The Terrible Inefficiency of a Devotional Life

Recently I sat down in front of my computer to 'revamp' my personal work and life schedule. My work-life balance was horribly off - I was working from home every night, skipping lunch and it seemed that there was a ministry event at church every other night. I was remembering Gordon MacDonald's nervous breakdown in the face of a hectic work schedule (Ordering Your Private World, MacDonald). So with my Excel spreadsheet glowing on my computer screen I filled in the little boxes that represented the various elements of my life.

Two weeks into my plan things seemed to be working well. I was going into work earlier, not bringing work home, and prioritizing my days. All was well, or so it seemed.

All was well until I realized that my devotional life was suffering. I still had a tiny box on the bottom of my Excel sheet, for 6:30am, relegated to 'Quiet Time'. But that 'slot' in my schedule was suffering.

I mentioned this to my good friend Jon and his remark was interesting. He pointed out that devotional time was one of the most inefficient things a person can do. In an effort to improve efficiency I pushed out, unknowingly, one of the most inefficient things I did - morning reading of Scripture and prayer.

Devotional time doesn't make me any more money. It doesn't make my boss happy, it doesn't help me leave work right at 5pm. It doesn't help my morning routine to prepare for work, or my evening routine with the family. It's simply me being still and listening...and reading and praying. And sometimes writing. It doesn't advance my agenda.

At the same time, paradoxically, it's extremely critical to everything I do - as it relates family, work, ministry and every other aspect of life. It influences all of life because it re-orients my heart and mind to God's priorities, whether those things are efficient or not. (Not to say that all of life shouldn't be 'devoted' to God and that continuous prayer shouldn't be indicative of our lives. However, I believe setting aside specific time is critical).

And when you think about, just about all of ministry is that way. It's not only inefficient but also a hassle. It's a hassle sometimes to initiate with my neighbors, take a co-worker out to lunch that needs to hear the gospel, spend extra time praying with my children, or serve weekly in the local church. But what in the world would I be doing if I wasn't doing those things?

Martin Luther said it best when asked how he could fulfill all his personal ministerial responsibilities and still have time to spend several hours a day in prayer and devotional time. He said, (paraphrase) "I'm too busy not to spend that time in prayer before the Lord." The pressure of a busy schedule should drive us to prayer and study and its inefficiencies will ultimately bear fruit that far surpasses the fruit of an 'efficient' life.

Justification

I've been mulling over the subject of Justification since I read NT Wright's book which bears the doctrine's name. Controversial as the book has been, I have found the debate/conversation between he and John Piper (and many others) to be somewhat blase. Although there are distinct differences in their perspectives on Justification (i.e. justification equated to 'covenant faithfulness' and Wright's view on 2Cor 5.21, among others), it seems unreasonable (dare I say melodramatic) to say that the doctrine of Justification itself is at stake in this debate. Be that as it may, the debate has me thinking about the subject.

Just this week the subject of Justification came up again while I was reading through Jaroslav Pelikan's third volume of his magnum opus, The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine, Vol 3: The Growth of Medieval Theology. One wouldn't expect to hear the word justification (at least I wouldn't) while reading about 7th century theology. However, Pelikan introduces the reader to a theologian of that time period, Julian of Toledo and his predecessor, Ildefonsus . Pelikan describes Julian's view of 'faith alone':

Occasionally this idea of 'grace alone' could even lead to the corollary of 'faith alone', as when Julian of Toledo declared that 'all effort of human argument must be postponed where faith alone is sufficient.' 'The righteousness of faith, by which we are justified' consisted in this, 'that we believe in him whom we do not see, and that, being cleansed by faith, we shall eventually see him in whom we now believe.' His predecessor on the episcopal throne of Toledo, Ildefonsus, spoke even more strongly when he prayed: 'God, who dost make the unclean clean and who by taking away sins dost justify the sinner without work.' Because this passage sounded so much like the teachings of the Protestant Reformers of the sixteenth century, it was expunged from some manuscripts of Ildefonsus' On the Virginity of Mary by 'readers who 'were more pious and learned'....who feared that by the misinterpretation of these words Ildefonsus could be accused of the heretical teaching that men could be saved by faith alone.' (p. 27, Pelikan) (all emphasis mine)

Julian and Ildefonsus sound a bit like Protestant Reformers...800 or so years before the Reformation. Protestant Reformers such as Calvin and Luther always stressed that they did not attempt to invent new ideas, but went back to ancient sources, Augustine in particular, to uncover the heart of Christian faith and to revitalize that which (they believe) had been lost in the church's corruption. It seems that they may have had more supporters than one might normally assume.

But Julian's work is not a surprise to many, who believe that Justification as a doctrine can be traced in church history pre-Reformation (see DH Williams, Evangelicals and Tradition, p.129). Evangelical scholars such as Timothy George and Thomas Oden are among those who concur.

However, despite such a strand (and there are other examples) it seems there will always, at least at this rate, be a difference between Protestant and Catholic. Traditionally Catholic (Roman Catholic) theology carries some of the same language of Protestantism, but never fails to emphasize the roles of human and divine cooperation:

1992 Justification has been merited for us by the Passion of Christ who offered himself on the cross as a living victim, holy and pleasing to God, and whose blood has become the instrument of atonement for the sins of all men. Justification is conferred in Baptism, the sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness of God, who makes us inwardly just by the power of his mercy. Its purpose is the glory of God and of Christ, and the gift of eternal life (Cathechism)

There's a lot packed in that statement which someone more qualified could exegete, but the key words and phrases are 'merited for us', 'faith' and 'sacrament'. But a few lines down the word 'cooperation' is introduced:

1993 Justification establishes cooperation between God's grace and man's freedom. On man's part it is expressed by the assent of faith to the Word of God, which invites him to conversion, and in the cooperation of charity with the prompting of the Holy Spirit who precedes and preserves his assent...

The concept of cooperation is what, I think, begins to drive apart Protestant and Catholic. In Roman Catholicism, the role of the Christian is to add to his or her salvation, through the sacraments and by God's grace, thus making justification an on-going reality, not a momentary, forensic declaration of innocence, imputing the righteousness of Christ to the individual. So despite the common strand of justification, found even in the middle ages, it seems there will always be a difference between Protestant and Catholic doctrine in this regard. The debate continues as to how critical these differences are.

So with this on my mind, I listened to several lectures by NT Wright that he gave at Wheaton College about a year ago. He was asked point blank: "How is a person saved?" I was looking forward to the answer, as his previous answers were long, detailed, sophisticated and articulate. But this answer was short: "Grace."

Well, I guess we can all agree on that.

Find Wright's lectures here: http://www.wheaton.edu/wetn/lectures-theology10.htm