The Pursuit of Godliness

…train yourself in godliness…1 Timothy 4:7

      Years ago there was a very well-received Christian novel called In His Steps.  In the book a pastor leads his congregation in a vow not to do anything without first asking themselves, “What would Jesus do in this situation?”  Of course, the church is significantly impacted and makes a significant impact on their community by behaving as Jesus would.

      The intent is great…but there is a massive flaw in this thinking.  The book is entirely focused upon trying to do what Jesus would do in response to specific circumstances.  In the book, there’s no suggestion that the people ever did anything but make right specific choices from moment to moment.  There is no suggestion that the power to choose rightly was rooted in a kind of overall life of devotion and connection to the Heavenly Father.  The idea conveyed is a fatal one – that to follow Jesus simply means to try to behave as He would “on the spot,” under pressure or temptation.  There is no realization that the ability to so choose is in actuality the overflow of a life of walking in relationship with The Father, Son, and Spirit when we are not on the spot. 

      Asking ourselves “What would Jesus do?” when suddenly in the face of an important situation is not an adequate discipline of preparation to enable one to live as the characters in this book lived.  It will no doubt do some good, but is not sufficient to see us boldly and confidently through the changing circumstances of life or sustain for the long haul.  We can easily find ourselves driven to despair over the powerless tension it will put us through. 

      Certainly Christ-likeness is the goal.  That part of In His Steps is good.  And the results portrayed are magnificent!  Please understand, it is a classic and great book well worth reading and emulating…with one major shift in thinking:  We must realize that the way we become Christ-like is not just through good intentions.  It comes through spiritual training.  We are calling our emphasis upward training, i.e. training in godliness.  This is God’s intent for us; that we train for godliness (1 Timothy 4:7) like an athlete or soldier trains, or like a farmer cultivates (2 Timothy 2:3-7).  Jesus said to seek first God’s Kingdom and righteousness (Matthew 6:33), and we are told to seek and set our minds on things above, not on things on the earth (Colossians 3:1-2).  Hence, upward training! 

      As author Ken Boa writes,

If we wish to be like our Master, we must imitate His practice; if we believe He knew how to live, we must seek the grace to live like Him. To ask the question, “What would Jesus do?” without practicing the habits we already know He practiced is to attempt to run a marathon without prior training.

Boa further writes:

What is evident to us on the physical plane is often obscure to us on the spiritual level. It is clearly absurd to think that we could excel at any sport such as golf or tennis without investing the needed time, training, and practice. But when it comes to living the Christian life, we somehow suppose that we are doing well if we attend church and crack open a Bible once or twice a week.

And one more:

It is easy to deceive ourselves into thinking that without the active and painful formation of godly character, we will still have the capacity to make the right choices whenever we really need to. But if we have not been exercising and training and practicing behind the scenes, we will not have the skill (wisdom) to perform well when it counts.

     This is why we are doing Upward Training.  This is not just a message series, not just a curriculum to study.  It is an emphasis designed to help each of us develop a spiritual training plan for our lives.  In this way we can be ready to live Christ-like lives in the midst of real life, where the rubber meets the road.  Join us as we train for godliness.

Personal Reflection or Discussion Questions

Have you ever tried to do “what Jesus would do” and failed or found yourself unprepared? If so, what would have helped you follow through?

Have you ever become skilled at something without training or being intentional? 

What is the parallel between acquiring a new skill (such as tennis or piano) and spiritual growth? 

Read I Timothy chapter 2. In what ways is spiritual training similar to being:

A soldier? A farmer? An athlete?

Which one of these to you relate to the most?

Prayer: Reflecting specifically on this devotional, write out a prayer to God.