THE HABIT OF STUDY (ROM 12:1-2)

SERIES: THE HABITS DISCIPLES CULTIVATE, PART 2

GCEFC: APRIL 19, 2009

INTRODUCTION

1. We’re now in our third series under the heading of Disciple Distinctives. Those things that set disciples apart from those who are not.

2. We’ve covered the Commitments Disciples Make. The Attitudes Disciples Reveal. And today we’re looking at the second part of The Habits Disciples Cultivate.

3. As a reminder, a habit is: an acquired behavior pattern regularly followed until it has become almost involuntary.

4. Habits don’t just happen. Habits are cultivated over an extended period of time. The idea is for a habit to become part of the fabric of our lives.

5. And whether we call it a spiritual habit or a spiritual discipline, the goal is to make it a consistent part of our life journey.

6. The older I get, the more convinced I become that the vast majority of people find the time and energy to do the things that matter to them.

7. We can talk about what’s important. We can make speeches about how certain things are a priority. We can make a case for why certain things should be done.

8. But at the end of the day, we practice what we value and we don’t practice what we don’t value. No matter what we say. No matter what we claim.

9. What we believe is important tends to get done. What we don’t believe is important tends to be neglected.

10. Notice I didn’t say what is important gets done. It’s not that simple. It’s what we believe is important that gets done.

11. It’s been said: If you want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t want to do something—you’ll find an excuse.

12. As a pastor, I could wish that everyone did exactly what I’ve said the Word of God says is important. I wish I did everything I’ve said the Word of God says is important.

A. IT’S NOT THE VERSE YOU WOULD EXPECT

1. I suspect that if we asked the average Christian to choose a verse from the Bible that expresses the importance of STUDY in the life of a believing disciple—they would choose….2 Timothy 2:15.

2. Which says: STUDY to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

3. But the verse I just read, containing the word study is from a version of the Bible translated 400 years old.

4. Needless to say the English language has changed quite a bit in 400 years. But this verse seems to be an exhortation to STUDY.

5. But a better translation is in our NIV, the Bible in the rack in front of you. So if you’d like to turn to 2 TIM 2:15, we can look at the verse together.

6. It says: Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.

7. The Book of 2 Timothy was written by the Apostle Paul to the young pastor of the Church at Ephesus named Timothy.

8. Paul is exhorting him, as a pastor and teacher of the Word of God, to be very diligent and committed to excellence when it comes to teaching the Scriptures.

9. He’s saying DO YOUR BEST to teach the Word of God IN A WAY that God would approve—so you’ll not be ashamed for the way you handle God’s truth.

10. This verse is not an exhortation to study well, it’s an exhortation to teach well what you’ve studied. The focus is on teaching—not studying.

11. So why would I spend any time explaining what a verse does not say on this topic? Because any time spent on clarifying what the Bible is teaching is time well spent.

B. IT’S VERSES YOU MAY NOT EXPECT

1. So let’s turn back a few pages to ROM 12:1.

2. You may recall that we looked at these verses this past fall as one of the commitments disciples make—a commitment to transformation.

3. So why am I bringing this up again? Don’t we have this nailed from back in the fall?

4. In a word—NO. Being transformed is the essence of the Christian life. Nobody ever nails it. You haven’t nailed it, I haven’t nailed it. The Apostle Paul hadn’t nailed it.

5. It’s a lifelong, daily, hour-by-hour struggle that requires constant focus and recommitment. There are battle fronts everywhere.

a. In the newspaper.

b. On the television.

c. In novels and magazines.

d. In movies.

e. In music.

f. At work, at school, at home.

g. With your brother-in-law.

h. In our universities. In politics.

6. We live in an age of unprecedented anti-intellectualism in the church. Some would claim that it’s the most anti-thinking period in 2000 years of church history.

7. Here’s what one observer says: Intellectual development is perhaps the most neglected aspect of Christian sanctification. Being the very foundation of spiritual growth, failure in this area undermines the entire enterprise of discipleship. Worse than being neglected, intellectualism is maligned as an obstacle to conversion and an enemy of spiritual progress. This contradicts the ‘first and greatest commandment’ of loving God with all our mind. Destructive to the spiritual life is the unbiblical content of one’s thinking—not thinking itself.

8. As believers we must know how to think biblically. We must know how to reason biblically. How to process the mountain of information we receive each day.

9. And the only way we will ever be able to do that is by practicing the habit of STUDY. So let’s see what ROM 12 says about it.

C. IT COMES THROUGH RENEWAL OF THE MIND

1. V1: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.

a. For 11 chapters, we’ve been given deep and profound spiritual truth about who God is, who we are, what we have done, and what God has done on our behalf.

b. God has done more for us as his redeemed children than the mind can even fully grasp. His mercy and grace are without limits.

c. So on this basis, as believers, as disciples, we’re urged to present ourselves to God as a living sacrifice.

d. We don’t present ourselves to gain something from God. We don’t present ourselves as a payment to God.

e. We present ourselves because it’s the only rational, reasonable, and logical response to what God has done. God has done everything for us. Now we’re called to offer ourselves back in His service.

f. It’s an expression of gratitude. An expression of appreciation. A way of showing that we understand what incomprehensible grace we’ve received.

g. If you look at the NIV footnote at the bottom of the page you’ll see the word reasonable as an alternative translation to the word spiritual. Reasonable is better.

h. It’s saying there’s only one reasonable response we can have in view of God’s mercy toward us in Christ. And that’s voluntary surrender of all we are and all we have in God’s service. Anything less is less than appropriate and less than rational.

2. Then in V2: Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

3. The essence of the life of a disciple is not:

a. Church attendance

b. Going through a prayer list

c. Keeping a journal

d. It’s not having a quiet time

e. It’s not reading Christian books or listening to Christian CD’s

f. It’s not a leather-bound Bible with matching carrying case and highlighter

g. It’s not listening to Christian radio and going to Christian concerts

h. It’s not knowing Christian catch-phrases and Christian spiritual-speak.

i. It’s not exchanging your pre-Christian to do list for a post-Christian to do list.

j. At core it’s not about what you DO at all—it’s about what you ARE.

4. The essence of the Christian life, the life of a disciple can be summed up in one word—transformation. That’s why the word was chosen.

5. No doubt you’re aware that the word for transformation is the word from which we get the word metamorphosis.

6. A butterfly is not simply an animal that has a new set of behaviors. A new set of priorities. And a new set of activities. A butterfly is an altogether different kind of being than a caterpillar. A butterfly is a caterpillar TRANSFORMED.

7. But how does a disciple get transformed? It says right here. We’re transformed by the renewing of our mind.

8. We’re transformed as our minds are renewed by the things of God. Our minds are renewed as we think like disciples rather than like non-disciples.

9. Please understand that the process of our transformation is a passive process. Notice it doesn’t say: transform yourself by the renewing of your mind.

10. It says: BE TRANSFORMED. It’s not something we do ourselves. It’s something that’s done for us. It’s the Spirit of God that transforms us as our minds are renewed.

11. Transformation is spiritual work that only God can do. But what we CAN DO is renew our mind through….you guessed it….we renew our mind through….STUDY.

12. As we study the things that are right and good, our minds are renewed. And as our minds are renewed, we’ll be transformed. But we must STUDY to bring it about.

13. In my younger days, a friend gave me their guitar when they moved across the country.

a. It wasn’t a great guitar, but it was okay. I thought here was the opportunity to learn how to play the guitar—something I’d always wanted to do.

b. But for quite a while I just kind of puttered around with it. I learned some chords and some picking patterns, but not much else. The guitar mostly sat over in the corner.

c. Then a few years later I had the chance to take guitar lessons with a professional. Here was my chance. I could finally get really good at this.

d. But there was one overriding issue that constantly stifled my progress. It starts with P and rhymes with P and stands for—practice. I didn’t want to practice the guitar—I just wanted to play it exceptionally well.

e. Finally, the happiest day of my guitar lesson journey came—the day I decided to quit. I was so thrilled that I could get out from under this burden.

f. But there was a price to pay. The price was that I had only learned to play the guitar well enough to annoy myself—and anyone close enough to hear.

14. No disciple will be spiritually transformed without a commitment to the habit of study.

a. Any more than you can become an excellent golfer by watching matches on television, listening to golf music, and going once a week to hear someone lecture on golf who knows more about it than you do.

b. No—the only way you’ll ever become an excellent golfer is by golfing. And by thinking golfing.

15. Now when I say study, I mean two things. First, that by all means you should take advantage of the almost limitless source of things that will contribute to the renewing of your mind as a Christian disciple.

a. Good spiritual books. Not fluff books but good, solid, biblically sound, theologically accurate, substantive, well written books by authors with an unequivocal commitment to biblical truth. There are plenty of them—more than you can read.

b. Good sermons and theological talks. Find the people that speak in a way that you can understand and resonate with. Often it’s just about style. But make sure the content is solid. You’ll want to know what they believe even beyond what they say.

c. Secular books that contribute to a biblical understanding of how life works. But watch out for what I call the “fad books.” These are usually the most popular.

16. What we think about determines what we become. So make sure you’re thinking about the right things. As they say: Garbage in…garbage out.

17. Never forget that what we think is who we really are. As PRO 23:7 reminds us: As a man thinks within himself, so is he.

a. ROM 8:6: The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God.

b. That’s why the sinful mind needs renewing. Renewal precedes transformation.

c. Make no mistake—what we think determines everything. Spiritual growth requires a renewed mind. Which results in spiritual transformation through the Spirit of God.

d. If we aren’t thinking right—then we aren’t right…period.

18. Now all of these things and more can play a significant part in the renewal of your mind. Which the Spirit of God will then take and use to transform you.

19. But let me close by saying that there is one particular book that we place in a category all by itself. On the bookcase it deserves its own shelf.

20. This book you must read, re-read, study, meditate on, memorize, investigate, and learn so well that by it you can form a basis for evaluating everything else you read.

21. I refer to this book, of course. We renew our mind first and foremost and primarily through what’s contained in this book.

22. This book contains what God wants us to know to renew our minds. To neglect this book is to neglect the most important means of a renewed mind and a transformed life.

23. That’s why the first commitment we looked at was a commitment to the Word of God.

24. Theologian and teacher R.C. Sproul said: Here, then, is the real problem of our negligence. We fail in our duty to study God’s Word not so much because it is difficult to understand, not so much because it is dull and boring, but because it is work. Our problem is not a lack of intelligence or a lack of passion. Our problem is that we are lazy.

25. Someone else said: One of these days some simple soul will pick up the Book of God, read it, and believe it. Then the rest of us will be embarrassed.

26. Every true disciple must cultivate the habit of study into his or her life. Through study our minds are renewed with the things of God.

27. And through renewed minds will come our transformation. Without the habit of study, we won’t study as we should. Without study our minds will not be renewed. And without renewed minds, there will be no transformation.

28. Like neglecting practice on a musical instrument—we’ll become disciples that just annoy ourselves. So let’s study so our minds will be renewed…so we’ll be transformed.