Sermon Notes: Stop Trying, Start Training

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Intro
It’s obvious that in trying to lift that heavy rock that I was lacking something. The right form, energizing music, and all the confidence I could muster up just wasn’t enough. What I lacked was the hours of dedicated training. Working my way up from lighter weights to heavier ones; training my body and exercising my muscles.

It’s quite the same when it comes to our discipleship. (If you aren’t familiar with that term, discipleship, it is the lifelong life encompassing process of being a devoted follower, student, and apprentice to Jesus Christ with the goal of being transformed into a person that is more like Him).

In learning to live like Him, we need to do more than just try our best, we need to learn to train. “Spiritual training” is a core aspect of true discipleship.

1 Timothy 4:7-8
“train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”

1 Corinthians 9:25
“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”

I. The difference between trying and training

a.The physical / spiritual analogy of training vs. trying

Wouldn’t it be ridiculous to expect an athlete to be to perform at a professional level if they had not entered into some professional level of training. Neither would we expect a musician to be able to perform a difficult piece of music if they had not put in the hours of practice before hand.

When it comes to our spiritual lives, it is really no different.

We do not naturally love and forgive and serve others above ourselves for example, therefore we need training in these areas so that we can actually become more like Jesus.

b. Will power alone is not enough to bring about the inner change we need

Simply trying our hardest to change will not get us very far. For example, say you were to “try” and be a humble person. Very quickly you will become proud of your so called “humility” which of course puts you back at square one. Or say you simply “try” to be patient, see how long it is until you find yourself getting frustrated with the slow driver in front of you.

c. Trying is focused on the external, training is focused on the internal

When we only try, we are focusing on the end goal and bypassing the necessary steps that would lead to that goal. It is like when I was trying to lift that rock without ever training to do so. It just won’t work. Training, on the other hand, focuses our efforts on the steps that lead to the natural outcome of the goal. Trying focuses on the external, but training focuses on the internal.

d. The easy yoke (Matthew 11:29-30)

I believe this is what Jesus was getting at when he said these words: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

His yoke is easy? His burden is light? Very often it seems to be the opposite. But, what Jesus is saying here is “come and learn how I do it, how I train myself, and how things like love and joy come naturally as a result.” That really is what makes his yoke “easy”. Trying to do something that we simply cannot do is the hard way. Training with Jesus, that really is the easy way.

II. Why training is necessary

a. Isn’t trying our best, good enough?

This is not a matter of being “good enough” or earning favor with God. There is nothing that we can do that will cause God to love us more than He already does. Training is not a matter of earning extra credit with God. It is about discipleship to Jesus and becoming more like Him.

b. What the Bible says about the importance of training?

The Apostle Paul uses the analogy of physical training to teach of the importance of spiritual training several times. For example, in 1 Corinthians 9:25 he says “Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.”

He also tells his young protege’ Timothy to “train in godliness” (1 Timothy 4:7).

The writer of Hebrews talks about those who have “trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (5:14). We also read in the same book about how though discipline may not seem pleasant at the time it produces a “harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it” (12:11).

We can also look at the agricultural analogies as a sort of training. We read Paul’s words to the Galatians, “the one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” (6:8-9)

And lastly we read in 2 Timothy 3:16 that the God-breathed scriptures are useful for not only “teaching, rebuking, and correcting” but also “training in righteousness”.

c. Understanding our role and God’s role

Now it is important to see this all in its proper perspective. The training that we do is not what causes us to be transformed. It plays a vital role, but ultimately it is only God’s power that transforms. It is like farming, we plant the seed and take care of it, but God causes it to grow and produce fruit. It is important that we understand this, otherwise we will slip into moralism and legalism.

We cannot change ourselves, the only thing that we can do is do what Romans 12:1 says and place our “bodies before God as living sacrifices”. That is what true spiritual training is all about, placing ourselves before God so that He can do a transforming work on our souls.

d. Growing in Grace

How many of you know that we are saved by grace? There is absolutely nothing that we can do on our own to earn the salvation that Jesus gives us. We often sing of this wonderful gift, “amazing grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.” But did you know that the Bible also tells us in 2 Peter 3:18 to GROW in GRACE?

What does that mean?

Many times we only think of grace in terms of the “saving grace” we sing about. But, really grace is more.

“Grace is God acting in our lives to bring about what we do not deserve and cannot accomplish on our own.” – Willard

We are not only saved by grace, but we also live by grace, and the Bible tells us to grow in grace. In other words, grow in the level of God’s acting in your life to bring about the change that you can’t bring about on your own! God’s grace is active!

It is this training that I am talking about that helps us to do just this, “grow in grace”.

III. What does the training entail / what is spiritual training?

a. “Spiritual Disciplines” / exercises

Traditionally, the activities that we do in this spiritual training have been called “spiritual disciplines”. We can think of them as spiritual exercises that we do before we go and try to lift a spiritual 385lb rock.

Again, these activities have no value in and of themselves, and they are not a way of trying to earn God’s love, they are simply practical things that we do that place us before God as living sacrifices so that He can transform us into the type of person He wants us to be.

For example, if it is humility that we desire, rather than simply trying to be a humble person (which will fail every time) a better way would be to practice the spiritual discipline of service to others cultivating the attitude of “consider others above yourself” (Philippians 2:3).

When we look at the life and work of Jesus, often we focus on His ministry – healing the sick, driving out demons, irritating the Pharisees with His love for the unlovely. But, what we often miss is the behind the scenes work that Jesus did, the spiritual exercising that He did when no one was around.

For example, Jesus regularly went off alone to practice solitude and prayer. When we think off that slogan from a few years back, “What Would Jesus Do?”, we ought to think of not only what He did in his public ministry, but what kind of soul training did He do that gave Him the power and strength to minister like He did (Luke 2:52).

Not only do we learn from Jesus, but we can also learn from those Christians down through the ages that wrote about their journeys of becoming more like Jesus. If we will read the classic writings of Christians from centuries ago, we’ll read first hand accounts of how God transforms lives when they are placed before him through simple exercises such as fasting, silence, service, solitude, celebration, prayer and worship.

b. Some examples

Really, there is no exhaustive list of spiritual disciplines, because virtually anything can become one. A spiritual discipline is simply any activity that you can do that will place you before God so that He can transform you from the inside out.

Many times, they are more simple activities than we think. For example, we can learn from an old Christian named Brother Lawrence and turn our dish washing into a spiritual discipline, an activity that we can do as service to others and as a service to the Lord, rather than just a dirty chore.

Some examples of traditional disciplines include:

And even within these disciplines, there are a variety of creative ways to practice them in your daily life. In fact, it is important that we make the spiritual disciplines a part of our practical daily life, recognizing our present season in life and our unique personality. This way we learn to view our spiritual lives, not as something separate from our “regular” lives, but as woven together with our everyday life.

c. Where to begin?

Just as with physical exercise, it can be hard to know where to begin.

First, we must make sure we understand that the only purpose of the spiritual disciplines, spiritual training, is to help us grow in grace and help us become more like Jesus. It is easy to slip into legalism and moralism and lose sight of the goal, so we have to keep that in check as we begin our life of training.

Second, we can to take a look at ourselves and identify what areas of our discipleship need attention (a good place to evaluate yourself is the list of the fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-26) Next, identify what barriers there are in your life that keep you from living the kind of life described in the Bible. Remember, throughout this we are not alone, we should ask God to reveal to us the areas of our lack and the things that distract our discipleship, He knows us best. His desire for us is to be transformed so when we ask Him to help us in this He will surely not leave us alone.

Third, discover what practices will help you overcome those barriers and will encourage growth in the particular area. There are several books that can help us in this regard (Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster, The Life You’ve Always Wanted by John Ortberg, The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard to name a few) We are also going to start a series on-line detailing different spiritual disciplines at faith-journey.com It can also be helpful to share with another believer your desire to grow in a certain area and to think creatively together of ways that you can train.

As an example, say that as I prayerfully review the fruits of the Spirit I sense that the Lord wants me to grow in the area of joy. I then look at my life and see if there are things that act as hindrances to the fruit of joy growing. Perhaps I notice that a tendency to complain. That is a barrier to joy. Now, I can think creatively of what practical things I can do that will sow seeds for the fruit of joy. The discipline of Celebration seems appropriate. Now, I resolve to practice celebration instead of complaining. I decide that each morning, regardless of how I feel, I will spend time joyfully thanking God for the day to come. I also decide that instead of complaining at every little thing, I will cultivate a thankful heart by quietly thanking God for the little things throughout my day – hot coffee in the morning, a job that provides for my needs, a car that runs, etc. If I train my self like this and not just momentarily, but consistently, I will begin to see the fruit of Joy naturally spring up in my life. Remember, “the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life…for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”

IV. Recap

There is a big difference between trying and training. When Jesus calls us into discipleship, He calls us into a life of training with Him. This training is the way that we present our selves as living sacrifices before God so that He can transform us from the inside out. This is the the way that God changes us. He wants our inside life, our character, to be transformed so that the life described in the Bible comes as a natural result. We are not called to just “try” but to “train” in the way of godliness and righteousness and when we do, we will begin to see our lives truly changed.

This training involves action on our part, that action is the spiritual disciplines. These are real life, practical exercises of the soul. They are the simple tools and means to growing in grace.

Jesus is calling us to come and learn from Him, to train with Him and to experience the transforming power of God. We are not finished products yet, as Paul said, we are being transformed into [His] image from one degree of glory to another. (1 Corinthians 3:18)

Thoughts, questions, comments? Please feel free to leave them in the comment section below

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