The Christian
life is more than a profession of faith made once or a religious ritual
observed at regular intervals. To be a Christian is to know, learn from, and
follow Jesus Christ (1Cor. 11:1). It is to yield in obedience to Christ as Lord
(Luke 6:46; John 8:31). It is to struggle and strive for holiness in the midst
of unholy impulses and an unholy world (Heb. 12:14; 1Pet. 1:13-21).
The apostle Paul
described his own experience of the daily discipline of discipleship when he
said, “I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to
others I myself should be disqualified” (1Cor. 9:27). The Greek word translated
discipline in this verse is hupōpiazō. It literally means to strike under the eye, or in other
words, to buffet, beat, or subdue. We could quite literally say Paul described the daily
discipline of discipleship as punching himself in the face, though that
rendering would not express very well the spiritual sense being conveyed. Paul
is not saying that we become
more spiritual by abusing our physical bodies, but he is using a violent figure
of speech to make a very important point (cf. Mark 9:42-50). Discipleship is
tough. It is a fight with one’s self. It means war.
Paul is not
saying disciples go to war against other people. Our warfare is not physical;
our weapons are not of this world (2Cor. 10:3-5). Our warfare is primarily
internal, in our hearts and minds, as we struggle to bring our sinful desires in
subjection to the Lord. We cooperate with the Holy Spirit in this work, and
indeed, without the Spirit’s help we would never have any success (Rom. 8:13).
But cooperation is crucial. We have a part to play in the progress of our
sanctification (Php. 2:12-13). We do not work to be justified (Eph. 2:8-9), but
we can and must work to be practically sanctified so that our lives begin, by
grace, to reflect the spiritual reality Christ has already accomplished for us
(Rom. 6:1-23; Eph. 2:10).
Paul says he
disciplined his body to “keep it under control” (1Cor. 9:27). That last phrase
translates doulagōgeō, a word used in ancient literature to describe leading
away a conquered foe as a slave. In this case the enemy that Paul seeks to
conquer is himself, and his aim is to bring every part of his body, life, and mind
into captivity to Christ (2Cor. 10:5).
This is discipleship: the intentional tethering,
taming, and training of ourselves for the glory of God and service to Jesus Christ
(1Tim. 4:7-8). We continue to resist the new life God has placed within us,
falling back into sinful patterns of thinking and acting, behaving selfishly and
proudly, failing even to see the many ways in which we fall short. But God is
gracious, merciful, and patient, and he continues to work within us to expose
our shortcomings and to increase both our faithfulness and fruitfulness. Is
this what discipleship looks like in your life? -JME
