August 6, 2001

For fitness of spirit, develop discipline
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___WACO--Believers can "grow weary in doing good" if they do not maintain the disciplines required for spiritual fitness, conference leaders told a group of Texas Baptist wom

KARLA WORLEY, author and musician from Franklin, Tenn., visits with Rosemary Wade, wife of BGCT Executive Director Charles Wade, and Lavon Link of First Baptist Church in Arlington.

en.
___Author and musician Karla Worley and university professor Deirdre LaNoue led sessions on spiritual disciplines at Texas Leadership Conference, held July 26-28 at Baylor University. The annual training event for missions leaders is sponsored by Woman's Missionary Union of Texas.
___Believers who are saved by grace need to learn to "live by grace," Worley told the women.
___"The problem is that we give ourselves away in pieces, not in the whole. We feel fragmented," she said.
___That sense of fragmentation is a consequence of sin's entry into the world, not a part of God's original plan for creation, she added.
___Worship, obedience, abiding in Christ and following Christ are the keys to moving beyond the weariness that comes from well-doing, Worley said. "We disobey when we do for God rather than allowing God to do through us."
___Christians can conquer anxiety by recognizing that God is all-wise, all-powerful and all-loving, she added. "Back up, take time, and get to know the God who loves you."
___Just as physical fitness requires exercise and nutrition, spiritual fitness also requires certain disciplines, said LaNoue, former history professor at Dallas Baptist University and recently named professor of spiritual formation at Mount St. Joseph's College in Cincinnati.
___"The world will wear us out--sometimes the church will wear us out, unintentionally--if we don't have a fitness plan to keep us connected" to Christ, LaNoue said.
___A spiritually fit leader knows to whom she belongs, follows Jesus' definition of greatness rather than the world's ideas and learns to "abide in the vine" as Jesus taught in the 15th chapter of the Gospel of John, she said.
___"We cannot be effective leaders and we cannot be spiritually fit leaders unless we are grounded in this truth--you are beloved by God," LaNoue said.
___LaNoue pointed to five elements of "abiding" in Christ:
___ Prayer. Constant communication with God requires the disciplines of solitude, silence and slowing down long enough to listen, she said. "We must listen to the voice of the One who calls us beloved. Otherwise, we will get sidetracked."
___ Scripture. LaNoue said most Baptist churches do well at involving members in regular, systematic Bible study. But the challenge, she said, is to "study God's word with integrity, to not just pick and choose those things we agree with or want to hear."
___ Spiritual reading. She encouraged Baptist women to read with discernment classic Christian literature. "There is refreshment in reading the writing of other believers. We can learn so much from the saints who have gone before us."
___ Accountability. LaNoue encouraged Baptist women to seek out what Quakers call "weighty friends," mature believers with depth and wisdom who will hold them accountable.
___ Rest. Jesus set the example by taking time away from the crowds. Leaders should resist the notion that they "don't have permission to rest" because they are not accomplishing anything during hours at rest, she said. "Rest really can be a holy thing."

___

Send this story to a friend


Get printer-friendly version of this story

News of religion, faith, missions, Bible study and Christian ministry among Texas Baptist churches, in the BGCT, the Southern Baptist Convention ( SBC ) and around the world.

---

Contents/ Masthead / Why We're Here / Links / Archive / E-mail us/ SUBSCRIBE!/ Signup for FirstLook