Rule of Life
The Desert Fathers lived their life according to a “Rule of Life”, that is not to say rules for life. In the seasons of my life that were marked by anarchy towards any rules, “RULES for life” was the only way I could hear “Rule of Life”. Rules for life doesn’t really capture the heart or the intent of the early Desert Fathers. Rule of Life over the years has been embraced by God’s people, particularly those living within monastic communities. Rule of Life as I’ve come to know it was popularized by Saint Benedict, in his development of “The Rule of Saint Benedict” in 516 AD. That’s a lot of years lived with this idea of a Rule of Life! A Rule of life isn’t rules for life but a way of living life.
In chapter 15 of John’s Gospel, John records Jesus speaking of Abiding in the Vine. For many a Rule of Life provides the framework or the trellis for abiding in Christ. A way to prioritize their life with God through regular rhythms, disciplines, and practice. The trellis is a helpful analogy for me, but I also appreciate this nautical-themed analogy as well. For me, the Rule of Life represents the rope that keeps me grounded and connected to Christ my anchor. If life is an expansive ocean filled with lots of ups and downs, seasons of storms, and seasons of calm, Christ keeps me where I need to be. A Rule of Life keeps me connected and anchored in Christ. It keeps me present to where I am and keeps me from drifting or wandering too far away from the here and now!
Honestly, I struggled to fit the Spiritual Disciplines that I knew were good for me into the busyness of my everyday life. Years of my life were spent in frustration, fighting very hard to fit good things for my soul like scripture reading, prayer, silence & solitude into my hectic and hurried schedule. As I became familiar with a “Rule of Life” way of engaging with Jesus, it presented a language and a category for reorienting my life around the way of Jesus and the practices of Jesus. I discovered that If I desired to live the life of Jesus (peace, love, joy, hope, etc.) I would have to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus. Dallas Willard, says that “Hurry is the great enemy of spiritual life.” I can certainly attest to that! Despite my best efforts to try to cultivate a spiritual life amidst a busy schedule, I often failed and felt a lot of shame associated with those failures. Perhaps you’ve experienced this struggle of desiring to do good things in cultivating a life with God and being afraid of experiencing another failure and feeling more shame. It’s a brutal cycle, for sure!
I vividly remember a change in my life and on my spiritual journey with Jesus when I made a choice to stop trying to fit these practices of Jesus into my life but reoriented my life around them and decided to begin fitting my life into these practices. I developed my first Rule of Life. No longer would I fit my time with Jesus into my busy schedule, I’d begin forcing my schedule into the rhythms established to commune with Jesus. I desired to cultivate a transformed and transforming presence. I desired to cultivate a deep communion with Jesus. As those desires grew stronger than my desire to find significance and validation through my performance and the busyness of my schedule, I made a change. A change that I’d like to invite you to make. What would it look like for you to reorient your entire life around the practices of Jesus? What would it look like to put rigid times on your calendar to connect and commune with God and plan the rest of your life around those times? For me developing a Rule of Life was the pathway toward a rich and remarkable life with God.
Now, before I hype this up too much and you walk away from this blog thinking this is going to miraculously change your life after a week let me caution you. Day to day the practice of Spiritual Disciplines has little to no effect if I’m honest. I rarely walk away from a prayer time or time in Scripture miraculously changed or emotionally affected. Hope is not lost, as I’ve lived according to my Rule of Life for almost four years. I can see a multitude of ways that I’m a radically different person. Those of you who know me can probably attest to many of those ways. The day-to-day commitment to being with God is changing me, it’s transforming me, and is transforming the people around me. It’s changing the way I lead. It’s changing the culture of my family within our home. It’s changing the culture of the Church I get to have a part in leading.
A Rule of Life is a means to an end. The end is not more rules to follow and better performance, the end is communion with Jesus and for me, A Rule of Life has been a welcomed tool towards that end, a Life with God. As the waves of grief come and go, my Rule of Life keeps me connected to Jesus. As the steady winds blow across the calm waters of life, my Rule of Life keeps me connected to Jesus. As the storms of life rage, my Rule of LIfe keeps me connected to Jesus. It’s been the rope that keeps me anchored and grounded in Christ, and I believe it can be the same for you!
Developing a Rule of Life
Fight the temptation to start big and do all of the things, I know, that is so hard, but fight it. Start small, identify an area where you’d like to see some consistency and growth. Perhaps that is in the reading of Scripture, practicing Sabbath, being with God in prayer, or any number of other things associated with a spiritual life with God. Consider a practice from the life of Jesus that you’d like to see become a part of your life. Set a time or some times to practice these disciplines, put it on the calendar and make it official! Show up to those times each and every day and practice the desired discipline during those times. It’s that simple. Simple, but not easy.
To show up each day you’ll need to develop some resilience. Even after practicing my Rule of Life for nearly four years there are still many days where showing up is a struggle, but by God’s grace empowered by the Spirit of God I show up. I may not always be thankful I did at the moment, because of the things I may have been missing out on by doing so, I am thankful as I reflect upon my life and where I am at on my journey with Jesus.
Perhaps, you are feeling an invitation to begin developing and living according to a Rule of Life as a means of connection with Jesus. What can you do?
Identify and implement discipline practices that bring a balance of both comfort and challenge.
Upstream Disciplines are disciplines that challenge areas of weakness and needed growth
Downstream Disciplines are disciplines that honor areas of strength and experienced growth.
Consider identifying and implementing disciplines in these categories of life as a first step towards developing a “Rule of Life” (Consider upstream and downstream disciplines as you do):
Spiritual Health
What is an upstream discipline you could practice to cultivate spiritual vitality?
What is a downstream discipline you could practice to cultivate spiritual vitality?
Physical Health
What is an upstream discipline you could practice to cultivate physical health?
What is a downstream discipline you could practice to cultivate physical health?
Emotional Health
What is an upstream discipline you could practice to cultivate emotional health?
What is a downstream discipline you could practice to cultivate emotional health?
Relational Health
What is an upstream discipline you could practice to cultivate relational health?
What is a downstream discipline you could practice to cultivate relational health?
Choose one area and practice the disciplines you’ve committed to. As you gain some confidence and find some “success” in doing so, consider another area of life where you’d like to see some growth and form some disciplines to help you do so. I’m not naive to the reality that for many this way of thinking and engaging their faith is a brand new concept. This is easily one of my favorite things to talk about, so reach out and let’s connect. Additionally, Chapter 8 of Pete Scazzero’s book, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality is a great resource about developing a Rule of Life. This is something we cover in the Emotionally Healthy Spirituality cohort hosted at Missio Dei Church each spring and fall (insert shameless plug). John Mark Comer also has great resources on developing a Rule of Life. Here is a TEACHING of his on the topic, as well as a GUIDEBOOK for developing a Rule of Life. My only caution with Comer’s content is that it’s very thorough, Scazzero offers a smaller approach that I think can be very helpful!
Thank you for reading, and my prayers are with you and for you, as you consider a Rule of Life as a pathway toward deep communion with Jesus. I’m a big fan if you couldn’t tell!
Submitted by: Matthew Korte