Danny ChaiI always want an overarching theme or vision statement to guide my spiritual growth. The problem is, Christianity is too complex to fit a pithy statement like that, so I end up swinging from one theme to another. Nevertheless, it’s useful for me so I still do it. Currently, my spiritual life is guided by the following one principle: abide in Him. I really think that’s all it comes down to; everything else is just details.
In light of that, I’ve been trying to get more spiritual influence during the in-between times. Like, I’ve been doing the elliptical machine more (SN. The first time I ran it was completely disturbing – there’s a gauge that measures your heart rate; at a certain rate you’re in the fat burning zone, a little higher and your in the cardio zone, and anything above that is just over. I was in the over level on the lowest setting after just 5 minutes, and it did not descend. Egad, I’m out of shape.) so I decided to listen to sermon MP3s while doing it. Mostly Chuck Swindoll and John Piper since they’re free. Unfortunately, sermons aren’t good workout listening; I need something more so I’ve taken to reading US Weekly while listening to them. Kind of blasphemous, I know.
Anyway, I’ve found that I resonate with Chuck Swindoll’s preaching more than John Piper’s (random SN: both Greg Laurie and Chuck Swindoll are avid Harley-Davidson fans), mostly because it more closely matches my sermon listening philosophy. And that philosophy is, when listening to a sermon, any sermon, find just one thing on which you can change your behavior. Christianity isn’t about knowledge, it’s about action. In Romans 2, Paul criticizes Jews who take pride in knowing the law; he argues that it has no value because they don’t observe the law. Action is what matters; knowledge only matters insomuch as it effects action. Therefore, for me, the ultimate goal is not to understand better but to act better.
So my goal when listening to a sermon is to find just one thing on which I can change my behavior, even if that one thing is just worshiping or praying differently. No more than one thing because otherwise it’s more likely I won’t do anything. I’m all about sustainability. Every journey begins with single step; changing your life takes many little sustained steps along the way. So I try and find that one thing I can sustain that will push me along life change.
I’ve found that Swindoll makes it easier to do that. He’s not as heavy as John Piper, but he signposts his sermons well, is easier to listen to, and he makes that one thing really easy to hold on to. Like, he had one sermon on Eli and his sons (SN. I know the NT says that how a man runs his household is an important measure, but both Eli and Samuel’s kids were fairly screwed up, and they both led Israel, in Samuel’s case very well. So what does that say?) and his theme was “erosion”. Families and relationships don’t just suddenly go bad; they erode through time. He must have said erosion a hundred times during the sermon. But I’ll be darned if it didn’t stick, and now I’m more vigilant in watching for those little things that might erode my relationships with my family and other people. My life is changed.
Anyway, those are my spiritual philosophies at the moment: Abide In Him and Just One Thing. Who cares? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?