Unforced Rhythms

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Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. (Matthew 11:29 in The Message)

I taught a breakout session at my school’s Parent Conference last week about discipling our children. (Read that closely: not "disciplining". Discipling.) One of my primary points was that discipling is not teaching. We disciple not through words but through actions – through living life together.

When Jesus called his disciples, he didn’t say, “Come – have a seat. Listen to what I have to say.” He said, “Follow me.” When he told them to love each other, he didn’t give them a definition to write down and recite back to him later. He said, “Love each other the way I have loved you.”

We learn more by example than we learn by words – from our parents and from our Lord.

Walk with me . . . work with me . . . being a disciple of Jesus involves with-ness. It’s concerned with acting more than it is with knowing.

But those last words – the unforced rhythms of grace – they’ve been percolating in me for a while. It’s a beautiful phrase. And I suspect there is more meaning there than I can grasp at the moment.

Unforced . . . that’s so important. Nothing about the spiritual life is forced on us. God is not a dictator or a programmer. We are free to make any choices we want. (For some of you, that statement just made you squirm. Stay with me.)  

I know there are many people out there who are reluctant to buy into the Christianity thing because they think they would have to change their lives so much and stop doing things they want to do. And . . . well . . . yes and no.

What I’m coming to realize is, if we’re doing this right, we will want to make those changes. Maybe not at first – that’s the “yes” of my ambiguous answer. Yes, you may have to give up some things. But as you grow in relationship with God (which is what it’s all about) and grow more like him (which is an inevitable result of a close relationship), you start wanting the same things He wants.

So, no, none of this is forced on us. We choose it. Because we want it – eventually. If we’re focused on God and not on ourselves or anyone else, we get there, and none of it is forced.

And here’s the cool thing: as we grow more like him, we discover that living his way, following his example, becomes less awkward. Less clunky. More smooth. More rhythmic.

It becomes less about desperately looking for the rule to follow and making myself obey . . . and more about feeling God’s direction in my spirit and going with it. It’s less about trying not to make God mad at me and more about enjoying God’s embrace wherever I’m at. It’s less about deserving and more about receiving. Less about work and more about grace.

Unforced rhythms of grace . . . isn’t that lovely? The language AND the lifestyle it implies. My pastor’s regular benediction is adapted from William Sloane Coffin, and it ends with these words:

               So may God take your mind and think through it.

               May He take your lips and speak through them.

               And may He take your hearts and set them on fire.

 May it be so, Jesus . . . in the easy, graceful rhythm of your life in me.

Comments

  1. AnonymousAugust 19, 2024 at 10:03 AM

    Yes! The term discipleship has been misused so much that I prefer spiritual formation. As our DNA and our habits have formed us, we are also formed by by who or what we follow

    ReplyDelete

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