part of following and growing in Christ is learning to party!

Service

Too often we don’t think about how important service is to our spiritual lives. When we serve another we are practicing a self-sacrificial love. It is critically important. When was the last time you served? This should be an easy answer. Yet, too often in our American Christianity we have come to think that the church exists to serve us. This is why we have seen the proliferation of programs within the context of church. We are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices. This is the core of service.

Fellowship

Fellowship in the Christian faith is not simply getting together. There is an intent to meeting together for fellowship. The easiest way to think about this may be in the context of a small group of people meeting together to talk through their spiritual lives. Fellowship is an intentional meeting of people to press one another to a deeper place of spiritual growth.

Confession

Confession we touched on under prayer. This practice of engagement is where we engage with our own stories. Paul talks about taking off the old and putting on the new. This is the practice of confession. We actively take off the old sinful nature and put on our new nature as a follower of Christ. This act is ongoing and never ending. We are imperfect and this side of eternity we won’t ever be perfect. Therefore, we must recognize those imperfections and embrace the forgiveness and grace that is ours in Christ.

Submission

Finally, there is the practice of submission. This is where we submit to one another and to Christ. This is so very hard to do. It requires us set aside ourselves and come under someone else. We look to another and say, “I hear what you’re saying and I submit to you.” This is the critical practice that maintains unity in the body of Christ.

Conclusion

When we “take up” our “cross” it prepares us to handle life when it comes at us. These practices of engagement help us to build the spiritual, emotional, and relational muscle to enter the world as gospel bearers. When we face the darkness we will be able to bear the light and shine grace.

Originally published at [danielmrose.com](https://danielmrose.com) on February 5, 2020.

The disciplines and practices of abstinence are designed to help us grow in our ability to know contentment and trust. They press us toward self-sacrifice. These practices are what we use to “deny ourselves.” They are counter-cultural and difficult to practice because they go against everything that is within us.

Chastity has become synonymous with “virginity.” There has been a fascination within the evangelical subculture with remaining “chaste.” Yet, in reality it is something a bit different. The practice of chastity is the decision of someone to abstain from sexual pleasure for a period of time. These periods of time can and should happen even within the context of marriage. This is of course a decision made in conjunction with your spouse. It is never to be used as a punishment or as something to control your spouse. When we enter into this time of chastity it functions to help us be content in our relationship beyond the physical. We learn that intimacy is not simply rooted in sexual pleasure but in relational, emotional, and spiritual connection too.

Secrecy is the practice of denying ourselves public adulation. This is a particularly difficult practice in our world of social media. Most of us document every aspect of our lives. We post the stories and pictures of everything that we do. When we practice secrecy it makes us uncomfortable. We take such great pleasure in others knowing the good we have done. When we practice secrecy, we are forced to learn humility and the joy of altruism.

The final practice of abstinence that we need to highlight is that of sacrifice. This is, arguably, the most difficult practice for the American Christian. To practice sacrifice is to set aside our “rights.” For those of us who are American to defense of our rights is at the center of our national identity. To practice sacrifice is to cut to the heart of who we are. This is no small challenge. We have to ask ourselves if the practice of sacrifice is something that we are even willing to engage in. Sacrifice teaches us to abandon the posture of getting what we want, when we want it. When in combination with the practice of frugality it brings us to the place where we can give sacrificially. This does not mean putting yourself into debt or putting yourself in a position that doesn’t allow you to care for or provide for your family.

Originally published at [danielmrose.com](https://danielmrose.com) on January 31, 2020.

Amy and I were raising support to join the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru) and living in Mount Pleasant, MI. I had just graduated from Central Michigan University and we were excited about our future. But, we had to raise some serious cash. When you’re a missionary with Cru you have to develop all of the financial support to provide for yourself and your family. So, we decided to do what any good evangelical would, we committed to fasting for a time.

We secretly believed that God would see our fasting and he would move because we were fasting. Granted, we would never had said it that way. We would have said we were seeking to develop a dependence on God for our physical needs, or something. But, in reality we (or at least I) pretty much thought that fasting had some sort of power to move God.

During this time I was working at Wendy’s to provide for my young wife (she as working at a bank and was the real bread winner, but don’t tell 21 year old Dan that he was pretty proud). Surrounded by french fries, nuggets, and burgers made for a very difficult time of fasting. It’s OK, I decided that Frosty was a beverage.

I look back at those kids and smile. So much faith and hope. So little understanding and wisdom.

As we continue to consider the practices of abstinence there are two more that are related to one another: fasting and frugality. Remember, the practices of abstinence are rooted in our active choice to deny the self. Our culture is rooted in indulgence of the self. As we practice these disciplines we will be pushing against our culture and it will feel hard.

Fasting in its most basic form is the forgoing of food for a period of time. Just about every great religious tradition includes periods of fasting as a component of spiritual practice.

Before continuing I need to clearly state this: do not fast from food apart from the oversight of your physician.

When we fast from food we feel something physical in us. Our stomach growls, we may feel sluggish, and we become aware of our desire for food. Fasting from food opens our eyes to how frail we really are.

A food fast is not the only to practice fasting. I have found over the years that fasting from anything that dominates my mind or time has been very significant. For instance, I will regularly fast from social media. I have fasted from radio or music when driving. There have been times where fasting from little things like alcohol, sweets, or snacking has been helpful.

The important thing with fasting is identifying something in your life that you think has some form of control over you and actively choosing to forgo it. As we let it go, we then pursue additional time with God through prayer, meditation, reflection, or community.

Related to fasting is the practice of frugality. Frugality is where we actively choose to not spend money on anything beyond fundamental needs. This doesn’t mean that you should stop paying your mortgage. It means that you choose not to eat out, engage in paid entertainment, or you wait for a period to buy something that is not a need.

If fasting is a practice that helps us learn dependence, frugality helps us learn contentment. If you’re anything like me you’re always looking for the next cool thing. The next movie, the next device, the next…Frugality as a practice challenges this heart attitude. When we are practicing frugality we seek to embrace what God has already provided and choose contentment. The other frugality does is that it puts us in position to be generous. We can be generous with our time and our finances because we have chosen contentment for a season.

Have you ever practiced fasting or frugality? How has it played out in your life? What was it like? I’d love to hear your story!

Originally published at https://danielmrose.com on January 29, 2020.

When was the last time you denied yourself something? If you’re anything like me that’s a hard question to answer. I am not in the business of denying myself much of anything. I am able to figure out a reason to get just about anything that I want, when I want it. It doesn’t really matter what it is. How about you?

Some of you may be thinking about times when you didn’t have the resources to get something that you wanted. We’ve all been there, right? What I want you to think about is a time when you had the resources, the ability, and the time to get what you wanted in a particular moment but you decided to deny yourself.

That’s a much more difficult question for most of us.

Jesus said,

“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life? Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:34–38, NRSV)

This is one of my favorite passages in the whole Bible. When I think about spiritual disciplines this is the one that comes to mind. In particular the first verse: If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

That one verse hits on both avenues of spiritual practice abstinence and engagement. In my experience there has been a significant focus on the “take up your cross” aspect of this and a glossing over of “deny themselves.”

Why?

Because the “take up your cross” speaks so easily to the brokenness that we experience in our world and lives. Hard stuff happens all the time and so we christen “buck up” with “take up your cross.” I’m not sure that is really what Jesus was getting at, but that’s another post. “Deny yourself,” is not something that we want to talk about much. It doesn’t really bring in the crowds. Who wants to be the preacher talking about denying yourself? Our culture is one of immediate gratification. I have a feeling if there was an inner monologue translator on me one of the phrases that would come out loud and clear is, “gimme gimme gimme now!”

I mean who doesn’t readily identify with Varuca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?

Over the last few months as I have revisited the spiritual disciplines I’ve become deeply challenged by the practices of abstinence. These practices help us to practice self-denial. Not in the sense of denying reality, but in the sense of denying our wants and desires in the immediate moment.

As a result of our culture setting aside the value of self-denial, rooted in self-control, we have seen this impact the local church. Many churches are given over to the whims and wishes of the masses. They are constantly wrestling with how to make their programs and projects meet the felt needs of their crowd to grow the crowd. People whose demands and wishes are not met, head to the next building down the street until they find the place that will placate their wants and desires.

Dan White Jr says it well in this tweet: “In a consumer-oriented time it becomes utterly normal for people to demand the benefits of community without the inconvenience of commitment.”

This is the reality that we must within ourselves as we come face to face with the disciplines or practices of abstinence. We will naturally chafe at the suggestion of self-denial. After all, if it’s good to have in the future then it must be good to have right now.

Solitude is the practice of getting away and being alone. This may be one of the most subversive of all practices in our day and age. We are always connected and even when we are not in the presence of another human being, we are very rarely alone.

Jesus would regularly get lost in the wilderness. He would intentionally go get by himself and be alone. This was his practice. I’m an extrovert and the idea of solitude completely freaks me out. It is very uncomfortable. As I have intentionally tried to practice this some, I have found that being alone with my own thoughts is awful. I get bored and quickly avoid the solitude by napping.

Perhaps I’m just exhausted and need the rest. Unlikely.

I am convinced that sleep in solitude is a means of avoidance. I don’t have to face the solitude if I’m unconscious. When I’ve been able to really enter into the solitude and stay present in it, it has been some of the sweetest times of fellowship with God that I have experienced. I have discovered much about myself and entered into a depth of self-awareness that has helped to open my eyes to many of the ego driven issues that are always present.

Even as I write this, I realize that I have been neglecting this practice recently and I feel it. The self-centeredness that is ever present in me is right at the surface and is causing issues.

Hand in hand with solitude is the practice of silence. We live in a noisy world. Inundated with constant notifications from our phones and the ever present social media. Not to mention 24 hour news and sports and entertainment cycles, we can’t hardly escape the noise.

When I first began the practice of solitude, I would often be listening to music. This felt safe.

Adding silence to the mix, that was the game changer. To find silence demands me to be intentional. I have to find a place or space to be silent. Noise is everywhere. It’s so very difficult to find a silent space.

One way that I’ve begun engaging in silence is using noise-canceling ear buds at the gym. I will work out in silence. While it is not in conjunction with solitude it allows me to focus on the sound of my heart and breathing. Soon, my thoughts begin to echo and be loud. I have to actively suppress the inner dialogue to simply be silent.

When I engage in solitude and silence together, I am finding that walks outside are the best way to practice these.

I’d love to hear from you about how you practice solitude and silence. Or why you avoid them. Shoot me a comment wherever you read this (Facebook, Twitter, Medium, or connect with me on Telegram, https://t.me/danielmrose)

Originally published at https://danielmrose.com on January 28, 2020.