Dallas Willard is an author who laments the lack of a Christlike witness amongst Christians. In the preface of his book, The Spirit of the Disciplines, he writes the following.

“Faith today is treated as something that only should make us different, not that actually does or can make us different…..
Today, we think of Christ’s power entering our lives in various ways—through the sense of forgiveness and love for God or through the awareness of truth, through special experiences or the infusion of the Spirit, through the presence of Christ in the inner life or through the power of ritual and liturgy or the preaching of the Word, through the communion of the saints or through a heightened consciousness of the depths and mystery of life. All of these are doubtlessly real and of some good effect. However, neither individually nor collectively do any of these ways reliably produce large numbers of people who really are like Christ and his closest followers throughout history. That is statistically verifiable fact.”

This is a provocative statement as the ways we think of Christ’s power entering our lives that Willard lists are pretty much what different types of churches are trying to promote and have people experience. It may be that these ways would produce large groups of people who are like Christ if we spent more of our time pursuing and experiencing them. But when groups have withdrawn from the world in order to do just that, the fruit has not necessarily been a more Christlike witness amongst them.

A bit later in his book Willard claims, “Full participation in the life of God’s Kingdom and in the vivid companionship of Christ comes to us only through appropriate exercise in the disciplines for life in the spirit.”

I recommend Willard’s 10 page article Spiritual Disciplines, Spiritual Formation, and the Restoration of the Soul for those who want to explore his ideas in a shorter format than his book. In the introduction to this article he writes, “Many serious and thoughtful Christians are looking for ways into an intelligent and powerful Christlikeness that can inform their entire existence and not just produce special religious moments.”  Willard offers Spiritual disciplines as what they are looking for. He defines a discipline as an “activity within our power—something we can do—which brings us to a point where we can do what we at present cannot do by direct effort. Discipline is in fact a natural part of the structure of the human soul, and almost nothing of any significance in education, culture, or other attainments is achieved without it.”

So for Willard, Christlikeness is dependent on the gracious work of the Spirit, “but grace does not mean that sufficient strength and insight will be automatically “infused” into our being in the moment of need. Abundant evidence for this claim is available precisely in the experience of any Christian. We only have to look at the facts. An [athlete] who expects to excel in the game without adequate exercise of his body is no more ridiculous than the Christian who hopes to be able to act in the manner of Christ when put to the test without the appropriate exercise in godly living.” “Together the disciplines, well known among Christians through the ages, can fill out a reasonable and time tested plan for our part in “working out our salvation in awe of God who is at work within us to will and to accomplish the good he intends” for and with us (Phil. 2:12-13).”

I think that a practice of spiritual disciplines at work is necessary for the integration of faith and work. Willard observes, “Our good ideas and intentions are practically helpless in the face of what our body in the social context is poised to do automatically.” So, all the correct theology and desire to serve God in our work does not produce fruitful work lives because we so easily fall back into familiar patterns that leave God out of the endeavor. Everyone needs to develop their own system of spiritual disciplines at work that serve to remind themselves to bring God into their day.

In responding to a question about his own practice of spiritual disciplines, Willard responds, “the main objective, and I will come back to what I do, is to keep the Lord at my right hand or, to use another biblical image, always before me. So my objective is to go through my day with God….. I will make it my practice to be thankful and to ask God to be with me as I go through the day….I return to the conscious invocation of God periodically as I go through the day. I try to keep that alive.”

When I am working with people one on one, we focus on determining what spiritual disciplines, that they can practice at their work, will serve to connect them to the Lord in their work lives. I am beginning to think this is the most important thing that we do and consistent practice of those disciplines is the most important thing that they can do.

I would love to connect with you about these posts if they have stirred any thoughts or questions. Take a minute, shoot me an email at bo@leavenedlives.org, and let’s see where that takes us.