Developing a Rule of Life
Introduction:
“To follow Jesus means learning to arrange my life around those practices that will enable me to stay connected to him and live more and more like him.”- John Ortberg
Over the past year, your group has worked through core practices designed to help you be with Jesus, do the things that he did, and ultimately, become more like him.
Now that we have surveyed some of the baseline practices for following Jesus, we want to close by spending time reflecting on how we can “arrange our life” around these core practices to stay connected to Christ and to continue our transformation into his likeness. To help us do that, we will consider the ancient Christian concept of a “Rule of Life.”
A Rule of Life is an arranged set of practices and relational rhythms that help create space in our lives for the work of spiritual formation so that by the power of the Spirit, we might become more like Jesus. Simply put, a Rule of Life is an intentional plan for your spiritual formation and discipleship.
The concept of a rule of life emerged from the Christian monastic communities of the 3rd -5th centuries (i.e., The Rule of St. Benedict). These men and women were dissatisfied with the lukewarm spirituality of the Christian Roman empire and retreated into the desert to develop a life of greater devotion to God. These communities designed a set of common practices or structures for their life that helped them abide in Christ and grow in their capacity to represent Christ and his love to the world.
While the word “rule” may sound a little harsh, the Greek word we translate as “rule” was originally the word for a trellis in a vineyard. In the same way, a vine needs a trellis to lift it off the ground so it can flourish, we need a rule as a kind of scaffolding to organize our life around “abiding in the vine,” in the way Jesus imagined (John 15:1-8).
In our culture of lukewarm spirituality and hurry-sickness, a rule of life presents itself as a source of great wisdom. The reality is, all of us have a “rule of life,” whether we recognize it or not. We have certain morning and evening routines, certain days we go to church, certain people we regularly associate with, and certain events we put on our schedules. A “Rule of Life” is not about making “rules” for us to follow but arranging our lives around what we value most, which for Christians ought to be abiding in Christ so that we can love God, love our neighbor, and become more like Jesus in every aspect of our life.
What thoughts do you have about the idea of a “rule of life?” Have you ever thought about making an intentional plan for your discipleship? Why or why not?
What do you think of when hear Jesus’ teaching to “Abide in him?” Which of the practices that we have reviewed do you think would uniquely help you Abide in Christ?
This Week’s Practice
Step One: Pray for clarity and guidance from the Spirt as to what practices you should include. There are no “rules” for building a rule of life so be creative and trust God’s direction in the process. A good “baseline” set of practices are daily Scripture reading and prayer, and weekly gathering with the church.
Step Two: Review the disciplines that we have practiced together:
1.) Community (Meal with Others, Gathering with the Church, Encouragement, Hospitality)
2.) Scripture (Reading Aloud, Meditation, Memorization, Study)
3.) Prayer (Adoration, Intercession, Petition, Reflection and Listening (Examen))
4.) Fasting (Fasting and Prayer, Fasting and Justice)
5.) Rest (Silence and Solitude, Slowing, Digital Rest, Sabbath)
6.) Service (Hidden Service, Serving the Church, Serving with Others)
7.) Evangelism (Praying for the Lost, Eating and Drinking with the Lost, Sharing your Testimony)
Consider any additional habits that you might want to add to your rule. These can be habits like:
· Exercising daily
· Calling a family member once a week
· Sleeping 8 hours
· Going to the park with your kids
· Listening to a podcast or sermon, reading a book
Be creative in this process and think of things that you find life-giving and give you the capacity to love God and neighbor.
Step Three: Create a first draft of your “rule of life.”
Remember, start where you are and not where you think you should be. It is better to select a handful of practices and remain committed to them than to feel overwhelmed by a list of things you think you should be doing. If you are married, you may want to talk to your spouse about some of these things and have at least a few common practices in your rule of life.
Step Four: Test drive your rule of life. Give it a few weeks and assess how it impacts the various areas of your life. Are these practices helping me to abide in Christ or are they just a list of to-dos? Are you finding more joy? What’s working? What’s boring? What gives life and what drains it? A Rule of Life is always an active document that you can revise if necessary.
Step Five: Revise your Rule of Life and prayerfully commit to follow it for 3 months to a year. Commit this intentional plan to God and trust that the Spirit can use it for your formation into Christlikeness.
