“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”
- Galatians 5:6 (NIV)

Our lives as Christians is wrapped up in our relationship with God. I know I’ve said it many times before, but it’s the essence of what we believe and what we do with our lives. Fundamentally, the history of mankind is based on these historical events: 1) God created man sinless 2) Man sinned and was therefore alienated from God 3) God gave man the law to show the perfect standard that man always fails to attain 4) God promises a redeemer who will set us free from sin 5) Jesus Christ is born 6) Jesus Christ preaches and disciples people, teaching the things of the kingdom of God 7) Jesus Christ is betrayed, placed on a mock trial, and crucified until dead 8) Jesus Christ rose from the dead and appeared to many people 9) Now if we place our trust in He who has risen from the dead, we too can attain this resurrection, in both spirit and in what happens after we die.

Paul emphasizes the need to live by faith, rather than the law. While this is something taught to most Christians, it’s difficult to picture this practically. The author of Hebrews, in chapter 11, provides ample examples of the “Giants of the faith,” and the things they did in their lives to live by faith. Many, if not all of them, did amazing things, but what’s most amazing about all of these people is that their backgrounds weren’t that much different than ours. All they did was trust God’s sovereignty and obey what He commanded.

It’s really easy (in my opinion) to get trapped into a legalistic Christian life. We get all caught up in the Spiritual Disciplines, and being accountable, and having structured Bible studies and activities. But when it comes to our daily life, the life that the non-Christians around us see, we don’t know how to act or what to do. Worse yet, our lives look like a whole bunch of do’s and don’ts, and filled with “churchy” activities. It’s unattractive to non-Christians, and there’s no reason why any Christian can hope to make an impact in people’s lives in this manner. I don’t want to trash Bible studies or “discipleship training” types of activities – they play a very important role in our growth and maturity. But, they shouldn’t be the essence of our relationship with God. Doing these things will not deepen our relationship with God; only spending time with Him will do that, and no amount of discipline can let us do that. Imagine if dating our girlfriend/boyfriend were simply an exercise in discipline. We’d have regularly scheduled meetings every day for a certain amount of time, where we’d talk about specific topics. Time spent enjoying each other’s company is highly regulated, because we’re all so busy and it’s so hard to do things together. And on the frequent days when we don’t feel like spending time with her/him, we still get together and do stuff, because we’re trying to build “discipline” in our lives. We hope that by sticking with this disciplined lifestyle, we’ll get to know our girlfriend/boyfriend, and like her/him more and more.

Doesn’t that seem ridiculous? That’s what happens when discipline takes the place of relationship with God. Don’t get me wrong, though. I wholeheartedly advocate the implementation of discipline in our lives. But, it shouldn’t be considered our gateway to the abundant Christian life. It is our walk by faith and the love from God that enables us to joyfully go about our lives.