By Pat Russell
This past Sunday morning Larry and I had to pick up my car before the Sunday service. It was parked over in Castle Rock, and as I driving away I faced my usual question, “Should I stop for a hot drink from a well known coffee shop?” My inner conversation usually goes something like this: “It would be great to have one for the long journey. But should you spend the money? Do you HAVE to have it, Pat? No, but I have established a habit in getting one. Is this a spiritual issue for you? Maybe, but I don’t like to think of it that way…”
You know what I did? Yes, I drove right over to that shop and purchased a chai tea. I drank it slowly all the way over to church rationalizing my guilty feelings the whole way! So, you can imagine that when I sat down in the second service and Pastor Bruce began his sermon on “self-control” I was prepared to listen.
My struggle with purchasing a chai may not sound like a major issue in my life, but it IS a reflection of my challenge to live into self-control. I am so used to getting what I want when I want it – it’s a habit of life that we rather affluent Americans have developed quite consistently. I did not grow up that way. In fact, it was just the opposite. Since adulthood, parental control is no more, and I find that I must attend to my own habits of self-control. Part of that attention is dealing with feelings of guilt that I can produce rather abundantly. When is my guilt life-giving and when is it death-giving to my life in Christ?
On Sunday I found the sixth and seventh points of the development of self-control to be most helpful. Point 6: “Give the Holy Spirit regular access to your life by taking time to be in God’s Word and in conversation with Jesus Christ.” This is the principle of “indirection” at work. Richard Foster, in his book Streams of Living Water explains it like this: “Rather than tackle the issues of virtue and vice head-on, we undertake activities of body, mind, and spirit that in time will build spiritual resources with us to act appropriately when the situation demands it.”
That means that I need to look at the role of eating, as a whole in my life. I don’t wait till I am standing in front of the store to address the issue of self-control in ordering chai drinks. I spend some time thinking about the presence of the Holy Spirit within ME (point 5). Maybe I will meditate on some scripture about the role food plays in our lives. Maybe I will pray about how I eat during the day when I am home, not on the road. Maybe I will even engage in fasting (starting out small) to develop in me self-control in eating and drinking…maybe.
Point #7: “Discover the freedom of letting your new Christ-like nature express itself fully in your thoughts and feelings, your attitudes and actions, and in all your relationships.” Richard has two more thoughts on developing a new practice of self-control within our lives that I think tie right in with Pastor Bruce’s final point: 1. “Invite others to share the journey with us.” That is why I am telling you my story. When we tell our story, and receive kind listening, it encourages us along. 2. “When we stumble and fall, we get up and start again.” He advises us not to spend too much time “lamenting our failures and shortcomings.” Sounds like life-giving thinking. That sounds like freedom to me – an integrated life of psychological health, as Pastor Bruce stated.
A chai tea is not the biggest challenge to self-control that I will ever face, but it is a good place to start. It’s surprising how “small challenges” can be bigger than we thought and how they can help us develop perseverance –oh, that’s the next sermon.
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