Spiritual Hiccups - ADHD Christians and the Disciplines of Disciples

One of my personal tendencies is a fascination with the new and novel.  Although I was a teenager in the 1970s, I almost never listen to "classic rock" on the radio, preferring newer offerings.  That is rather trivial, but there is a more serious side to this.  I sometimes enjoy coming up with new ideas more than I like implementing them, doing the repetitive, disciplined work of putting a new idea into practice.

In this sense I am not so different from our culture in general.  We often latch onto the new idea that is going to fix things, but tire of it quickly.  If the new coach doesn't turn the team around immediately or the new elected official doesn't make things better in short order, we're ready to move on to new options.

The following verses are from today's reading in Revelation.  "Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to the faith of Jesus.  And I heard a voice from heaven saying, 'Write this: Blessed are the dead who from now on die in the Lord.' 'Yes,' says the Spirit, 'they will rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them.'"  

Revelation is often thought of as a book of coded predictions that need to be deciphered, but in reality it is a call for hope and perseverance in difficult times.  In admittedly difficult language, Revelation encouraged Christians who were struggling with rejection and persecution to hold fast to the faith, to persevere even when it earned them ridicule from their neighbors, made it difficult to participate fully in society, and could lead to arrest and possible death.

Most of our struggles as Christians are of a far different nature, but the idea that faithfulness requires perseverance and endurance could probably use some reclaiming.  Our relationship with God in Christ comes about through the gift of God's grace, but this grace invites us into a new life, one marked by disciplines, sometimes difficult ones.  We are called to follow Jesus, to take up the cross, to be willing to sacrifice self for the sake of the Kingdom, to value God's will over our own hopes, dreams, and plans.

The Christian life is a long haul exercise, more marathon than sprint.  It is the practice of certain disciplines, a lifelong work of becoming more and more the people God calls us to be.  It will have many moments of discovery and newness, but they will most often be found in faithfully persevering in those disciplines of prayer, worship, service, and self-giving. 

One of the realities of the culture we live in is that people are much less interested in church than they once were.  The reasons for this are many and varied.  Some of them are rooted in a culture that does not take a very long view of things, that has a very short attention span.  But some disinterest in church is because it doesn't seem a serious and significant enough thing to be interested in.  We have made it too easy, stripped it of Jesus' call to practice the disciplines - some of them difficult - that form us into his disciples. 

Click to learn more about the Daily Lectionary.