A Disciplined Faith
Just how does a person come really to know the living, risen Christ? How do any of us learn to live in his presence and hear his Word? And just how do pastors stay rooted in their identity in Jesus Christ, so that they do not fall prey to the many other identities that they are tempted to assume? How can pastors stay rooted in their identity in Jesus Christ, so that they will faithfully serve as the church's long bony finger and point to him, not to their own agenda or somebody else's?
In recent years, pastors have become more aware again of the need to practice their faith. We are learning again that we need to exercise ourselves regularly in our identity in Jesus Christ. Disciplines of faith are not a kind of works righteousness. They do not guarantee us a place in heaven. Rather, we believe that the Holy Spirit uses these disciplines as a means of shaping us more fully into the image of the living, risen Jesus. These disciplines are a means of discipleship—of guarding the identity that is already ours in baptism and through Jesus' death and resurrection. God's gift of new life is a precious gift for which we must care in faithful, disciplined ways.
Disciplines of faith will not always be easy. They will take effort. They will make demands. Because they are disciplines, they will take discipline. The Office of Theology and Worship of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has done yeoman's service in encouraging pastors in our denomination to become more serious about this kind of discipline. In establishing a Company of Pastors, a national organization of pastors, the Office has reminded us that Christians in general and pastors in particular will want to:
1. Pray on a regular basis
2. Read Scripture on a regular basis
3. Think about their faith on a regular basis
Each of these disciplines may seem self-evident, yet each poses particular challenges to pastors today, beginning with prayer. Pastors pray on a regular basis. Come to think about it, they pray all the time. A meeting rarely takes place in the church in which someone doesn't say, "Pastor, won't you say a prayer?" Pastors pray at hospital bedsides, in counseling sessions, and during Lord's Day services. They pray for individuals in distress, and for a world in need. There is probably no day on which a pastor does not pray fervently and expectantly.
