Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald Whitney
The only road to Christian maturity and godliness… passes through the practice of the Spiritual Disciplines. - Donald S. Whitney
Introduction
This book is about spiritual disciplines. Before any other thoughts on the book, we must establish what spiritual disciplines really are. According to Donald Whitney, they are “practices found in Scripture [the Bible] that promote spiritual growth among believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ.” Basically, spiritual disciplines are things Christians do to grow in their spiritual life. Just like an athlete might exercise daily, so the Christian might read the Bible daily, pray, or perform many other practices.
What the Disciplines are For
Whitney stresses that the spiritual disciplines are not what unlocks heaven for the believer. In his view, only Jesus’ work can ever allow us to come near to God, and only God choosing us lets us receive this gift. The belief that only God can start the process of salvation and sanctification (meaning we have no ability to choose Him without Him allowing us), part of Reformed theology, runs through the book as an undercurrent. I have not studied enough to say whether this is completely true or not, but I know that it is only because we are saved by Jesus that the spiritual disciplines are of any benefit. In fact, they themselves do not provide us with anything. Whitney explains it like a path you walk down by faith, where you will encounter God. If you persevere in the disciplines that God has revealed in Scripture, you will become more like Christ because you will see God’s glory and encounter Him.
It is only when we know Him that we actually want to read the Bible, and indeed only then does reading it do anything for us, because only then do we have the Spirit to guide us. In fact, only when we know Him does God even listen to our prayers (John 9:31). So it is imperative to not think of the disciplines as something that saves, or helps someone’s standing before the Lord. For those who trust in Jesus Christ the Son, Jesus gives them His righteousness, and therefore they have a perfect standing before God the Father. When the Father looks at them, He sees Jesus. This means the disciplines do not improve someone’s standing before God, because they are already in perfect standing with Him. There is no way to improve it.
If the disciplines do not improve someone’s standing before God, what good are they? They do not affect our unity with God, but they do impact our communion. This graphic from the book Enjoying God by Tim Chester explains it well:
Union with God is only from God, and it is not affected by how the believer lives. Communion with God, however, is the lived experience of unity with God. This is affected by our actions, circumstances, and emotions.
Whitney actually goes further than this. This idea of communion with God, “enjoying God” as Tim Chester put it, is not quite enough motivation. Sometimes the disciplines are actually hard and unpleasant. It is not always easy or enjoyable to read the Bible. The disciplines, in Whitney’s eyes, are to grow the believer in holiness and Godliness. They are to change them, and to make them more like Jesus. This is not an easy or fun process. While they involve joy often, they are not always enjoyable. It is important to understand what the disciplines are for to avoid being discouraged or surprised by the lack of joy that is often experienced doing them.
About the Book
Throughout the book, each chapter takes the form of a short definition of a certain spiritual discipline, a list of reasons why this is important, and finally a section at the end challenging the reader to apply this discipline. It is clearly meant for those who know Jesus and are accustomed to church terms. The content is not very technical, and Whitney often uses analogies and stories to illustrate his point. This is not a paper or technical study.
Whitney himself is a professor at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. I live near another Baptist Seminary and know many professors there. I can tell you that they are extremely smart people. Spiritual disciplines are Whitney’s focus of study, with his other books being about subjects like spiritual disciplines in the church, questions to diagnose your spiritual life, and praying the Bible. He has studied this his whole life, and is probably one of the leading experts in the world when it comes to Christian spiritual disciplines. He breathes in air, and breathes out spiritual disciplines. This book is a summary of all this knowledge and expertise.
Whitney focuses on 10 spiritual disciplines: bible intake (which includes listening to preaching, reading, study, memorization, and meditation), prayer, worship, evangelism, serving, stewardship (focusing on time and money), fasting, silence and solitude, journaling, and learning. In the evangelical world today, these topics range from well-known and understood (prayer) to almost forgotten (fasting) or taken for granted (Bible intake). I personally found the later chapters to be the most challenging and new to me. The chapter about stewarding time was the most challenging to me, as I have fiercely struggled with that recently.
Application
The hardest part of the book for me was applying the content. In the midst of a busy life, reading irregularly, I struggled to remember to do the things the book recommended. It would be better to read this more slowly, focusing on applying each practice to daily life. I did not have this kind of time, and because of this my experience with the book was made worse. It would also be great to study this in a group setting, trying to hold one another accountable. Whitney actually wrote a group guide, as well. In my experience, young people struggle to apply these disciplines in a busy, distracted life. I would higly recommend this for young people wanting to grow in their spiritual disciplines. But read it more slowly than I did!
Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life by Donald S. Whitney is a great book written by an expert that encourages the reader to become more like Jesus by performing the spiritual disciplines. The spiritual disciplines are deeply rooted in and foundational to living as a Christian, and Whitney has done well to encourage us in them. You can buy the book here (not an affiliate link).