Full-Stride Freedom
LETTER BY BRIAN MORYKON
If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily. – Gal. 2:21 MSG
As we enter the season of Lent, it’s wise to begin where the Book of Common Prayer does on Ash Wednesday:
Almighty and eternal God, you hate nothing you have made.
Before ascetic practice comes acceptance — at least it should, if we want a practice to help and not harm.
Yet even when we know we’re loved and accepted, Bob Dylan’s still right: “You gotta serve somebody.”
The problem is that half the time, we don’t realize who or what we’re serving.
It’s possible to be enslaved and not know it, so Lent invites us to do a “chain check.” We ask the Holy Spirit: Show me shackles of self-indulgence, of distraction, of dullness of heart — places I shuffle along where you intend full-stride freedom in Christ.
Let’s shift analogies. After hiking in the woods where I live in Virginia, it’s wise to do a tick check. Likewise, in the woods of life, harmful habits get picked up and must be removed — sometimes with great pain, depending on how deeply they have dug into the body.
It’s good to remember that the tick is not the person it’s attached to; it’s distinct. Paul says in Romans 7: “It’s no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” The “ticks” of sinful habits do not define our identity in Christ, but they are in us all the same, affecting and infecting us. And the longer they are there, the more damage they do.
Removing a damaging habit or mindset needs just the right tool. Dallas Willard writes that “a proper abstinence actually breaks the hold of improper engagements so that the soul can be properly engaged in and by God.” In other words, abstain now to feast better later.
Fasting from food is a common practice of Lent. Since many of us serve our stomachs, food-fasting can be a helpful tool to shift our attention and allegiance to a more merciful Master.
But say someone serves the appearance of their body. They may not need to fast from food but from the bathroom scale.
Another person may serve “being in the know” and need to forgo news for forty days.
Or, perhaps that’s not what your soul needs at all. Almsgiving is another traditional practice of Lent. My little church just sent an email inviting us to ask Jesus each day how he would have us practically love someone… a monetary gift, yard work, a note, a phone call. Giving is a fast of self-centeredness.
The point is to listen to the Spirit about what to fast and what to hold fast, what to release and what to retain. Christ has set us free to live a free life (Gal 5:1). Lent, baptized by grace, helps us to do just that.
Brian Morykon
Director of Communications
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LET’S DIVE IN...
CURATED BY GRACE POUCH
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1.
Read “Lent is Good for Us” from Tsh Oxenreider’s Bitter and Sweet: A Journey into Easter and find the daily music playlist and art work here.
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2.
Jon Bailey, Renovaré Ministry Team member, writer, and cofounder of Dwell, has written extensively on the three interlocking realities of a life with God: purgation, illumination, and union. In “To Sever is to Save,” Jon explores the paradox that our flourishing is tied to certain restrictions — things beyond our control as well as conscious, self-disciplining acts of surrender.
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3.
“Fasting is a way to lay down an appetite”— an appetite of the body, mind, or spirit. Adele Calhoun offers practical advice on the discipline of fasting as a way to surrender our desires to God for his reordering.
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4.
Pastor and Renovaré Ministry Team member Kai Nilsen writes in “The Death and the Dance” that Lenten practice is on the rise in a variety of denominations that are “awakening to the beauty of ritual and the recurring rhythms of the church that embed the life of God deeply within our souls.”
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5.
In this 1985 teaching recorded in South Africa, Dallas Willard talks about two disciplines of abstinence: secrecy and sacrifice. He says (around minute 38), “The disciplines for the spiritual life on the side of abstinence are ways of clearing out our closets and garages and all of the other parts of our life, our self — clearing them out so that something of value can inhabit them.”
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6.
Seeking freedom from excessive online or digital engagement? Peco and Ruth Gaskovski offer advice and a planning tool for digital detox that allows you to modify and personalize the fast. Ruth writes, “What will you need and what can you leave behind? Set yourself specific usage rules. Being too vague or too strict can set you up for failure. Write down your own rules (on paper) for how and when you will allow yourself to use your phone, computer, or device. Retain only what is essential.”
Grace Pouch
Content Manager