Marks of An Outlier—Part One

I just finished a summer series on the practices of spiritual outliers, a takeoff from Gladwell’s book, in which he researched the reasons why some people become exceptionally successful people: 

1-CONVICTION-Outliers believe they can do something pretty amazing

2-CONCENTRATION-Outliers are not easily distracted, maintain incredible focus

3-CONTEXT-Outliers are almost always surrounded by a supportive community who encourage and support them

4-OPPORTUNITIES-Outliers have been given some extraordinary moments to seize

5-DISCIPLINE-Outliers devote themselves to a strict set of practices

The same characteristics define those who live extraordinary spiritual lives. Spiritual outliers I have met tend to be confident, focused, supported, opportunistic, and highly disciplined. Paul challenged Timothy to be an outlier of sort when he wrote these words in I Timothy 4:7-8—“Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever”(The Message).

I work out four to five times a week, on a tennis court, in a weight room, and in the pool. I have to work around a schedule that is pretty demanding with two jobs. So some mornings begin at 5:30 on a court, and some evenings in a weight room go past 10:00 pm. The older I get, the less and less I like this regimen. But it is critical if I have any hope of accomplishing anything physically. Paul is telling us that it is no different in the spiritual realm. If you want to see God do something significant, if you want to acquire the necessary muscle to get through hard times, it will also require a regimen, a set of spiritual practices.

This summer I looked at a number of spiritual disciplines, many of them practices of the ancient church. Here, and in some future blogs, I would like to share some things that I learned.

The first of the practices, and the necessary start point for all the disciplines, is the discipline of reading Scripture, the practice of listening to God. The routine requires an intentional slowing down. The Word was not given for our perusal, as something to be glanced at like a People Magazine in a doctor’s office. The Word cannot be read with a randomness, nor with a distancing eye. Nor can it be read with an uninvolved ear. Reading that never moves to listening will over time seem lifeless and boring, irrelevant and obligatory. This was all part of the early practice of lectio divina—getting the words off the page—beyond our eyes—into our ears.

For the past twenty five years or so, my discipline has been reading through the One Year Bible. Often, I read like I drive to seminary in the mornings—as fast as the limits will allow. There is a lot of ground to cover each day, if I am to get through this book in a year. But I have stayed with this discipline because my soul needs to be exposed to the whole of the Scripture on a regular basis. The regimen keeps me from missing areas I would otherwise avoid, ignore, overlook (Leviticus, Nahum, Jude).

But the practice of listening to God reminds me that it is not enough to cover ground. Too easily, I read with a distancing eye. The practice of spiritual reading forces me to slow down, get off the freeway and unto the country road, where there are numerous stop signs and other sign posts to pay guide my way. This summer, we drove to Ione, Washington, driving at night in the mountains where there are numerous deer crossing warnings. It required a different kind of driving than the sort earlier in the day on I-84.

It’s the same with Scripture. Numerous things cross the road, turn sideways, require intentional slowing. Lord knows how many things I have run over in the Word, not even looking in my rear view mirror—verses in which God wanted me to come to a full stop, but I did a hit and run. This discipline reminds me that the goal is not so much to get through Scripture—but get the Scripture through me; to move from the distancing eye to the listening ear, to the reflective heart. I need to slow enough to let the word move into the interior, stay at it until it is coursing through my veins. Only then is there any hope that what might have been mere information turns into transformation.

A helpful tool in this discipline is Peterson’s Eat This Book. He brings me back to this reminder, that the aim is to get to the eye, the ear, as well as the mind, the will, and the heart involved. What is read and heard must be savored, chewed, and contemplated. It is when this happens the word “spreads through our blood, and gets metabolized into acts of love, cups of cold water, missions into all the world, healing and evangelism and justice in Jesus’ name, hands raised in adoration of the Father, feet washed in company with the Son.”

Sometimes it will not sit well. God warned John the apostle-“Take it and eat—it will turn your stomach sour” (Rev 10:10). Not everything will be to our liking. Peterson warns us to have a well-stocked cupboard of Alka-Seltzer and Pepto-Bismol on hand. But everything will be to our growth, to becoming outliers.

 

 

 

Comments

[Brian Larson]

I like the analogy of physical discipline in regard to spiritual discipline. Something I have become aware of is the way we are to "train" ourselves. Athletes have a very rigerous schedule of exercise, sleep and nutrition to maintain top physical condition. This requires a comitment of several hours a day, every day. At best, these athletes compete or preform their role a few times a year (durring the season). I see spiritual training the same way. We need to keep ourselves in top spiritual condition day in and day out with prayer, scripture study and fellowship for our role on game day. We stay in top shape because we do not know when the coach is going to call our number and say "Get in there!" It is our job to be available and as prepared as possible so He can use us.