Look, it’s LoDo time once again, and the question arises from the shadows: WHY? Why do you do this? Why make unnecessary restrictions? Why open the door for irritability or discussions we’d rather avoid? WHY?
First let’s just agree to this simple notion: we’re disciples.
More specifically, we’re still being made into disciples.
We’re in training.
A disciple is one who undergoes tutelage, in order to achieve a specific skill. There are taekwondo disciples, cooking disciples, long-distance running disciples, auto mechanic disciples, etc., etc.
We happen to be Yeshua disciples. That is to say, we’re learning the skill of JESUS… and our Master in this endeavor is… also Jesus.
Being a disciple of His is not easy work. This is one of my beefs with pop Christianity, which presents “following Jesus” as a lark that can be pursued with the same passion as “liking the color green” or “enjoying a sunny day”. Not so.
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?Run in such a way as to get the prize. 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. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 2No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
1 Corinthians 9:24-27
The passage above suggests that DEDICATION will be required of all would-be disciples. The passage above suggests that NOT EVERYBODY WHO STARTS will finish. (Chilling but true. I need to get my head around this fact… and commit myself to not being one of the dropouts.) The passage above suggests that WE will be required to CONSTRAIN OURSELVES to stay in fighting/running shape.
God ain’t gonna do it. An angel isn’t going to tell you to put down your fork, or make a protein shake, or get up at 5:30 so you can fit a run in before taking the kids to school. (I’m going with the athletic metaphor here… because it really works well. Nice one, Paul.) The Holy Spirit isn’t going to miraculously put you in bed on time or make sure you drink enough water. (Amazingly, He WILL serve as a Helper when WE set out to do these things.)
Your biggest opponent, your main opposition in getting to where you’re headed isn’t materialism, or carbs, or advertising…
It’s you.
Your ingrained self-interest, self-pity, self-reliance, and self-centeredness are the drag on your race. It’s ME who wants to watch (unimportant) NBA games instead of getting to bed, eat (unsatisfying) empty calories late at night, and read glossy magazines instead of the Bible in the morning. We need practice at opposing ourselves (what the Bible calls our flesh) if we’re going to turn into killers who can stop the aforementioned carbs, materialism, and advertising in their tracks.
In Luke 14, Jesus (our Sensei) was talking about being a disciple. This is one of my favorite Bible passages. He said that if you make a big brag (“Imma be a disciple everybody!”) then don’t pay the price and follow through, you’re a laughingstock. You didn’t finish the job, and you’re a joke.
We gotta finish the job. I’ve heard finishing something is actually the goal.
So we have to screw up our courage, gird up our loins, and resolve (yea, and DAILY) to pay the price of reaching our goal. On that note, go back to the 1 Cor 6 passage above. You probably won’t scroll up so here’s the parts I want to zero in on:
…we do it to get a crown that will last forever
… I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Paul was NOT some kind of masochist who wanted to harm himself randomly. Nor was he some kind of Mother Teresa (God bless her) who underwent pain or restriction for its own virtue. Nope, Paul was extremely focused on a very specific result. He thought of it in GLORIOUS TERMS:
AN ETERNAL CROWN.
A PRIZE.
Jesus initiated this kind of thinking, referring to the goal of discipleship as a PRICELESS PEARL and a HIDDEN TREASURE. Never is the goal referred to as anything but hidden, remote, and difficult to extract.
So let’s please forever put to bed the idea that we’re being restrictive (w/re: something like LoDo Feb) for its own sake. That being austere is objectively pious or noble or “has its own merits”. Not for me–nor for our Abrahamic heroes. Their merit is solely bound in getting us what we’re after (and, again, what we’re after is Christlikeness).
So why do LoDo Feb? Why spend less (when you have more)? Why give more (when your meagre charity might not change the world exactly, and besides YOU’VE got some pretty good intentions for that dough!)? Why eat food you’ve specifically avoided? (I mean, if it were your favorite food it wouldn’t be congealing in the back of the pantry or taking on that yuck taste in the bottom of your freezer.) Why say no to fun lattes and impulse buys at the checkout counter and all the pleasurable things you can do with money? Even for a month?
Because YOU, my friend, are in training. And the stakes, and the entry fee, are high.
Whoever does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
Jesus Himself, Luke 14:33
So buck up soldiers! This self-imposed restriction isn’t THAT painful. And it’s great training. And you can do it. You’re gonna kick materialism and selfishness in the chops this month, and it’s gonna feel great while you’re doing it.
You’re going for a prize worth MUCH MORE than whatever you’re giving up to get it, and your Sensi is cheering you on.
Let’s get it bros.
