Rule of Life
We live in a culture that is you do you, do what makes you feel good, follow your heart, don’t live life bound, and so many other phrases that sound good, but actually aren’t centered around living the Jesus. Do you know my heart? It’s not good. That’s why I need Jesus. You do you. Seems legit, until what you want to do leads to sexual immorality, drunkenness, greed, and so much more. Do what makes me feel good is not good advice, because I can blow cash on whatever material items I think will make me feel good. All these phrases that promote the self-centered American dream model and it just leaves us empty. Many of us live feeling hurried, noise pollution is now a thing, we struggle knowing how to overcome sin in our life, and want life to feel normal. In many ways we just want to feel feelings that aren’t anxiety, depression, and rushed. What if you have permission to be organized? What if you had permission to go slow in a fast paced culture? What if you had permission to practice different ways of our faith so that we could combat temptation when it comes up in our life? We have permission to live an ordered life that forms into the image of Christ. How? A rule of life.
And before I dig in, what I want to say is that this permission to live an ordered life that forms into the image of Christ, all these things we’ve talked about should naturally flow through who we are as we are more deeply transformed by Jesus. So what is the rule of life? We get this word from the latin “regula” which stands for a straight piece of wood or ruler and even an extension to “pattern” or “example.” The last way it can be translated is trellis. Allows life to flourish for grapevines, but without it the grapes have nowhere to go and die off. Same goes with our life of faith. We need a trellis to help our spiritual lives flourish, or we will get stuck.
This is a way to help us have structure and organization that abides in the True Vine.
Limitations actually lead to freedom, growth and joy.
The rule of life is not meant to be a set of rules and legalism but a way of grace and effort to learn how to embrace the identity and lifestyle of Jesus.
Our series has been full of practical things we have permission in like discipleship, standing on truth, sharing our testimonies, sharing the Gospel, leading where we are, and serving in missions. The Rule is meant to rearrange our lives centered around Jesus and to implement a way of living where these teachings would naturally flow out of who we are.
In John 15, there’s a set of verses that Jesus says about abiding in Him that don’t speak of a thesis about the necessity of a rule of life, but what a rule of life will lead you to:
“Abide in me as I abide in you. (How do we do that? Prayer and Scripture is a good place to start.) Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you (when you are spiritually transformed, you will look and speak more like Jesus), ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments (ways of living, check out the Sermon on the Mount), you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”
John 15:4-11 NRSV
John Mark Comer, in His book Practicing the Way in speaking about this joy he writes,
“You could argue that joy is the defining feature of a life organized around God. But it's rarely the explosive happiness of an emotional high, dramatic yet fickle and fleeting. It's more like a quiet undercurrent that slowly accumulates at the base of your soul, increasingly welling up like a soft melody that over the years becomes the soundtrack of your life.”
John Mark Comer, Practicing the Way
We may not see the results right away, but overtime people begin to notice our formation long before we do. But it leads to joy. Joy found in Christ alone, and we have permission to seek a way of life, rule of life, a pathway, or whatever you want to call it. And it’s to lead us to growing our capacity to love God and love others. It’s essentially learning to spend your day with Jesus. As JMC writes in his companion to Practicing the Way,
“We need to learn how to be with Jesus—not in the silence and order of a monastery but in the noise and chaos of the city. To practice the presence of God in an environment of smartphone alerts and Wi-Fi and traffic and school drop-offs and project deadlines.
We must learn how to be with Jesus inside the contours of our everyday life—not an idealized vision of the life we wish we had, used to have, or plan to have, but the life we actually have. Here, now, today.”
John Mark Comer, How to Spend a Day with Jesus
The Rule of Life or Way of Life is meant to lead us in abiding in the love of Jesus and experiencing His joy, by adopting the mindset and lifestyle of Jesus. As Dallas Willard writes about abiding with Jesus,
“True Christlikeness, true companionship with Christ, comes at the point where it is hard not to respond as He would.”
The Spirit of the Disciplines, Dallas Willard.
Spiritual formation has become more culturally relevant in the past couple of decades, and way more popularized in the past few years, because deeply, I think people are just sick of barely getting by. Not financially, but just living life. People are tired of being hurried, and always feeling rushed. People are exhausted from the high demands of academia, work, and striving for the top of the ladder. People are tired of individualism that the culture praises and worship but constantly leaves us feeling alone, in shame, and friendless, because we are “meant” to do this life alone, you do you, follow your heart, and other cultural phrases that sound good, but in reality leave us hanging, wondering where our purpose is, or even if life has any purpose at all. You are not designed for independancy. You are designed by a creator to be dependent on Him and others. In his book Relational Spirituality, a book that looks at the psychology of how we are designed by God to be in relationship with God and others from the time we are born. Babies “catch” emotions, are capable of influencing, and being influenced by relational interactions. We are born with the ability to relate and early relationships are crucial for our development into emotional, relational, and spiritual maturity. That’s not saying that if you didn’t get that as a baby that you are screwed up, but what it means is you may have experienced some more challenges through life. If this was you, you’d probably agree. The overall thesis of his book, is that in the human experience we need to get back to an experiential knowledge of the Triune God (Father, Son, Spirit), which leads us to love God and love others. It’s not just knowledge or theology, but it’s also experience. We can know a lot of facts about somebody, but until we spend time with them, we will never truly know them. Pursuing that path will grow our capacity to love God and to love others. You are not meant to live in insolation. You and I are called by God to be dependent on Him and to be relationally dependent on others. So, why the Way of Life or Rule of Life? Because it is a trellis that will lead us to love God and love others. The two commands that Jesus say are the most important in all of Torah.
The goal of life is not to go at it alone and try to play the role of God. It’s to depend on God and others and seek for complete transformation. Practice and purposeful practice will help us transform into the apprentice of Jesus we are all created to be. A great resource is Practicing the Way which is impacting the world right now, because people are deeply curious in how to actually live a life in the Jesus Kingdom. I’m encouraged by the hunger and curiosity of people who desire not just a mediocre life change in coming to Jesus, but the amazing thing about this generation coming up is you’re either all in or you’re out. It’s the Yoda, do or do not, there is no try. Which is amazing, because when it comes to following Jesus we want it. We want to find ways that help us become more like Jesus. I can’t give you everything tonight, because that won’t do it justice, but what I do want to do, is read their suggested rule of life and give some basic tips with it. Which is the Way of Life I follow, and there is a rule of life builder on their website, and copies of what a way of life for a college student could look like.
From the book Practicing the Way this is what John Mark Comer writes what a good rule of life will do:
It will help you turn vision into reality. To move from aspirational ideas about transformation to authentic transformation.
It will help you experience peace as you live in alignment with your deepest desires. We achieve inner peace when our schedules align with Jesus and the transformation He wants to give us.
It will help you live at the right pace. A way of life will help you define the pace that will help you not burn out or stall out, but press on toward the goal to win the prize as Paul says in Philippians 3.
It will help you balance freedom and discipline. It’s not a straight jacket but an anchor. Most of the time, when you’re living rightly, you won’t feel it, but when you drift, you feel it pull you back to center.
Before we dig into the practices, I want to tell you that they are not a barometer of spiritual maturity. They are not a gloomy bore. They are not a form of merit. They are not the Christian virtue of signaling. They are not a means of control. They are the pieces that make up the Spiritual trellis that allows our lives to flourish.
We become a community of rest in a culture of hurry and exhaustion through the practice of sabbath. Think more than a specific 24 hour period during the week. Which is absolutely a part of it, but rest is essential to apprenticeship with Jesus. Think about how to add sabbath into your day. Seek 8 hours of sleep each night. Sabbath keeps our hearts alive to the beauty of God and is a foretaste of the coming of the new Kingdom when we get to dwell with God face-to-face.
Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.
Genesis 2:3 NIV
We become a community of communion with God in a culture of distraction and escapism through the practice of prayer. Coming to Jesus daily in prayer. Gratitude, confession, intercession, and more. We have a bunch of resources on our website. Check out Practicingtheway.org as well. But prayer cultivates a loving relationship between us and God.
Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.
Luke 5:16 NIV
We become a community of holiness in a culture of indulgence and immorality through the practice of fasting. This is arguably the most neglected of all the practices in the modern western church. As we yield ourselves to God, we are breaking the power the flesh has over us to control us and opens us up to the power of the Spirit taking that place. If you want to take the challenge, take a 24 where you miss meals, spend that time in prayer and seeking Jesus as your sustenance. Give up social media for 40 days or longer. Take an extended time away from caffeine and trust God will meet you and sustain you in these absences. Don’t hack your way around them. But trust Jesus to sustain and you will spiritually transform. This might be the hardest one for me, but it’s my favorite.
Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.
Matthew 4:1-2 NIV
We become a community of peace and quiet in a culture of anxiety and noise through the practice of solitude. Having quiet built regularly in your week. Ten minutes of silent solitude a day with Jesus will radically change your life.
The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
1 Kings 19:11 NIVThe Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.
Psalm 23:1-3
We become a community of courageous fidelity to orthodoxy in a culture of ideological compromise through the practice of scripture. When we are in Scripture daily we begin to see the world as He does, and our minds begin to be renewed as Paul writes in Romans 12:2. Check out Lectio Divina, read a letter from the apostles in a group, do a deep study in a classroom or on your own. These are statistics about what happens when you read your Bible just four times a week:
The Center for Bible Engagement has done research with over 400,000 random people all over the world (not just Christians) and this is their findings about people who engage in Scripture just 4 times a week. 1, 2, and 3 days a week barely had an effect on people's lives, but the findings on people engage in it 4-7 times a week is just astounding. These are the findings:
Feeling alone drops 40%
Bitterness in relationships drops 40%
Anger drops 32%
Alcoholism drops 57%
Feeling spiritually stagnant drops 60%
Sex outside of marriage drops 74%
Porn use drops 60%
Faith sharing jumps 200%
Discipleship jumps 230%
Scripture memory jumps 407%
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
Joshua 1:9 NIV
Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
Psalm 119:105 NIV
We become a community of love and depth in a culture of individualism and superficiality through the practice of community. As John Mark Comer writes in Practicing the Way, “We simply are not meant to follow Jesus alone. The radical individualism of Western culture is not only a mental health crisis and growing social catastrophe; it’s a death blow to any kind of serious formation into Christlike love. Because it’s in relationships that we are formed and forged.” Find your community. Make it a regular habit to be a part of gatherings like these, do dinners with friends who point you to Jesus, be in a small group, seek a mentor.
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.
Acts 4:32 NIV
We become a community of justice, mercy, and reconciliation in a culture of injustice and division through the practice of service. Instead of having the thought of I want to be served, we learn to live out I want to serve. Everyday is full of opportunities if we only open our eyes to what the Spirit is leading us to do. Swipe in a friend to the dining hall, give away clothes, see how you can help your friend out who’s had a bad day. Take out the trash and do the little things to show others you care for them and love them.
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
Matthew 25:35-36 NIV
We become a community of contentment in a culture of consumerism through the practice of generosity. I LOVE generosity. And here’s what it looks like. In a culture where we stretch our dollars thin, what if we chose a lifestyle that was way less than the income we were making and used the extra to bless others. It’s way more rewarding to give than to receive and as Paul says, “It’s more blessed to give than to receive.” What extra resources do you have that you could give away whether money, clothing, video games, phone, or other things you own that you could give away?
In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’
Acts 20:35 NIV
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.
Matthew 6:3-4 NIV
We become a community of hospitality in a culture of hostility through the practice of witness. We can’t force conversion, but we can sit around tables with others who don’t know Jesus and love them. We need to be a presence of welcome, warmth, and love. We may not be the best at giving a Gospel presentation, but we can invite the people we want to witness to over for pizza and listen to them and wiggle enough of Jesus over time to them that they want to experience Him.
In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’
Acts 20:35 NIV
But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret.
Matthew 6:3-4 NIV
These are nine core practices that make the trellis of spiritual life flourish. And you probably noticed that some of the practices bleed into each other. That’s the point. The life rearranged to place Jesus at the center is meant to be fluid and lead to transformation in all aspects of our lives and lead us to loving God and others. We’re not meant to separate ourselves into self-help and work on “project me.” It’s meant to lead us to being with Jesus, becoming like Jesus, and doing what Jesus did.
The Christian faith is not a self-help religion, and mature Christians are not self-made people. The powers we have to change ourselves are severely limited. True maturity must be God’s doing. Not that we are left with nothing at all to do. God calls us to trust Him, pray to Him, surrender ourselves to Him, respond to His initiative and obey his commands. Above all, we should remind ourselves daily of the goal, which is complete transformation.
Gerald Sittser, Water From a Deep Well
How do we begin a rule of life?
Start small. Don’t go hard in the paint. Let it be a slow process. Think low and slow like a steak. A fast steak will be burned or still walking.
Give yourself grace. Things happen. If you need to adjust the way of life to draw closer to Jesus, then do it.
Adapt. All seasons are different, so adapt as you feel the Spirit leading to help you love God and love others.
I want to end with this Scripture coming from Psalm 1 which is a pretty regular prayer for me of who I want to become as I follow Jesus and am transformed more into His image.
Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.
Psalm 1:1-3 NIV
This was originally a teaching Ben did at Christian Student Fellowship in the Spring of 2024.
Sources Used:
How to Spend a Day with Jesus by John Mark Comer
